The past week has been crazy busy and the past couple of days in particular, have been rough on me physically and emotionally, but baby and I have made it to week 36 and for that, I am extremely grateful.

I am planning on having another natural birth, and barring any major complications, I hope to achieve that goal. Most of my Black sisterfriends are not into natural, home or water births. My own sister thinks I'm crazy for choosing a natural birth. So when I came across this video of a beautiful sister giving birth naturally, I really felt empowered and inspired. The video is tastefully done and not gory at all. If you have a few minutes, check it out below.

A CHILD IS BORN / The Birth Of Baby Maasai from Stacey Muhammad on Vimeo.

5 weeks to go! Saying it is like music to my ears. In just 5 weeks, I will get to meet my son. I'm so excited, I could scream.

I don't know when exactly nesting begins, but I spent the entire weekend cleaning and I still don't feel the place is clean enough. I also packed my hospital bag. My hospital bag is actually the duffel bag that my daughter uses when she spends the weekends at her dad's house. She was not happy about me borrowing it and she was even more upset when I told her why exactly I needed to use her duffel bag. She hasn't been thrilled about this whole being a big sister thing. It has gotten better, but she still has her moments. I had her help me put together the stroller and car seat as well as the pack and play. She enjoyed being my helper.

I have an ultrasound scheduled tomorrow morning. I'm nervous, but excited to get a peek at my boy again. Nervous because this pregnancy has been so complicated. It truly has been one thing after another and it's a miracle I've made it to 35 weeks. I've never given up hope that things would work out well, so I'm not going to start doubting now, but the nerves are still there.

I'll tell you what I'm not excited about. I'm not excited about having to be there at 8:30. 8:30AM! I think it's a bit cruel to ask a pregnant woman almost ready to give birth to be up and functioning that early. I rely on public transit and that's torturous enough. I propose that in the last few weeks of pregnancy all providers make house calls.

My 4 year old daughter woke up this morning and said, "Happy Mother's Day" and then she said, "You know mom, before me, you were a robot." She is wise beyond her years.

I'll admit to making some bad decisions in my life, but becoming a mother is not one of them. Motherhood, with all of its ups and down, disappointments and frustrations, has transformed me and made me a much better human being. It has taught me patience, humility and most of all, it has taught me how to love unconditionally.

Becoming a mother has allowed me to understand my own mother better. I don't know where I'd be without my mother's undying love and support, especially now, when I need all the help and support I can get. I'm so grateful and blessed that she is by my side during this pregnancy. I don't think I could have made it without her. Not only is she mom to me and grandma to my daughter, she's also playing the role that would traditionally be filled by the husband or father of the unborn child. She comes running at the slightest sign of discomfort. She never leaves my side when I'm at the hospital. Most importantly, she tends to my every craving.

Today, I celebrate my mother. I know that I didn't always make things easy for her. I celebrate her will to never give up on me.

Devi @ 9 months old with her baby wearing Daddy. This was our very first hotslings. We loved it and never had an issue with it.

Waking up at 7:00 AM to puke for half an hour is not how I envisioned starting off my day. Happy 34 weeks of pregnancy to me.

Sure, there are aches and pains associated with pregnancy. No one said growing another human was going to be easy, but Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a beast in a class of its own. I don't expect people who have never experienced hyperemesis to understand just how debilitating it can be. I don't expect people who haven't experienced it to truly understand that it is more than "severe morning sickness". Not only does it break you down physically, it robs you of the opportunity to fully enjoy your pregnancy.

The good news is that there are many treatment options that can be pursued. Unfortunately for people like me, the treatments don't always work or it takes quite a few weeks to achieve just a tad bit of relief. My experience has been more like that of Tomoeh Murakami Tse, a staff writer for the Washington Post, who published this article on her bout with hyperemesis in 2008.

I had hyperemesis with my first pregnancy and I was truly hoping that I wouldn't have to ever go through it again. Obviously, that wasn't in the cards. I thought I knew what to expect, having gone through it before, but it seems this time my body turned it up a notch. I honestly did not think I would make it through this pregnancy. That was until I found a hyperemesis support group. Having the help and support of women who knew exactly what I was going through was invaluable. These women gave me hope and kept me focused. Trust me, it's easy to get discouraged when you've been throwing up 12 times a day for days at a time and you've become so weak that you can't even stand up for a few minutes to brush your teeth in the mornings. It's hard to keep hope alive when your friends and family can not believe that you're in your second or third trimester and you're still so sick and you start hearing one horror story after another. I look forward to providing moral and emotional support to those going through this.

It has been a long road. 34 weeks is quite an accomplishment for me. I can only take the next 6 weeks one day at a time. Wish me luck.

This blog is making me feel like the new girl at school who doesn't know where to sit at lunch time.

I've been blogging for about 10 years. I guess when I first started out, I considered myself keeping an online journal. I started out with diaryland.com and then switched to livejournal.com in 2001. The blogging platform has changed quite a bit over the years. Niche blogs started popping up all over the place and I found myself missing the days when blogging meant connecting on a very personal level with someone through their thoughts and feelings on cyberspace. Many blogs started feeling generic. People became ambitious in their pursuit to procure virtual real estate to earn advertising and Adsense dollars. I don't want this blog to turn into one of those blogs.

A mom's recommendation holds a lot of weight with me and I believe in the power of word of mouth advertising. So, of course, I'll be posting reviews on this blog. Yes, I'd even like to host a few giveaways, but I don't want that to be the end all, be all of this blog. I want a place to share my thoughts, talk about the things that are important to me and hopefully meet like minded people who can offer their advice, tips, experience, etc., to help me on my journey to being the best mom to my children as I possibly can. As they saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.

I've been really lucky at winning things these past few weeks. I've won a nursing tank from Bravado Designs, a Moby Wrap, books from Sixty Second Parent. I can't wait to receive my things so I can try them out!