Waiting - 37 weeks

I haven't been much up for crafting this past month, although I need to get started on my own baby quilt soon....

I have been making some jewelry for myself, which I thought I would share here instead of on my terribly neglected jewelry blog. I'm calling this my "Birthing necklace" because I plan to wear it during my baby's birth (sometime around May 24th).

The necklace has a lot of personal meaning for me - and although I don't consider myself to be an over superstitious person, I figure having some "good luck" charms can never hurt. It's very likely our baby will require heart surgery to correct his aorta right after birth. Since receiving this diagnosis back in my 23rd week, I've been wearing a Malachite ring to help protect him. Malachite is a green gemstone associated with the heart chakra and as well it is supposed to help aide in childbirth. The emerald green stones in the necklace are also Malachite. The silver charms are Mexican Milagros (miracles) that I cast myself while living in Mexico and studying silver smithing back in 2001. I've been saving them all this time for the right piece of jewelry - this is finally it. The center charm represents me, the birth mother, the angel is the babies guardian and the heart charm appropriately has 2 hearts carved into it - representing my heart and my baby's.