journey of life

Not much of an update this week.  Our weekly visit to the midwife showed that there has been no progress, but that was honestly to be expected.  This weekend, for the first weekend ever, we are going to be spending Labor Day weekend at home.  Matt has some work he needs to complete, so I imagine we will be watching college football, prepping for baby and playing the waiting game.  The nurses basket is packed, our clothes and hospital gear is together, but needs to be better organized and mentally, I believe we are “there”.

Don’t forget to put in YOUR two cents in our baby pool.

This is the week that being pregnant hit me like a brick.  Over the weekend Matt’s parents came and helped us with a ton of chores around the house in preparation for baby.  We ran errands, did household chores, and assembled nursery furniture (which required MAJOR organization efforts to make room for such furniture).  It took me several days to recuperate, and I don’t know if I am ever going to get used to having such strict limitations on what I can and can’t do.

My swelling has progressively gotten worse, but my blood pressure still looks good, and no protein in the urine, so at the time there’s no worries about preeclamsia.  At the doctor’s visit this week, I measured 40 cm (FOUR centimeters bigger than last week), baby’s heartbeat is in the 150s, 1 cm. dialated, 50% effaced and squishy, so we are making headway!

Guess again! Don’t miss the opportunity to vote in the baby pool.

This past week I’ve been glued to the Olympics and in complete awe of the athletes (especialy Dara Torres and her post-pregnancy abs - there is hope!).  However, I have been competing in my own Pregnancy Olympic events including:

Mounting and dismounting the bed
180 degree rotational flip in bed
The stand-to-squat position (as well as the squat-to-stand position)
The sitting-to-stand position
The lying down-to-sitting position
Balancing while washing my feet in the stand up shower

Being pregnant creates limitations on your body and watching these fine human athletes push their bodies to the limit makes me feel like a complete weenie whenever I grunt to pick something off the floor.  Simple activities have become difficult and it truly surprises you when you get winded doing something that you take for granted.

Olympics aside, we met the last midwife with the practice.  While she isn’t our favorite, she’s still on the same page as us.  She’s a little Type A for us, but you never know…that might actually work to our advantage in the delivery room.  Bottom line is she gets us and will listen to our needs and wants, which is really what we want.

I have fixed the baby pool survey so that it now works!

“How a woman approaches birth is intimately connected to how she approaches life.”
- The Birth Book

How true.  How true.

I have spent the majority of this week recouping from the events of last weekend.  With a baby shower, anniversary party and family visiting all at once, needless to say things were a little hectic.  However, a lot of preparation and planning made things flow fairly smoothly.

Another pregnancy symptom has hit in full force.  I’m having slight swelling in my hands and have started having numbness and some pain associated with it all.  Sleeping was rather difficult, but I believe that chiropractic care is helping relieve some of the pain and I’ve been able to sleep a little more comfortably since my adjustment.  Like a school kid, I’ve begun counting down the days until my due date.

I’m also getting in nesting mode and need to get on the ball on ordering some registry items that didn’t arrive, including cloth diapers and baby wraps/carriers.  I believe most people are intimidated by cloth diapering, don’t understand the new fangdangled ones, and since you can’t buy the in a store, they skip purchasing them.  I imagine that the cloth diapers will be the bulk of our baby expense in the next few months to come.  I think the same applies to wraps and carriers.  They are new and different, and need to be purchased online or in a specialty store.

As the due date grows closer, we started up a baby pool.  A winner won’t be chosen until after the baby’s arrival, but I figured it would be fun for everybody to play over the next few weeks.

Sleepless nights have crept into my schedule and I am beginning to come to the realization that this is going to be my life for a while.  Sad, but true.  Although the air conditioning unit in our bedroom is helping tremendously, I’m having a hard time getting comfortable and my hands (and sometimes arms) are experiencing some numbness.  Sunday night I discovered that edema (swelling) can contribute to pregnancy induced carpal tunnel, so I started making an effort to sleep with my hands and arms extended, and I believe that has helped.  Fortunately, I am able to squeeze in the occasional nap to get me through the day.

I’m also stepping it up a notch with my pelvic rocking in the hopes to help minimize heartburn.  I’ve begun to get a handle on food…smaller portions and snacks intermingled throughout the day are helping.  I find it surprising that no matter what I eat, heartburn can strike in the afternoon.  Because new research is showing that Tums can “age” the placenta, and Papaya Enzyme/Extract is still somewhat controversial, I want to avoid medication if at all possible.

Yesterday we met with the third midwife at the new practice and we continue to be extremely grateful to have made the switch.  My mom came with us to the appointment and was able to hear the heartbeat for the first time, which she recorded on her cell phone to play back to friends and family.  My weight actually stayed steady from the last visit, my blood pressure continues to look good and the fundal height is on target at 34 cm.  Unfortunately, with a positive Group B Strep urine test, I will automatically be treated with IV antibiotics, preferably two doses four hours before delivery.  The midwife helped teach Matt how to feel my belly to figure out the positioning of the baby, something that was extremely neat.  Jostling the baby around caused the baby’s heartbeat to rise (a good thing) and we listened to the heartbeat as it returned to a normal resting pace.  We would have never been able to have such an opportunity at our previous practice.  I truly feel like this is the standard of care we were looking for.