Being Noticed!

I had my first pregnancy comment (by a total stranger) today. The Target checkout lady asked me when I was due. I was a little shocked, since I'd never been asked before. :) I feel like I'm showing but I feel like I'm still in that stage where people will look at me and think "hmm, is she pregnant or just really fat?" Perhaps that is why no one has asked or mentioned it before. He he! They're just not sure! :) I'm glad to hopefully be moving into the "pregnant-looking" stage!

98 days!

I do my best not to count down to things because it just seems to make the time go by more slowly! However, when I get excited about something, I just can't help myself! So yes, there are only 98 days until my due date! We have so much yet to do to fix up our house! I recently purchased some Charlie's soap. It's supposed to be the cleanest rinsing laundry soap available.

There are only 43 days until A is DONE with school completely. He just finished his last regular class and has to finish a six week seminar. If I am feeling this excited for him to be done with school, I can't imagine how he is feeling. He has been in school for 1/2 of our married life (almost) and the whole time we've lived in Ohio! He started the day before we moved here. I wonder what it will be like.

I had such a vivid (and terrible) dream last night that people at work were upset with me about not being here enough! I guess I'm just sensitive to trying to do a good job here and especially while I'm pregnant. I'm starting to feel the pressure of the holidays and of my impending maternity leave! Must get stuff done!

The hardest thing for me in this pregnancy so far is finding a balance between work/activity and rest. I tend to work work work until I can't anymore. I have never had so many colds in my life as I have had in the last four months. As yet another sore throat started last night, I thought to myself that perhaps I need to rest more and not worry about the rest (laundry, dishes, dusting, vaccuming, cooking, painting upstairs, painting baby's cabinet, painting trim, work, lessons, organizing, volunteering, etc). All of these things aren't as important as staying healthy but they are always nagging at my mind when I am resting! So, if you come to my house in the next few weeks, please remember that I'm trying to find a balance between work and rest so if you see dishes and dust (you're probably used to that already) excuse it for the time being. :) I'm trying not to get another cold!!

Our visit to Dayton

A and I went to visit the Birth Center last night. Wow! We were very impressed. From some of the things I had heard, I expected it to be more "downtown" ish but the hospital and the birth facility were both very nice! The birth center promotes and encourages everything we thought we would have to ask for (perhaps fight for) at our current practice and in a regular L&D setting. They promote eating and drinking in labor for hydration and only IV's if necessary; limited fetal monitoring with a doppler only; hydrotherapy, relaxation, birthing balls, and movement for pain management; the parents only attending baby for 2 hours after birth; immediate breastfeeding; etc. We were so impressed. She kept saying, "We expect the parents to be ready to care for the baby after birth" (no nursey), and we kept saying, "That's what we want!"

The facility is really great, too. They have a kitchen and living room common area and then three birthing "suites". Each suite has a queen sized bed (for both the mom and dad to use, no cots for the dad!), rocking chair, bassinet, flat screen TV, changing table, and hidden in the closet is any necessary medical equipment. Now, let me tell you about the bathroom! This place has my dream bathtub . . . in all three suites! It is about as deep as our upstairs bathtub, but is at least twice as wide and has jets! I must admit that I was daydreaming about it last night, because I love to take baths. The staff at the birth center will do anything you need them too. The nurse explained that they bake bread for the family, after the birth, will do any laundry you have, wash all the dishes, clean your rooms, etc.

The only drawbacks that we could see from choosing this place to deliver, is that you have to "qualify" to go there. In other words, you have to have a low-risk pregnancy (which I have been very low-risk, so far anyway) and you have to deliver between 37 and 42 weeks. If these things don't happen, then we will be taken to the regular L&D rooms in this hospital. I was nervous about this because I had heard that they weren't very good about natural birth there, but the nurse who gave us our tour said that if we let them know we were planning on the birth center or were transferred from the birth center, they really do everything they can to create a similar atmosphere. Also, we would still be attended by our doctor/midwives in either place. Also, the NICU is right around the corner, if needed.

So, I made an appointment with one of the recommended practices in Dayton that was one doctor and two midwives. I'm not that thrilled about driving up there for my appointments, but I guess I don't really have that many left! :) In the mean time, I'll still be doing my glucose and Rh- testing with my current clinic. When I'm done with that, then I will send all my info to my new practice. I'm so glad to have made this decision. We both LOVED the atmosphere and the confidence of the people in the birth center. I love that they will be there for additional support and I am so thankful that our insurance covers all of this! We truly are VERY blessed!

Choices!

Tomorrow night we're heading to Dayton to visit a birthing center (the only accredited one in Ohio). If we like it, then we'll choose a practitioner (probably a midwife) to see. I'm excited to find out what it's like. If I don't like it, I've got another doctor (recommended by our Bradley teacher) and a hospital in mind. I just hope he's accepting new patients.

I'm recovering from yet another cold. Thankfully, this one is pretty mild (not like the last one). I did take a sick day yesterday, just to rest and recover even though I did feel like doing a few things around the house (I washed our sheets and got caught up on the dishes). I feel like I'm on the mend now!

We are getting so close to being done with stuff!! I miss having time to just sit and read, without feeling like I need to be doing something else. Andrew has a week left in his current class and then he has another six weeks of graduate seminar, where he will review papers he has already written, and write one more to complete the coursework. I'm so excited for him to be done. I can't believe he made it through building a house, working, and homework at the same time! At least we're in our house now (still needs work upstairs!). Also in December, I will be done with voice lessons, our Bible study will take a break, and our birthing class will be over. I absolutely LOVE doing all of these things, but just having more time to take care of myself and the house will be a welcome relief for the brief two months before our girl arrives.

I'm off to have lunch now!

Appointment Update

Our six month check-up yesterday brought our some interesting things. The baby is doing just fine. I measured just right for the week I'm in (24 by the way), my blood pressure was 113/60 (average for me), and we heard the strong heartbeat of our girl. We decided to ask our doctor/practice some questions to see if they would be open to us having a unmedicated birth. Well, let's just say that they are not open to that!

The question and answer period did not start off well because the doctor opened with the statement that the baby's health was the most important thing here (implying that we weren't concerned with that at all, but just wanted things our way). We assured him that the health of the baby is our #1 priority. I asked if I could drink water during labor. He said NO and that I wouldn't feel like it. I felt like asking him when the last time was that he had a baby, but I held my tongue. I was just shocked that you could be refused something so simple as water. He said that I could have ice chips and perhaps some of those would melt so I could have water. Ok then!

I went on to ask about monitoring and IV's during labor. According to him, I must be monitored at all times and have an IV (I'm agreeing to a heplock, so if I am in need of an IV, they can just hook up the tubes). So, I won't be able to move around or use a shower or bath for pain relief. I was also uncomfortable with this practice because they have six doctors and two midwives and you can get anyone of them for your labor/birth, so it's like getting a doctor you may have seen once.

Needless to say, we talked about it last night and think it is in our family's best interest to switch practices. I have been busy looking into some different options. We have received recommendations from our Bradley instructor, so we are looking into those. This is a scary move for me. I feel the need to do this soon, as we have several things coming up, such as our glucose testing and my Rh- injection.

I'm so thankful to have a very (very) supportive husband and family. My mom has even been busy looking up other options for me. I told Andrew last night how great it is to have a family that is so supportive. It would really stink for me to be telling my mom all about this and have her say "Are you crazy? You can't do that." So . . . thanks Mom and everyone else for the wonderful support in these decisions! It really does make all this doable! :)

Pictures . . . Finally!

Ok, I know that ultrasound pictures are usually only exciting and emotional for the parents, but I thought I'd post them anyway. It's just an amazing experience to have that ultrasound wand on your belly and then see these images on the screen. We're pretty sure (Andrew's words) that he both saw and felt the baby move last night. It was so obvious to me, because the kicks were so hard. We'll count it! :)

Alien Baby! A picture of the head and part of the body.





Little Foot (unless she inherits Andrew's foot size, then she'll be big foot)

I'm a GIRL! Ok, I did post this on the internet! :) You can see her little legs and feet angleing off to the left and girl parts where the legs meet!

Less Alien looking shot of the whole baby!

I have my six month OB appointment tomorrow. It will be interesting. I have all of my "natural birth" questions prepared to ask. If they don't answer the way that we feel is best for us, we'll be looking for a more natural friendly doctor (or midwife)! Enjoy!

Yeah!

I finally slept last night. I only woke up once, which is still weird for me, but I'll take it! :)

I'm busy at work, preparing an office manual for my sub during maternity leave. It's becoming quite extensive! I hope it doesn't make me easily replaceable! :)

Sleep!

My baby has been keeping me awake at night! I'm not talking about the little one pound baby in my tummy but my big baby that sleeps next to me every night. Andrew has always had a difficult time sleeping. So far in our married lives, this has rarely bothered me. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper so I can sleep through him coming to bed late, tossing and turning, etc, but the last two nights have been different. I feel as if I am barely getting to sleep, or just hovering right under sleep! Perhaps my body is training me to be a lighter sleeper for when the baby comes but it sure is annoying right now! I still keep waking up every time Andrew moves, even if he moves in his sleep! If you have any tips on getting a very nice deep sleep during pregnancy, let me know!

*Poor Andrew does feel bad that he's keeping me awake, but it's not his fault. He's just sleeping like he always does but it's affecting me differently for some reason.

Confidence!

I have briefly mentioned before that Andrew and I have been going to childbirth class on Sunday night (a 12 week course). I would like to explain a little more about what this is. We're planning to have a natural Bradley method birth. Of course, we realize that the health and safety of the baby is the most important thing and if all goes well, we feel this is the best way to do this. Fortunately, the Bradley method is not about who can stand the most pain (if so, I would not be a good candidate) but it's about giving the mother adequate time and pain management tools to prepare for the birth. This means that I'm doing exercises (and exercising) every day, following a specific nutritional plan, and will be learning lots of breathing, relaxation, and position techniques to be used to manage labor pain. The main thing that this Bradley class has given me so far is the confidence to realize that I can do this, especially since I have time to prepare myself for it (that's one thing I'm good at . . . planning ahead).

I realize that this is not the normal way of doing things now (I think we heard that 97% of women in this area get epidurals) but it is something we want to do for the health of our baby, my health and recovery, and because we really want to be in control of the birth. Andrew is already a wonderful coach. He reminds me to do my exercises, he encourages me to eat right, and he is already helping me to relax. Our instructor has mentioned about how the coach needs to be a relaxation expert. I must say that I found that funny since I already think that Andrew is a very good relaxation expert!

I realize that by writing about this I am opening myself up to (intentionally helpful) comments. This is a decision that I have made and thankfully I have a very supportive coach and a supportive family to help me. I realize that I have not yet gone through the birth and therefore I may feel differently later. I realize that there will be significant pain but we believe the benefits will outweigh the pain. I also believe that God made our bodies to go through this process to give the mother and baby everything needed. If you want to know those little details that are so cool, I'd be glad to share what we're learning. We are really enjoying our class (we have a great teacher) and feel like this is the best plan for us and our baby girl (who shall not yet be named!)!

If you would like to read/know more, visit: http://www.bradleybirth.com/.

Hips!

It's been a while since I've written, so forgive me if this is boring. I'm very foggy and achy today. I believe the achy feeling is coming from my hips so I'm thankful that I have a chiro appointment tomorrow!

I also have the impatient feeling that I just want our baby girl to get here! I've read a couple of articles that this lull can come during the middle of this trimester (right where I'm at) so it's good to know that I'm perfectly normal in feeling this way. I definitely don't want her to come right now, as we still have so much to do to get ready but I'm ready to meet her! I was planning to paint a bit upstairs this weekend, so we could get going with that, but after mowing, doing all the laundry, cleaning, and furniture shopping, my weekend was spent. I hope I can get to it this weekend. It's a weird feeling to be so busy (I'm trying to find time to walk a little each day) yet so mentally bored or eager. I'm not sure what the feeling is. I'm certainly enjoying all of my baby books. Right now I'm finishing up "No-fear guide for first-time parents" and just starting "Husband-coached childbirth" which is recommended from our birth class instructor. If you didn't realize it before, I like to be well-prepared for anything!

I've been on this new pregnancy diet (Brewer, for those of you who know natural) and it focuses on protein consumption for building healthy brain and muscle. I'm also adding a bit more calcium to my prenatal vitamin. This morning for breakfast I had two eggs, two pieces of turkey bacon, a 1/2 grapefruit (yummy!), a piece of toast with peanut butter, and a glass of milk. All of this added up to a whopping 30 grams of protein! It was a lot to eat but it will help me to do better if I get a good start like this. We're supposed to get about 100 grams of protein per day. I got into the 90's last week but also had a couple of 40 days. Thankfully one of my favorite treats is a tablespoon of peanut butter and a cup of milk. We've been buying organic on as much stuff as we can lately and still staying within our grocery budget!

Ok, I guess I was able to write a long post, perhaps my Red Raspberry Leaf Tea helped. I'll try to remember to post the ultrasound pictures on here sometime soon.