Sacred Pregnancy–Healthy Baby Belly Blog Party–Grand Finale Week

Expectant... a word with multiple connotations tied to it. What are you expectant of? Is your expectancy connoted with hope? Fear? Dread? Or dreams? What does your pregnancy mean to you? What does it mean to your loved ones in your life? Pregnancy may not always be embraced in the way it should be. One thing that it is, in every situation…is sacred. A sacredness that defies and defines all, by its simple state of existence…life, and it is you who hold it in the heart of your womb. For me, a sacred pregnancy is had by every woman who nurtures this growing life with two hearts… the soul and the womb. Expectancy is first created, nurtured in the soul where it paves the way to the hope that is to be. Anni Daulter, author of Sacred Pregnancy, shares her own thoughts of a sacred pregnancy. I invite you to share yours…

What is a Sacred Pregnancy?

By Anni Daulter, author of Sacred Pregnancy: A Loving Guide and Journal For Expectant Moms
When I was pregnant with my second child, Lotus, I became obsessed with trying to find women I could connect with that knew about the sacredness of birth and the rite of passage process that every mother goes through, but few mark. My pregnancy craving was for that sisterhood that used to exist back in the day when women lived in tribes and pregnancy wisdom was passed down from mother to mother. Not being able to find what I was truly looking for, I realized something was missing in how we go through our pregnancies in this culture, and that sacred mother sisterhood had been buried, not lost, but buried deep in the past and needed to re-surge for all women. Our bodies create babies, and everyone agrees that is a miraculous wonder, but our spirits create souls and we need to know how to handle the process of creating a “whole” person. I truly believe the way to do this is by connecting to ourselves, the process of growing a baby and other wise women.

Pregnancy is a ride and we need to dig deep in order to navigate the emotional and physical waters of that journey. Its wild, scary, fun, joyous, beautiful, sexy, dirty, bloody and most of all it shapes us into mothers and re-defines how we look at the world. Every woman DESERVES a Sacred Pregnancy, because it’s her birth-right and it’s our most sacred work that we will ever do. A Sacred Pregnancy is one that is honored and shaped with intention, purpose and celebration. We need to go back to the Kiva and sit with our women tribes and be held with their empowerment, get showered with adornment and learn more ways how to say “YES” to nurturing ourselves. We need to decorate our bellies and let it all hang out, honor our partners as they too travel the road with us, be brave and vulnerable, look into the eyes of our own childhoods so we may pick and choose what we want to take with us into our own mothering choices and most we need to learn that this is a journey we share with others, but ultimately travel alone.

A Sacred Pregnancy is a gift you give yourself and your baby and one that is unique to every single pregnancy and birthing experience. Its where, if you let it happen, you become one of the wise women with blessed sisterhood knowledge that one day you will give to maidens. Hold that power with a delicate hand and when the time is right you will know how to pass it on.

About the Author

ANNI DAULTER, a conscious family living lifestyle expert, professional cook, and advocate of natural family living, has been encouraging women to take control of their birthing experiences for many years. Daulter recently launched her new Sacred Pregnancy community, providing sisterhood and resources for both new and experienced moms. Anni’s first book was Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies & Toddlers (Rodale, May 2010). She also has three recent titles, Ice Pop Joy (Sellers, 2011) and The Organic Family Cookbook (Sellers, 2011) and Naturally Fun Parties for Kids. Daulter lives in Philadelphia with her family. Her children are Zoë (14), Lotus Sunshine (7), Bodhi (5), and River Love (2).
Excerpted from Sacred Pregnancy


Reflections


Now that you have determined that you are pregnant, really take the time to digest the information and what this baby is going to mean for your life. Let yourself feel all your emotions and take a moment to acknowledge each and every one as if they are good friends stopping by for tea. When you do learn the due date, take the time to figure out what the baby’s rising sign will be and start to introduce yourself to him. This relationship will grow and blossom as your body changes to make room for this little guy and it’s truly important to really welcome him to your body. This will start the journey off with pure intentions and clarity.

Ideas

• Mark your calendar with the due date you were told, but allow two weeks before that date and two weeks after that date to really be open for possibility. When women say they were “late,” all they mean is they went past the date the doctor or midwife told them to expect the child. However, they are not really late at all. They are perfectly timed for when the baby was ready to join the world. So, rather than relying heavily on one day to expect your baby, allow those last weeks to be open and trust your baby and your body to know when and how to birth the baby.
• In addition to keeping this book and journaling what is going on with you, buy a separate calendar just for you and baby to mark important milestones along the way and to keep track of your midwife/doctor appointments. It is a great idea to keep these two books together so they are always with you during these next forty-two weeks. This book and your calendar will become your touch stones during this process and will help you track this journey in many ways.

Book Pairing

Ina May’s Guide To Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic and Birth by Suzanne Arms
These are good books to get started with. They will help you learn more about the type of birthing experience you may want to have.

Movie Pairing

The Business of Being Born by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein
This is a documentary about birthing in America and serves as a great tool to empower women and educate them about all the birthing options available to them.
To learn more about the book and the author visit www.sacredpregnancy.com


Enter to Win…
ONE of Two prizes: The Book, “Sacred Pregnancy”, 1 box of Prenatal Oxylent, 1 bottle of Nordic Naturals Baby DHA and swag! Leave a comment answering the question of the week and gain an entry point! Comment in response to another’s comment and gain an entry point. Every relevant comment you leave, you’ll gain an entry point! You gain an entry point with every guest that you invite. Have your guest leave a relevant comment along with your comment profile’s name.


Enter the Rafflecopter to increase your chances of winning!
1. Register your comment profile name & email address here.
2. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN A COMMENT. Register your email address here.
3. Comment must be in relation to the weekly question, topic or party.
4. You must reside in the US and be 18 years of age to be eligible for a prize.
5. Your comments must be respectful, relevant, with no links. (No Spam)
6. If you were referred or invited to the party by another commenter, include the commenter’s profile name with your comment. For example: “TheOliveParent invited me to this party”. Please note that the person who referred you should have a published comment.
Don’t be left out of the conversation! Subscribe to comments to stay in the loop! Click on the “Subscribe by Email” link in the comment section.

a Rafflecopter giveaway