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Pregnant

Relaxing

My body has everything my baby needs.
My body knows how to give birth.
My baby knows when to be born.

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Pregnant

Feeling It…

About three weeks ago, the baby migrated and its head came to rest in my pelvis. (The baby is engaged. Thank you baby! You are just where you need to be.) Along with that shift came some discomfort for me; swelling feet and legs, a pea-sized bladder, and pressure! Lots of pressure. As Leslie so aptly put it, “like a cement filled beach ball”. I was dealing with it by walking and stretching, regularly.

My cervix is now taking the brunt of it. The last week has been pretty intense. Regular contractions that do not go away and do not get closer together. So, I am stretching, breathing, hydrating, and resting. I have begun my leave from work. I find that I am better able to cope mentally and physically. I do not want to go into labor all wrung out. I feel like this miracle must take precedence over my work.

The last visit to the mid-wives (4/25) went very well. Micky was palpitating my impressive belly and said, “You have a big, healthy baby in there. Here is its head and here is its bum. My goodness… Probably seven and a half, eight pounds, already.” We then talked about family birth weights. So, my Bumpy is big one. No peanut for me. I went back through some of the baby clothes and realized that this babe will not even fit into many of them at all!

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Pregnant

The Expounding Begins

I attempt to approach life with my eyes wide open. So, naturally (no pun intended), I began reading and digging about as soon as Adam and I found out that we were going to be parents. I knew that we would have to look outside the local hospital system to find practitioners that were on the same page as us. So, we contacted the birthing center at Dartmouth to find out what they had to offer. We found that they have a team of nurse-midwives whose approach to pregnancy and childbirth is a welcome change from the typical, sterile, inhospitable, profit-driven American hospital. They sum up their approach by saying that they view a normal pregnancy and childbirth as a natural part of a woman’s life, not a medical situation.  

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Pregnant

The Plan

My birthing plan is to not have one. What’ s the adage? Plans are made to be broken? That being said, I do have some strong opinions that will not change. I do not want to be given an epidural. I do not want to be induced, artificially with Pitocen. I want an active labor, not tied down with tubes and monitors. I do not want to attempt to birth laying on my back. I want Adam to be by my side, as involved as he wants to be. I want to use natural, time tested methods; a birthing stool, chair, squatting, kneeling, walking about, a birthing chair, ball, and tub. I will expound on these thoughts in my next post.

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Pregnant

The Business of Being Born

Adam and I just watched the docufilm, The Business of Being Born. What a powerful movie. I think that it is a must see for any future (expecting, hopeful, or just fertile human) parent.

The fact that women are herded about and misled by the AMA is not some shocking news item, for me. But, the facts presented in this movie are unavoidable. We should be enraged, yes enraged, at the way that we are just expected to just take it laying down, as American women. It is time to educate ourselves on what the real options are! It is time to stand up the insurance companies and our doctors and remind them that the power lies within us, that we do not need them to tell us the right way to give birth.

Anyway…that is a must larger subject. I will continue on this rant on another date.

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Pregnant

A Scare

We had a scare yesterday afternoon/ evening. Contractions with cramps and backache began at about 1530. I drank two or three glasses of water and laid down on my left side (as instructed by my mid-wife at my last appointment), and tried to wait it out for the recommended hour. They did not subside. I thought that the “drink 24 oz. of water and lay down” instructions were particularly humorous…What I really did was drink the water, lay down, get up, go the bathroom, lay down, get up, go the bathroom, etc…for about three and a half hours. We finally decided to call in and get some advice at around 1930. The on-call doctor asked how the contractions were spaced. I told her they were about 20 minutes apart. She explained Braxton Hicks contractions to me. She told me that if there was no bleeding or uncommon discharge, that if I could rest/sleep, and that if the contractions were not more than six per hour, that all was normal. So, I am normal (in this department)!

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Pregnant

The Tumbler

Our child tumbles about within me. Reminding me of what is real, what is important. I love to “hold” this child. I can watch the movements beneath my skin, now. My belly bulges as the child rolls about.It responds to my laughter. Whether it can sense my joy, or is awakened by my belly laughs, I am not sure. I think that it already has a sense of humor. It will be bumping about, merrily. When I take Adam’s hand and place it over the movement to show him, it will become quite still…

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Pregnant

The Countdown

Adam has added a Countdown feature. What a great tool. We can track the progress of this pregnancy very easily now. Thank you, Adam for this sweet addition! 

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Pregnant

A Beautiful Perspective

“In our lifetime we accumulate a lot of garbage: emotional baggage full of toxic thoughts, self-limiting and damaging notions, and negative scripts. The more aware we are of these, the more we own our own problem areas, the less likely we are to pollute our children with our mental poison. By the same token, the more empathic, caring, and nurturing we are, the more we instill in our progeny, from conception on, feelings of self-worth, trust, and love.” excerpt from http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/birth_preparation/womb.html

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Pregnant

A Glimpse

Today, Adam and I had our second glimpse (via ultrasound) at the blossoming life within my womb. I am both humbled and elated. I took the remainder of the day to contemplate my role in this child’s development, my role in the journey of a new life.

We have elected to keep the sex of our unborn baby a mystery. A decision that seems to boggle most of our friends and acquaintances. It seems as though we live in a time with so few mysteries. Our lives are lived in full exposure. We want to be able to hold on to the element of surprise in that one area.

I am 129 days (19 weeks) into my pregnancy.  Our baby is 5-5.5 ” long and weighs about 5.25 ounces. When I lay down to sleep and when a wake up, I feel “fluttering” movements in my growing belly.