I realize I have told this story once before, but I feel that at the time I wrote it I was mostly telling it as a sequence of events instead of a profound life experience for both myself and Eleanor. I believe that there are a few reasons it came out like this; one is because well, I was busy with a newborn (I'm still plenty busy with a 4 month old, just not in quite the same new mom/two people getting to know each other way) and didn't write more than 2 sentences at a time. The second is that I don't think I gave myself enough time to process and reflect on our (I say our because I believe that birth is something mom and baby do together) birth before I wrote it down.
My entire pregnancy I was excited, not just excited ecstatic. Finally I was carrying the baby I had been waiting for. My little miracle. I knew from the beginning I wanted a natural birth and originally planned to birth in the hospital, this was all I really knew at the time. I had never known anyone who gave birth at home, or who had even considered the option. I had however been on several online forums during my IVF journey and had come across the idea of hiring a doula, this appealed to me and the more I researched (I am always researching something) it the more convinced I became that it was what I wanted. So we got recommendations found a doula we liked and hired her. Then the more I thought about birth and the more OB appointments we went to, I realized that I wasn't getting the type of care I really believed in. I also realized I wanted a more peaceful birth for my baby than what I felt I would get in a hospital. I had a new research topic, home birth.
It was scary to think about at first but as I researched and read personal stories I started to believe that this really was something I was interested in doing. We talked to and met with midwives and then made the jump. Some people told me I was crazy, some people told me I was brave, all I knew was that I felt I was making the best decision for myself and the precious little miracle I was carrying. I didn't want to be told how to give birth to my baby, because I felt that birth was something we would instinctively know how to handle. From the time I switched forward I was much less anxious about giving birth. We started taking a natural birthing class and going to midwife appointments instead of OB appointments. It felt like things were falling into place.
As I got closer to my due date people kept asking me how I was feeling, if I was uncomfortable yet, if I was just ready to have this baby already. I was never quite sure how to answer because yes I was excited to meet my baby but I was enjoying my pregnancy. I wasn't uncomfortable, I was feeling fine, I was still doing most of the things I had been doing at the beginning of my pregnancy. I was enjoying the feeling of having this little being growing inside of me and the connectedness we shared. I was excited to meet my baby but I was also patient and trusting that my baby would come when ready and that only baby could know when the right time was.
About 2 weeks before my due date I started feeling like baby was telling me to prepare myself because she(I am going to reference her being a girl even though I didn't know that at the time) was starting to prepare herself for an appearance. I knew it would probably still be awhile but I also felt I needed to start facing any fears I might have so that they wouldn't slow my labor down. The thing I felt would hold me back the most was that I enjoyed carrying her inside of me and felt like I had enjoyed being pregnant so much that I would miss it or that during labor this would keep me from opening and letting go of her. So I concentrated on accepting that our relationship would be different once she was in the outside world. I also concentrated on looking inside myself to see whether there were any other fears hidden inside that I needed to face. I continued walking, Yoga, gardening and meditation. I worked on the baby room and waited.
The day of I went into labor Daron and I walked the dogs to my mom's, we went to Menards, we went to Farm and Fleet. I was having contractions the whole time but I really thought nothing of it. It was enough that we timed them, but they weren't bothering me and I didn't really pay attention to them. I still knew she was telling me she was coming soon, and I felt ready. I felt ready to give birth whenever she decided she was ready to make her appearance so I carried on with life and trusted my body. When I realized later that night that this might be the real thing I was feeling both nervous and excited. I knew it could take awhile though so I still concentrated on patience and acceptance. As I labored and came to the conclusion this really was the real thing I progressed into confidence, I was no longer nervous this was totally doable and I was most definitely doing it. I can look back now and see when I entered "labor land" as many call it.
My body was working hard but my mind was calm and peaceful, I could feel that my baby and I were working together at this and that we were making an awesome team. I felt the need to vocalize and tried to concentrate on keeping it a deep sound. When I started feeling the urge to push I resisted for awhile, then when there was no way I could resist anymore I gave in and it felt good to give in. It didn't even really register to me at that point that this baby might come before my midwife made it to my house, I just trusted that things would work out. I remember a point while I was on my bed pushing where I felt like I couldn't do it anymore, I just kept saying out loud, "we can do this, come on baby we can do this!". When I was able to get in the water relief washed over me and then as I realized my baby was crowning I felt the pain, but I knew we were almost there. I felt a strength that I never knew I had before, I was proud of myself. I realized I was about to meet my baby.
Then she was out, Karen the nurse was telling me to go ahead and pick my baby up out of the water as I reached toward her. I picked her up and I was instantly amazed. She was beautiful, I fell in love instantly with the tiny baby in my arms. I loved her more than I ever would have imagined I could. My exclamation of "Look what we made!" described exactly the amazement I was feeling at the time. I loved her before I even knew she was a she. Perfect in every way. The rest is sort of blur as I birthed the placenta and got stitched up, I just know that I was indescribably happy. I was meeting and already getting to know this little baby. All I could do was stare at her she was and still is so incredibly amazing to me.
While I believe that the story I told the first time around needed to be told. This is my real birth story, this is what I want to remember when I look back. The emotions and the feelings, the strength I found. The real journey to becoming a mother, a birth that both my baby and I worked together to make happen. After it all, I don't think i'm crazy, I don't think I was brave. I think I was just confident, confident that birth was something I knew how to do. Confident to choose what for myself and this baby was the right thing to choose to give this baby the calm and welcoming start I wanted her to have in life.
Almost 4 months old
Friday, December 21, 2012
Its true I probably could have found the time to post something a whole lot sooner, but I find it so much more worthwhile to soak up the time with my little girl. I finally found a job that I truly enjoy doing. I admit some days its hard and some days its frustrating, but every single day is rewarding. In the first few weeks I don't think I can even count how many hours I spent just staring at my daughter watching her expressions change as she slept. Smiling at the amazing sleep smiles she constantly had. At 5 weeks to get a first real smile from her by playing with her tongue. Watching as she learns about this new environment she is in. I expected to have a connection with my baby and I expected to love my baby, but I really never knew that I would be able to love this little person so much and be willing to give my life for her the instant I met her. I still look at her every day unbelieving of the fact that Daron and I made this little person, and that this amazing baby girl is what I grew inside of me for 9 months. I still have days where I can't believe she is really mine, she is such a miracle.
The last 4 months have just flown by. I did end up in the hospital for 3 days at the end of September with gallbladder issue and had to have it removed. The staff was awesome about Ella rooming in with me and so supportive of helping me any way they could with keeping breastfeeding going while I was there. Shortly after being released I ended up with a mild case of mastitis, luckily I got it taken care of quickly with a garlic regimen (yes I definitely stunk like garlic for a few days!). Other than that things have gone fairly smoothly.
I think it helps when you don't have a set picture of how things are supposed to go, because as with everything else in life I believe that as a parent you just have to go with the flow sometimes. I am so lucky to have the awesome support system that I do and an absolutely amazing husband. We got an arms reach cosleeper from a friend that we had planned on using, that idea was out the window by the time Ella was 2 days old. 15 minutes of sleep at a time was not going to work for Ella or I, so she came into bed with me and we have been bedsharing ever since. That wonderful husband I mentioned earlier slept on the couch and/or guestroom for the first 3 months so we could have the bed to ourselves. Contrary to what many would believe we did still find time to have adult time as well. Now that things have settled down a bit at night and we have gotten the hang of nursing in the dark Daron is sleeping with us again (I really missed having a big warm body in bed with me). The cosleeper makes a great diaper changing station and general stuff holder at night, but really hasn't been good for much more than that. I am absolutely loving bedsharing, especially now that she has learned to latch herself on at night because I just wake up enough to make sure she has a good latch and then go back to sleep. Occasionally I will even sleep through her latching herself lately and not wake up until she unlatches and snuggles up to me again.
I love our nursing relationship. Don't get me wrong the really little newborn stage was hell sometimes when I felt like I was constantly attached to her, when she would eat for an hour and then 20-40 minutes later be ready to eat again. She has been a good eater since birth, that initial weight that most newborns lose never happened for her. 5 days after birth she had already gained 6 oz. Now at almost 4 months she has more than doubled her birth weight and is up to 13 lbs. I love snuggling with her when she eats and I love the way she just stares at me sometimes while she eats. The best though is a great big grin with a mouthful of boob. I love that I don't have to worry about bottles and can easily nurse while walking around a store(except now shes gets distracted easily). I find it absolutely amazing that my body is still able to completely sustain this little life.
And now I think I have been sitting here writing with a sleeping baby in my arms long enough and that I should go get some sleep myself. I will leave you all with some pictures of the little girl that has blessed my life with her beautiful smiles. I most definitely love her with all of my heart. Sorry about picture placement being funky I didn't feel like messing with the html to get it to look good.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
\
The last 4 months have just flown by. I did end up in the hospital for 3 days at the end of September with gallbladder issue and had to have it removed. The staff was awesome about Ella rooming in with me and so supportive of helping me any way they could with keeping breastfeeding going while I was there. Shortly after being released I ended up with a mild case of mastitis, luckily I got it taken care of quickly with a garlic regimen (yes I definitely stunk like garlic for a few days!). Other than that things have gone fairly smoothly.
I think it helps when you don't have a set picture of how things are supposed to go, because as with everything else in life I believe that as a parent you just have to go with the flow sometimes. I am so lucky to have the awesome support system that I do and an absolutely amazing husband. We got an arms reach cosleeper from a friend that we had planned on using, that idea was out the window by the time Ella was 2 days old. 15 minutes of sleep at a time was not going to work for Ella or I, so she came into bed with me and we have been bedsharing ever since. That wonderful husband I mentioned earlier slept on the couch and/or guestroom for the first 3 months so we could have the bed to ourselves. Contrary to what many would believe we did still find time to have adult time as well. Now that things have settled down a bit at night and we have gotten the hang of nursing in the dark Daron is sleeping with us again (I really missed having a big warm body in bed with me). The cosleeper makes a great diaper changing station and general stuff holder at night, but really hasn't been good for much more than that. I am absolutely loving bedsharing, especially now that she has learned to latch herself on at night because I just wake up enough to make sure she has a good latch and then go back to sleep. Occasionally I will even sleep through her latching herself lately and not wake up until she unlatches and snuggles up to me again.
I love our nursing relationship. Don't get me wrong the really little newborn stage was hell sometimes when I felt like I was constantly attached to her, when she would eat for an hour and then 20-40 minutes later be ready to eat again. She has been a good eater since birth, that initial weight that most newborns lose never happened for her. 5 days after birth she had already gained 6 oz. Now at almost 4 months she has more than doubled her birth weight and is up to 13 lbs. I love snuggling with her when she eats and I love the way she just stares at me sometimes while she eats. The best though is a great big grin with a mouthful of boob. I love that I don't have to worry about bottles and can easily nurse while walking around a store(except now shes gets distracted easily). I find it absolutely amazing that my body is still able to completely sustain this little life.
And now I think I have been sitting here writing with a sleeping baby in my arms long enough and that I should go get some sleep myself. I will leave you all with some pictures of the little girl that has blessed my life with her beautiful smiles. I most definitely love her with all of my heart. Sorry about picture placement being funky I didn't feel like messing with the html to get it to look good.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
\
Welcoming our Miracle
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Well I realize I missed quite a few weeks of updates but...the biggest update of all is that we welcomed our little miracle Eleanor Rose into the world on August 30th at 3:44 am. She was born at home and weighed 6lbs 3oz and measured 20in long.
Ella's birth story starts out at 4 in the afternoon on August 29th, at which time I started having semi-regular contractions. I didn't think anything of it other than to time them a bit. They weren't any stronger that the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having off and on for the last week or 2, they weren't painful, and they weren't very regular, being anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes apart. These lasted all afternoon and evening, around 9pm I got ready for bed and sent a text to our doula to let her know what had been going on but that I didn't think it was going to amount to anything and that I was going to bed. About 10:30 I started feeling cramping sensations in my lower pelvis and lower back, but they mostly felt like gas pains. I woke Daron up, and let him know that I thought it might be a
|good idea to get rid of the dogs(all 3 were going to my mom's house) in case this was it, though I still wasn't too sure this was going to amount to anything. He got up and watched me pace back and forth, though still not having an issue dealing with them and still not really painful, they did get worse when I tried to lay down so pacing was my answer. Daron timed the pains just to see if there was any regularity to them and they were anywhere from 50 seconds to 2 1/2 minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 30 to 50 seconds. He decided since they weren't real regular and they weren't real painful for me we would wait an hour and see how things were going. At 11:30 things hadn't changed other than the pains being slightly stronger, though still not real bad. Daron took the dogs and their crate over to my Mom's house. I tried to go back to bed again but was much happier pacing back and forth from the bathroom into the nursery. Around 12:30 we talked to our Doula again to let her know what was going on she listened to me and suggested I try taking a shower, she asked if we thought we needed her yet but I was still dealing very well and didn't feel like I needed the extra support yet. So I got in the shower for awhile to see if it helped things any. Around 1am we decided it was time to call our midwife since contractions hadn't changed a whole and though still irregular and not lasting any longer than 50 seconds. Our midwife didn't answer the first time, so about 15 minutes later we tried calling her back again. She talked to me and listened to my contractions for a few minutes and decided because I was still able to talk and walk through the contractions and because they weren't lasting a minute or longer and because I was still laughing between them, I wasn't real far along in my labor. She recommended that I drink a glass of wine, take another shower, and go to bed. She also said to call back if contractions started lasting longer than a minute, if I felt like the baby was starting to push down, or if my water broke.
Since we had no wine in our house we called my mom figuring she would still be awake and asked her to bring some over. We had also sent our Doula a text around 1:30 letting her know we thought she should head this way. My mom showed up with the wine and Daron poured me a glass, I got back into the shower and sipped the wine between contractions. There was still no way I felt like I could go to sleep if I went to bed though, because while I was dealing well with contractions they certainly weren't something I could sleep through. My mom helped Daron get the bed made with our birth sheets etc., did some dishes, swept the floor and generally made sure everything was picked up for the support people that were going to be here. I was on my side in the tub for awhile and then moved to the couch. Somewhere around 2:15am our Doula arrived and took over supporting me so that Daron could go finish getting the birth pool blown up and filled. I went to the bathroom and had a little bit of bloody show, so knew things were moving along. My mom left shortly after our Doula got here. Around 2:30 we had a call from the nurse the midwives use who talked to me and listened to my contractions, after asking if we had a bed she could sleep in(she was coming straight from another birth over an hour away and hadn't been to sleep yet) she decided she would come straight here. Around 5 minutes or so later while discussing with our Doula when the midwife had said to call her back and trying to remember the 3rd one, just after all 3 of us realized that it was the most obvious one to call if my water broke, just that happened. So we called back and let them know that my water had broke. Since the nurse was already on her way and the on call midwife was still at the other birth there wasn't much more to do, other than for us to let them know if anything changed.
About 5 to 10 minutes later things did just that as I had another contraction looked at my Doula and told her I had an urge to push that I couldn't stop. We called the nurse back and let her know what was going on. She suggested getting me in a knee-chest position in order to try to slow the baby down a little. At some point either the on call midwife or the nurse let the other midwife in the practice know what was going on and that she needed to get here. Daron and our Doula helped me up off the couch and into the bedroom and got me in a knee chest position on the bed. At some point the 2nd doula(backup for ours, but had asked to be there for experience) arrived. I continued pushing in knee-chest position for another 30-40 minutes before the nurse arrived. I asked if I could get in the pool once but as I expected they told me I had to wait for the nurse. When she got there, she asked if I wanted to get in the water and I of course said yes. Both Doulas helped me into the pool to which my response was "Oh my god this feels good!". The nurse asked if she could check me and almost immediately said she could feel a head. Another push or 2 later and baby was starting to crown. They even had to tell me to slow down on my pushing because I was actually pushing too effectively and they didn't want me to tear. Another 2 or 3 contractions with Daron by my side supporting me and about 10 or 15 minutes after getting into the pool baby Eleanor was born into the water at 3:44am, I picked her up and brought her to my chest, instantly amazed at the little life we had brought into the world. She was almost instantly pink and cried as soon as she was out of the water. Although it did take us a few minutes and a reminder to even check and find out that baby was a girl.
After a few minutes minutes they asked if I wanted to get out of the water and I was helped to the bed. They made sure the umbilical cord had stopped pulsing and then clamped it and let Daron cut it. At 4:05 I delivered the placenta by which time the not on call midwife had made it here and was getting her stuff ready so she could stitch me up. Ella had decided to have a hand up by her head when she came out, so while my perineum was basically in tact except for a very very small tear, one of my labia had torn pretty badly. The doulas made breakfast for everyone and my wonderful husband fed me while I held the baby and got stitched up. At some point during the stitching process Ella was passed to daddy for skin to skin bonding time and was doing her best to find his nipple and nurse(it didn't go so well...). After they had me all stitched up they helped me up and to the living room to nurse for the first time, which went really well after Ella had a chance to wake up a little after having to wait so long.
While things didn't go quite as planned, I mean you never plan to have your midwife not make it to the birth, it was absolutely perfect. I would do a home birth again in an instant and don't think I would have been nearly as satisfied with my labor and birth experience if I had to go to a hospital. Everything worked out great, everyone was healthy and as I knew was the case my body knew exactly what to do when it came to giving birth! I honestly had no idea I could fall so in love with something/someone so instantly, and I still can't get over how amazing this little miracle is especially the fact that she is what we got from those 3 embryos we transferred in December.
And of course more pictures!
Ella's birth story starts out at 4 in the afternoon on August 29th, at which time I started having semi-regular contractions. I didn't think anything of it other than to time them a bit. They weren't any stronger that the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having off and on for the last week or 2, they weren't painful, and they weren't very regular, being anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes apart. These lasted all afternoon and evening, around 9pm I got ready for bed and sent a text to our doula to let her know what had been going on but that I didn't think it was going to amount to anything and that I was going to bed. About 10:30 I started feeling cramping sensations in my lower pelvis and lower back, but they mostly felt like gas pains. I woke Daron up, and let him know that I thought it might be a
|good idea to get rid of the dogs(all 3 were going to my mom's house) in case this was it, though I still wasn't too sure this was going to amount to anything. He got up and watched me pace back and forth, though still not having an issue dealing with them and still not really painful, they did get worse when I tried to lay down so pacing was my answer. Daron timed the pains just to see if there was any regularity to them and they were anywhere from 50 seconds to 2 1/2 minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 30 to 50 seconds. He decided since they weren't real regular and they weren't real painful for me we would wait an hour and see how things were going. At 11:30 things hadn't changed other than the pains being slightly stronger, though still not real bad. Daron took the dogs and their crate over to my Mom's house. I tried to go back to bed again but was much happier pacing back and forth from the bathroom into the nursery. Around 12:30 we talked to our Doula again to let her know what was going on she listened to me and suggested I try taking a shower, she asked if we thought we needed her yet but I was still dealing very well and didn't feel like I needed the extra support yet. So I got in the shower for awhile to see if it helped things any. Around 1am we decided it was time to call our midwife since contractions hadn't changed a whole and though still irregular and not lasting any longer than 50 seconds. Our midwife didn't answer the first time, so about 15 minutes later we tried calling her back again. She talked to me and listened to my contractions for a few minutes and decided because I was still able to talk and walk through the contractions and because they weren't lasting a minute or longer and because I was still laughing between them, I wasn't real far along in my labor. She recommended that I drink a glass of wine, take another shower, and go to bed. She also said to call back if contractions started lasting longer than a minute, if I felt like the baby was starting to push down, or if my water broke.
Since we had no wine in our house we called my mom figuring she would still be awake and asked her to bring some over. We had also sent our Doula a text around 1:30 letting her know we thought she should head this way. My mom showed up with the wine and Daron poured me a glass, I got back into the shower and sipped the wine between contractions. There was still no way I felt like I could go to sleep if I went to bed though, because while I was dealing well with contractions they certainly weren't something I could sleep through. My mom helped Daron get the bed made with our birth sheets etc., did some dishes, swept the floor and generally made sure everything was picked up for the support people that were going to be here. I was on my side in the tub for awhile and then moved to the couch. Somewhere around 2:15am our Doula arrived and took over supporting me so that Daron could go finish getting the birth pool blown up and filled. I went to the bathroom and had a little bit of bloody show, so knew things were moving along. My mom left shortly after our Doula got here. Around 2:30 we had a call from the nurse the midwives use who talked to me and listened to my contractions, after asking if we had a bed she could sleep in(she was coming straight from another birth over an hour away and hadn't been to sleep yet) she decided she would come straight here. Around 5 minutes or so later while discussing with our Doula when the midwife had said to call her back and trying to remember the 3rd one, just after all 3 of us realized that it was the most obvious one to call if my water broke, just that happened. So we called back and let them know that my water had broke. Since the nurse was already on her way and the on call midwife was still at the other birth there wasn't much more to do, other than for us to let them know if anything changed.
About 5 to 10 minutes later things did just that as I had another contraction looked at my Doula and told her I had an urge to push that I couldn't stop. We called the nurse back and let her know what was going on. She suggested getting me in a knee-chest position in order to try to slow the baby down a little. At some point either the on call midwife or the nurse let the other midwife in the practice know what was going on and that she needed to get here. Daron and our Doula helped me up off the couch and into the bedroom and got me in a knee chest position on the bed. At some point the 2nd doula(backup for ours, but had asked to be there for experience) arrived. I continued pushing in knee-chest position for another 30-40 minutes before the nurse arrived. I asked if I could get in the pool once but as I expected they told me I had to wait for the nurse. When she got there, she asked if I wanted to get in the water and I of course said yes. Both Doulas helped me into the pool to which my response was "Oh my god this feels good!". The nurse asked if she could check me and almost immediately said she could feel a head. Another push or 2 later and baby was starting to crown. They even had to tell me to slow down on my pushing because I was actually pushing too effectively and they didn't want me to tear. Another 2 or 3 contractions with Daron by my side supporting me and about 10 or 15 minutes after getting into the pool baby Eleanor was born into the water at 3:44am, I picked her up and brought her to my chest, instantly amazed at the little life we had brought into the world. She was almost instantly pink and cried as soon as she was out of the water. Although it did take us a few minutes and a reminder to even check and find out that baby was a girl.
After a few minutes minutes they asked if I wanted to get out of the water and I was helped to the bed. They made sure the umbilical cord had stopped pulsing and then clamped it and let Daron cut it. At 4:05 I delivered the placenta by which time the not on call midwife had made it here and was getting her stuff ready so she could stitch me up. Ella had decided to have a hand up by her head when she came out, so while my perineum was basically in tact except for a very very small tear, one of my labia had torn pretty badly. The doulas made breakfast for everyone and my wonderful husband fed me while I held the baby and got stitched up. At some point during the stitching process Ella was passed to daddy for skin to skin bonding time and was doing her best to find his nipple and nurse(it didn't go so well...). After they had me all stitched up they helped me up and to the living room to nurse for the first time, which went really well after Ella had a chance to wake up a little after having to wait so long.
While things didn't go quite as planned, I mean you never plan to have your midwife not make it to the birth, it was absolutely perfect. I would do a home birth again in an instant and don't think I would have been nearly as satisfied with my labor and birth experience if I had to go to a hospital. Everything worked out great, everyone was healthy and as I knew was the case my body knew exactly what to do when it came to giving birth! I honestly had no idea I could fall so in love with something/someone so instantly, and I still can't get over how amazing this little miracle is especially the fact that she is what we got from those 3 embryos we transferred in December.
And of course more pictures!
35 weeks
Friday, July 27, 2012
Today marks 35 weeks, I absolutely cannot believe that I only have 5 weeks left until my due date. My last post on 32 weeks sat in draft until today so I still have a lot to cover that I didn't get posted there.
Symptom wise I have been really tired lately and sleeping like crap most nights. My feet (or maybe I should say foot since its mostly my right foot) have been swelling a lot more lately. I've been trying to make sure I get plenty of protein to make sure this baby is gaining good healthy weight and to help combat the swelling a little. I've also been trying to drink plenty of water. Baby constantly has some part of its body pushing out against my belly now and sometimes if I push on it just a little I can feel it move on the opposite side from where I'm pushing.
We are 5 weeks into our 10 week childbirth class. Yes, this means it will be finishing August 27th, 4 days before my official due date, but I'm not too worried about it. We are finishing so late because when we decided to switch to a home birth we also decided to switch to a more natural childbirth class than the one offered at the hospital. We are really enjoying the class so far. I think we have already learned a lot. Monday at class we had to do 6 practice contractions. As women we didn't have to do too much other than pick a comfort position to try, relax our bodies and breathe from our bellies. The guys on the other hand had to time the contractions (we were practicing 1 minute long), make sure we were comfortable and relaxed, make sure we were breathing correctly, massage our backs, talk us through relaxing further, and encourage us all at the same time. Daron did a pretty darn good job, and unlike a few of the husbands he succeeded at calling out the timing every 15 seconds.
We are still on track for our home birth and I ordered our birth kit this week. Baby was confirmed to be head down at our appointment 2 weeks ago. It was hiding a bit though so our midwife had to do a vaginal exam in order to confirm. We have another appointment today and I should also be getting my GBS swab done.
Our nursery is almost done and is really starting to look like a nursery now. We got the new window installed a few weeks ago and it looks great, we just need to get the trim up around it now. Then all we have left to do is actually hang our pictures and such on the walls and put the door back on the room. I do have some pictures but I think I am going to do a picture post or two after this one since I have so many to catch up on.
Moving backwards about a month, my baby shower was great and I am so thankful to the family and friends that helped make it a good day. We got a lot of good stuff and the way they decorated for it was very cute! I think my favorite is that they used petri dishes full of m&m's as a decoration/favor. They also had sheets to fill out with wishes for the baby and wrote inspiring messages/things to make mom smile on some newborn diapers.
After gifts, hand me downs and garage sales, the only major things we have left to get are a crib mattress and a breast pump. My mom and I had an awesome find last weekend in the form of a bunch of cloth pocket diapers at a garage sale for $3 each and a ton of inserts for them all of which look great. I still have a few that I want to get but I found a place I can get gently used ones for a decent discount!
Last week my mom and I spent 6 days cleaning/organizing/reorganizing my house. We washed/scrubbed walls and cleaned floors and moved furniture and yet with 3 dogs a bird and a rabbit in the house a stranger would probably walk in and ask what the heck we did for 6 days. Of course Daron and I did take Monday afternoon off and go swimming at his parents house. I am so happy that we can use their pool whenever we want. It is great exercise and it has the added benefit of taking baby's weight off of my back while I am in. We are supposed to have a home visit from the nurse assistant for the midwives sometime around 37 weeks and should be getting our birth pool around that time as well. We are planning on it going in our bedroom and have the room reorganized to make sure there will be plenty of room for it. My mom will be getting our 3 dogs, and possibly our bird for at least a few days when I go into labor (she already has her own dog and a bird) so wish her luck!
In other news the storm on Tuesday caused half of our neighbors big dead willow tree to fall in our yard/mostly in my garden. The major area of my garden is squished, and we have a huge tree to clean up. Luckily it missed the chain link property fence. I am hoping part of the garden can still be salvaged once we get the tree cleaned up but we will see. It is looking like the universe is telling me I'm not meant to have such a large garden this year.
That's all I have for now, hopefully I can update this a little more often!
Symptom wise I have been really tired lately and sleeping like crap most nights. My feet (or maybe I should say foot since its mostly my right foot) have been swelling a lot more lately. I've been trying to make sure I get plenty of protein to make sure this baby is gaining good healthy weight and to help combat the swelling a little. I've also been trying to drink plenty of water. Baby constantly has some part of its body pushing out against my belly now and sometimes if I push on it just a little I can feel it move on the opposite side from where I'm pushing.
We are 5 weeks into our 10 week childbirth class. Yes, this means it will be finishing August 27th, 4 days before my official due date, but I'm not too worried about it. We are finishing so late because when we decided to switch to a home birth we also decided to switch to a more natural childbirth class than the one offered at the hospital. We are really enjoying the class so far. I think we have already learned a lot. Monday at class we had to do 6 practice contractions. As women we didn't have to do too much other than pick a comfort position to try, relax our bodies and breathe from our bellies. The guys on the other hand had to time the contractions (we were practicing 1 minute long), make sure we were comfortable and relaxed, make sure we were breathing correctly, massage our backs, talk us through relaxing further, and encourage us all at the same time. Daron did a pretty darn good job, and unlike a few of the husbands he succeeded at calling out the timing every 15 seconds.
We are still on track for our home birth and I ordered our birth kit this week. Baby was confirmed to be head down at our appointment 2 weeks ago. It was hiding a bit though so our midwife had to do a vaginal exam in order to confirm. We have another appointment today and I should also be getting my GBS swab done.
Our nursery is almost done and is really starting to look like a nursery now. We got the new window installed a few weeks ago and it looks great, we just need to get the trim up around it now. Then all we have left to do is actually hang our pictures and such on the walls and put the door back on the room. I do have some pictures but I think I am going to do a picture post or two after this one since I have so many to catch up on.
Moving backwards about a month, my baby shower was great and I am so thankful to the family and friends that helped make it a good day. We got a lot of good stuff and the way they decorated for it was very cute! I think my favorite is that they used petri dishes full of m&m's as a decoration/favor. They also had sheets to fill out with wishes for the baby and wrote inspiring messages/things to make mom smile on some newborn diapers.
After gifts, hand me downs and garage sales, the only major things we have left to get are a crib mattress and a breast pump. My mom and I had an awesome find last weekend in the form of a bunch of cloth pocket diapers at a garage sale for $3 each and a ton of inserts for them all of which look great. I still have a few that I want to get but I found a place I can get gently used ones for a decent discount!
Last week my mom and I spent 6 days cleaning/organizing/reorganizing my house. We washed/scrubbed walls and cleaned floors and moved furniture and yet with 3 dogs a bird and a rabbit in the house a stranger would probably walk in and ask what the heck we did for 6 days. Of course Daron and I did take Monday afternoon off and go swimming at his parents house. I am so happy that we can use their pool whenever we want. It is great exercise and it has the added benefit of taking baby's weight off of my back while I am in. We are supposed to have a home visit from the nurse assistant for the midwives sometime around 37 weeks and should be getting our birth pool around that time as well. We are planning on it going in our bedroom and have the room reorganized to make sure there will be plenty of room for it. My mom will be getting our 3 dogs, and possibly our bird for at least a few days when I go into labor (she already has her own dog and a bird) so wish her luck!
In other news the storm on Tuesday caused half of our neighbors big dead willow tree to fall in our yard/mostly in my garden. The major area of my garden is squished, and we have a huge tree to clean up. Luckily it missed the chain link property fence. I am hoping part of the garden can still be salvaged once we get the tree cleaned up but we will see. It is looking like the universe is telling me I'm not meant to have such a large garden this year.
That's all I have for now, hopefully I can update this a little more often!
32 weeks
I have become extremely bad at keeping my blog updated. Partly because I am busy with other stuff and partly because every time I think about writing a post lately it just seems like too much effort and too much time spent at the computer. The fact that sitting too long makes my back hurt probably contributes a good deal to that feeling.
Moving on though, I am now 32 weeks and still feeling pretty good. I am starting to have more issues sleeping and more issues with back pain though, and lately I just generally have problems staying comfortable for any longer than 20 minutes. Baby is taking up more and more room and at least a few times a day now(usually several), I can actually feel Baby when I run my hand over my belly.
Its been HOT this last week, but really it hasn't been too bad. I've been doing my things outside in the morning then working on things inside most of the day until it starts to cool off a little in the evening. If I do anything outside midday I'm usually only out for maybe 20 minutes or so before I take a break and go inside for awhile.
We are officially planning a home birth now and have had 2 appointments with the midwife. We have been very pleased with her and are very happy with our decision to switch from the OB. Baby is doing well and the midwife checked its position at our first appointment and found Baby to be head down, not surprising since I kept feeling like I had feet in my ribs. At our 2nd appointment with her the heartbeat was at 150bpm and baby's position was unable to be accurately determined but from movement perspective I'm pretty sure its still head down.
Moving on though, I am now 32 weeks and still feeling pretty good. I am starting to have more issues sleeping and more issues with back pain though, and lately I just generally have problems staying comfortable for any longer than 20 minutes. Baby is taking up more and more room and at least a few times a day now(usually several), I can actually feel Baby when I run my hand over my belly.
Its been HOT this last week, but really it hasn't been too bad. I've been doing my things outside in the morning then working on things inside most of the day until it starts to cool off a little in the evening. If I do anything outside midday I'm usually only out for maybe 20 minutes or so before I take a break and go inside for awhile.
We are officially planning a home birth now and have had 2 appointments with the midwife. We have been very pleased with her and are very happy with our decision to switch from the OB. Baby is doing well and the midwife checked its position at our first appointment and found Baby to be head down, not surprising since I kept feeling like I had feet in my ribs. At our 2nd appointment with her the heartbeat was at 150bpm and baby's position was unable to be accurately determined but from movement perspective I'm pretty sure its still head down.
28 weeks and then some
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I realize it has been a long time since I updated. Somewhere between garden planting, finishing the baby's room, Relay for Life, and the million other projects we have going in the house right now blog updates just kept getting put off.
I'm currently 28 weeks 4 days and still having very few complaints. I passed my glucose tolerance test and the only problem found was slightly low iron levels which indicate that I have become very slightly anemic. They put me on a daily iron supplement and told me it is nothing to worry about. I have just started having some issues with my back, especially after a very active day but not too bad. Just the last weekend I have had some occasional swelling in my feet, but I think the combo of eating out about 4 times this weekend and being on me feet a lot is the cause of that, because it has been better the last 2 days. My biggest issue has been heartburn, no matter what I eat/drink anymore I get it tums has been my friend. Luckily its still not a huge issue. Sleep, I really like my sleep lately but getting comfortable is becoming more and more challenging, I am changing positions every half hour to hour at night lately and I think every other time I change positions I have to get up to pee. It makes for quite a restless night of sleeping. Last night I decided to try a different pillow set up with one under my hip, one wedged under my side/back, plus a body pillow for me to hug/go between my knees. The pillow under the hip was the new one. This actually seemed to help and allow me about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep before having to change positions which is definitely an accomplishment in my view.
My belly is steadily growing, and baby M is getting stronger every day. I have also over the last week or 2 started noticing hiccups once or twice a day. It was a really weird sensation at first because it is a lot gentler than the kicks and wiggles I get the rest of the day. Pretty much any time I'm not active, baby is. Daron is loving being able to sit there and watch my belly move, and has started talking to the baby a lot more lately. Baby M has also taken to what I assume is a head down position most of the time because I can feel it kicking me in the ribs occasionally. Last night it kept stretching out and I'd get movement on the lower left and upper right at the same time.
I guess the big news is that Daron and I have been researching the idea of home birth. We attended an informational group meeting at a home birth midwifery practice. After lots and lots of research and discussion and the creation of a pro-con list, we have an initial consultation with one of the midwives on Thursday. So unless for some reason I get screened out we are now planning to birth at home. After the group meeting we both came out feeling like this was what we wanted and that this was most likely the right path for us. We still sat down and made a pro con list, but nothing on it made us change our minds. Our biggest reason for this is that we want to bring our baby into the most calm and welcoming environment possible and don't feel we can do that in the hospital. I fully realize things can change and may not go as planned but at least I tried. I'm sure I will have more on this topic in the future.
Right now I'm off to actually start moving some things into the baby's room!
I'm currently 28 weeks 4 days and still having very few complaints. I passed my glucose tolerance test and the only problem found was slightly low iron levels which indicate that I have become very slightly anemic. They put me on a daily iron supplement and told me it is nothing to worry about. I have just started having some issues with my back, especially after a very active day but not too bad. Just the last weekend I have had some occasional swelling in my feet, but I think the combo of eating out about 4 times this weekend and being on me feet a lot is the cause of that, because it has been better the last 2 days. My biggest issue has been heartburn, no matter what I eat/drink anymore I get it tums has been my friend. Luckily its still not a huge issue. Sleep, I really like my sleep lately but getting comfortable is becoming more and more challenging, I am changing positions every half hour to hour at night lately and I think every other time I change positions I have to get up to pee. It makes for quite a restless night of sleeping. Last night I decided to try a different pillow set up with one under my hip, one wedged under my side/back, plus a body pillow for me to hug/go between my knees. The pillow under the hip was the new one. This actually seemed to help and allow me about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep before having to change positions which is definitely an accomplishment in my view.
My belly is steadily growing, and baby M is getting stronger every day. I have also over the last week or 2 started noticing hiccups once or twice a day. It was a really weird sensation at first because it is a lot gentler than the kicks and wiggles I get the rest of the day. Pretty much any time I'm not active, baby is. Daron is loving being able to sit there and watch my belly move, and has started talking to the baby a lot more lately. Baby M has also taken to what I assume is a head down position most of the time because I can feel it kicking me in the ribs occasionally. Last night it kept stretching out and I'd get movement on the lower left and upper right at the same time.
I guess the big news is that Daron and I have been researching the idea of home birth. We attended an informational group meeting at a home birth midwifery practice. After lots and lots of research and discussion and the creation of a pro-con list, we have an initial consultation with one of the midwives on Thursday. So unless for some reason I get screened out we are now planning to birth at home. After the group meeting we both came out feeling like this was what we wanted and that this was most likely the right path for us. We still sat down and made a pro con list, but nothing on it made us change our minds. Our biggest reason for this is that we want to bring our baby into the most calm and welcoming environment possible and don't feel we can do that in the hospital. I fully realize things can change and may not go as planned but at least I tried. I'm sure I will have more on this topic in the future.
Right now I'm off to actually start moving some things into the baby's room!
25 weeks
Saturday, May 19, 2012
I am absolutely in amazement that I am 25 weeks along. Even with my ever growing belly and a baby that really really likes to kick me, it still seems unreal sometimes. According to the apps on my phone our baby now weighs somewhere around 1.5lbs, and it certainly feels like it. My weight gain is right on track at about 9.4 lbs right now. I am just starting to have a little bit of back pain off and on, but thankfully prenatal yoga is helping a lot with that. I am still really enjoying my pregnancy and cannot wait to meet this baby. I am so excited to actually meet this little one that keeps kicking me. Baby really likes to surprise me, it will settle down and I'll think its done then kick/punch me really hard right below my belly button, and yes it makes me jump most times when it does this. It was also enjoying kicking Daron in the face the other night when he had his head laying on my belly.
My biggest complaint right now is that it is starting to get really hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. I tend to sleep really crappy at night and then end up feeling like a need a nap during the day, and I suck at taking naps!
We got carpet installed in the baby's room this last week, so now we just need to finish installing trim, install the window, and finish 2 more letters on the wall. I am excited to actually start getting stuff in there, and start getting some stuff up on the walls. My house is slowly getting organized, and we only have a few more projects to finish now. I have a bunch of things to plant in the garden this weekend and then in another week or 2 I will be ready to plant everything else. My typical attire when its hot and I'm working outside is a swimsuit top and shorts, and you know what, this pregnant lady decided I'm not afraid to stick with that(at least for now). I'm perfectly OK with showing off my bare pregnant belly.
We have been thinking more lately about how we want our birth to go, and things we would like to happen. I'm planning on a natural birth and would really like to avoid any drugs. I would also like to avoid an IV if at all possible. We are only like 5 minutes from the hospital so I am comfortable with and hoping to stay at home for as long as possible, which will hopefully be made easier with our doula here. I am not expecting childbirth to be easy, but I am comfortable with my own body and my body's ability to do this. I am also comfortable with my mental ability to cope, and have realized over the course of the last year, how much control our mind has over our body. I have to admit it drives me a little bit crazy when people look at me like I'm stupid for wanting a natural birth or like I'm crazy for not wanting medication. Sometimes when they even come out and say that they think I'm crazy for wanting a natural birth. I realize there are things that can go wrong, and I realize that plans can change, I mean I'm not stupid :). I'm not afraid of a challenge though, and personally I want to be in control of every aspect of my body during birth if at all possible. I'm not expecting it to be painless, I mean come on now. I am expecting pain, but I am also trying to prepare my body to deal with that pain without drugs. Most of all I am expecting that no matter how bad the pain is it will all be worth it when it's over. I mean I get to meet my baby! My biggest fear about my birth is for what I want to be ignored. So far though I am confident in my doctor and hope that won't be the case.
My biggest complaint right now is that it is starting to get really hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. I tend to sleep really crappy at night and then end up feeling like a need a nap during the day, and I suck at taking naps!
We got carpet installed in the baby's room this last week, so now we just need to finish installing trim, install the window, and finish 2 more letters on the wall. I am excited to actually start getting stuff in there, and start getting some stuff up on the walls. My house is slowly getting organized, and we only have a few more projects to finish now. I have a bunch of things to plant in the garden this weekend and then in another week or 2 I will be ready to plant everything else. My typical attire when its hot and I'm working outside is a swimsuit top and shorts, and you know what, this pregnant lady decided I'm not afraid to stick with that(at least for now). I'm perfectly OK with showing off my bare pregnant belly.
We have been thinking more lately about how we want our birth to go, and things we would like to happen. I'm planning on a natural birth and would really like to avoid any drugs. I would also like to avoid an IV if at all possible. We are only like 5 minutes from the hospital so I am comfortable with and hoping to stay at home for as long as possible, which will hopefully be made easier with our doula here. I am not expecting childbirth to be easy, but I am comfortable with my own body and my body's ability to do this. I am also comfortable with my mental ability to cope, and have realized over the course of the last year, how much control our mind has over our body. I have to admit it drives me a little bit crazy when people look at me like I'm stupid for wanting a natural birth or like I'm crazy for not wanting medication. Sometimes when they even come out and say that they think I'm crazy for wanting a natural birth. I realize there are things that can go wrong, and I realize that plans can change, I mean I'm not stupid :). I'm not afraid of a challenge though, and personally I want to be in control of every aspect of my body during birth if at all possible. I'm not expecting it to be painless, I mean come on now. I am expecting pain, but I am also trying to prepare my body to deal with that pain without drugs. Most of all I am expecting that no matter how bad the pain is it will all be worth it when it's over. I mean I get to meet my baby! My biggest fear about my birth is for what I want to be ignored. So far though I am confident in my doctor and hope that won't be the case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
