Wordless Wednesday and 35 Weeks!

""Today I will teach a new meditation, make you even better person. Is called Four Brothers Meditation."

Ketut went on to explain that the Balinese believe we are each accompanied at birth by four invisible brothers, who come into this world with us and protect us throughout our lives. When the child is in the womb, her four siblings are even there with her - they are represented by the placenta, the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and the yellow waxy substance that protects an unborn baby's skin. When the baby is born, the parents collect as much of these extraneous birthing materials as possible, placing them in a coconut shell and burying it by the front door of the family's home. According to the Balinese, this buried coconut is the holy resting place of the four unborn brothers, and that spot is tended to forever, like a shrine.

The child is taught from the earliest consciousness that she has these four brothers with her in the world wherever she goes, and that they will always look after her. The brothers inhabit the four virtues a person needs in order to be safe and happy in life: intelligence, friendship, strength, and (I love this one) poetry. The brothers can be called upon in any critical situation for rescue and assistance. When you die, your four spirit brothers collect your soul and bring you to heaven."

~Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

I thought this was such a unique idea! To always have four brothers there when you need them! I hope Brady realizes he has a protector even in that small womb of his!

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Just in case your keeping up: 35 weeks pregnant today!

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

On the health front, the past 2 days have been quite hectic! Monday I was rushed to the hospital with pre-term labor. I thought the contractions were 10 min apart (however, I couldn't really tell. After my crazy surgery in June I think I have a high tolerance for pain) but when I got to the hospital they were a steady 2 min apart, and they were pretty large. They don't want me to go into labor this early, so they gave me this shot that makes you feel like ass (shaky and weird all over) to stop contractions. It worked. The moment it went into my system they stopped and the hospital continued to monitor me for 2 hours. Finally I was discharged, came home and went to bed. Yesterday morning, however, at around 3 am, they were back with evengance. They woke me up from a dead sleep. I tried to drink water and relax and finally after about 50 min, they stopped.

I went back to sleep, only to wake, try and get some work done, when at 10am they had come back again! This time they were more consistent and they were making me worry. I headed back the hospital so they could monitor me more, and when I got there they had slowed to a 3 an hour. They prescribed me a pill that I take daily to stop pre-term labor for the next 2 weeks (my man needs to cook a little longer!) and so far it has worked. When I do get a contraction it is is really painful and lasts for about a minute an a half, but they are sporadic, so I think we're in the clear. This morning, at 3am, I woke up with about 4 contractions (very painful) and had to take a shower in the middle of the night. That was weird! But they have since stopped. Maybe Brady is preparing me for a mid night delivery? We'll see....

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!