Week 36

Week 36 marked the official enjoyment of maternity leave.  It took me a solid week to unwind and unplug from work.  I felt stressed the entire first week of leave even though the only commitments or things I had to do were (generally really fun) things I voluntarily scheduled all on my own accord.

Week 36's word is...TIRED.  I've found myself just really ridiculously exhausted.  I think what actually happened was that now that I am out of my regular routine, I've had a minute to realize how completely tiring being a full-time, commuting, preggo, wife, friend, daughter, sister and mom to four fur-kids actually is.  

Week 36 also brought with it some unexpected news from my Dr. at my (now weekly) checkup.  The Dr. came in and took my vitals, asked about baby's movements, how I was feeling, any questions...everything was good, good, good.  Then he put the fetal doppler on me and swirled it around for a bit trying to find the heartbeat.  

Well...he found the heartbeat.  It was strong, but it was in the wrong place.  The Dr. rushed me out of the exam room and into a new room equipped with an ultrasound.  From there he showed me baby's head (apparently hairy!) and baby's butt announcing that Baby Boy is breech. 

So, I'm scheduled for a c-section on August 11th at 7:30am.  We'll of course check a few more times to see if he turns and I'm going to an acupuncturist next week as well to see if that does anything.  Baby is still moving a lot and his little feet are dancing on my bladder all day, every day.    

Overall, I am calm about it all.  I think in the grand scheme of things a few things come to my mind...

- No one I know has had an uncomplicated birth story...well maybe I've heard 2 of them...like, ever.

- God knows what's best for us and how he's supposed to arrive.  I can do all things through Him, including a section.

- Wimpier girls than I have had sections and lived to tell the tale.

- Whatever attitude I choose to have about it all changes nothing about the situation other than my experience of it (believe me I am WELL AWARE getting cut open and the recovery from that is not lovely).

Bottom line...if that's how he has to arrive, that's how he has to arrive.  I have no control over it.  So, I can spend my next 11 days freaking out, being upset and/or bemoaning the inconvenience of it OR I can enjoy the last 11 days of life pregnant and choose to get excited that I might get to meet my baby 8 days sooner than we'd expected.   

Childbirth Preparation Class & Hospital Tour

It kind of blows my mind when I've heard (just a couple) of ladies talk about not really preparing for childbirth.  Yes, our bodies know what to do, but mentally do we know how to best deal with it?

I know what I do not know.

Mainly what I do know is women are quick to share how horrific their birth experience was.  But of course they ALL say, it's all worth it.

I wanted the facts and I wanted to be prepared. I wanted a birth plan and by that I mean knowing what the heck I was aiming to do once I went into labor.  Was I going to try natural, how about an epidural, what other interventions am I OK with?

What spooked me a little before going to class was that all of our other classes have been 2 hours and childbirth class was 8 hours long!  

But, I'm so glad we went and now I feel ready for it.

In learning about all the options and realities, I have a game plan of what I want to try for.  After seeing a couple natural labor/birth stories in class I know I do not want to try for that!

Here's what I came away with...let's compare in a month with what actually ends up happening since labor and birth doesn't like to stick to birth plans.

1. I really want to avoid induction

• Only 2-5% of babies are born on their guess date and around 40% in the 2 weeks after that...I know induction is out of my control largely, but to the extent I can do anything in advance...
• I'm doing this eating dates thing.  In a controlled trial it was concluded that the consumption of 6 date fruit/day  in the last 4 weeks before labor significantly reduced the need for induction and augmentation of labor, and produced a more favorable, but non-significant, delivery outcome.

2. I'd like to try to stay at home until we get to 4-1-1 or 5-1-1

• This kind of goes along with induction, but I want to avoid intervention and the nurse said once you get to the hospital they kind of just go-go-go to get the labor moving along like breaking the bag of waters, etc.
• Traditionally women have used the 5-1-1 rule; that is, when contractions come every 5 minutes, each lasting a full minute, and have been that way for an hour. More recent recommendations are 4-1-1 (four minutes apart) or even 3-1-1 (three minutes apart). However, listen to your body and trust your instincts.

3.  I'd like an epidural please.  

• Until I get that epidural I plan to manage contractions through walking, resting, showering and visualizing...interestingly enough when we practiced visualization what calmed me down the most was visualizing riding a cross country course - because...of course.  So, I'm thinking I'll be the horse girl watching Rolex and helmet cam videos in L&D to calm the heck down.

The Hospital Bag

I've been mulling over what to bring to the hospital once baby boy B arrives...I am a notorious over packer.

I'm sure packing for the hospital will be no exception!

Here's what I am planning to bring thus far...

Stuff for me to wear/use:
2 pairs of nursing PJs
1 maxi dress for going home
1 nursing bra
Robe
Slippers
Toiletries - including travel toiletries, hair dryer, round brush, hair ties
Velcro towel wrap
Flip flops
Chap stick
Grippy socks

Post Partum panties
Nursing pads & gel pads
Nipple cream
Soft throw blanket
Pillow from home

Stuff for baby to wear/use:
Going home outfit (NB and 0-3mo)
Onesies with cuffs (NB and 0-3mo)
Swaddle Sack
Mittens
Light swaddle blanket
Medium weight blanket
Burp rags
Pacis
For our hospital they provide diapers, wipes, etc. and baby stays in the room with you 24/7 unless baby is sick and needs to be in the nursery.

Other stuff:
Electrolyte Jelly Beans
Snacks
Colace
Witch Hazel Pads
Pump
Camera
Nursing pillow
Plastic bag for laundry
Folder for all the baby info/paperwork
Pediatrician info
Phone charger/phone

Week 32

Apparently Week TWENTY TWO was the last time I did a weekly update on how things were going?

TEN weeks ago!  Time has been flying with this pregnancy.

Week 32...officially feeling and looking BIG.  But, that's the deal when you're a short waisted 5'2" gal.  Fortunately, most people most people...are really sweet and encouraging about how I look right now, which I appreciate.  Everyone loves a nice compliment about their appearance, pregnant or not, right?  What I appreciate even more is when people don't comment specifically on my body, but for some reason when you're preggers it seems like there's a few that just cannot seem to help themselves.  Why?!  In serious though I'm trying to just taking it all in stride.

And that's the word for Week 32...In Stride.

This is a concept I understand really well!

This week Baby B's movements are more expressive.  It's easy to feel him shift around and even see him move from the outside of my belly.  He's facing head down, his butt is sort of up towards the middle of my belly and his feet like to hang out only on my right side.  I never feel him on my left side, he's found his little place and has been staying put as far as I can tell.

Heartburn has been a regular occurrence and Tums have been my BFF.  I'm also finding my appetite is much much less right now, which is encouraging since I don't want to gain too much more non-baby weight between now and the end of this whole thing.

This week also the way baby is positioned meant I could bend over again without feeling like I was crushing him.  That's been a nice change.  What's not been a nice change is the number of times a night I have to get up.  Last night I was up FOUR times and that is making work tough this morning.  Luckily, I'm  just a few short days away from maternity leave!

Week 32!