39 weeks ...my last baby bump post

This will be my last baby bump post. Kinda sad, but exciting!!! I will be induced tonight (9 pm MST) so hopefully Channing will be here sometime tomorrow. 

How far along? 39  weeks 2 days
Total weight gain:  around 35 lbs. I have lost a few
Stretch marks? A few on my boobs. They are not bad so I think they will go away. Still none on my stomach but I have this weird white circle around my belly button. Maybe this means he is done cooking:)
Sleep: Sleeping rather well. Waking up several times a night but getting some good sleep.
Best moment this week: Finally getting a date of when this baby is gonna be here
Miss Anything? just being comfortable and not having to pee every five seconds.
Movement: still lots of alien movements. Had an nst done on Thurs. and he would not stop moving.
Food cravings: nothing!
Anything making you queasy or sick: No. food just doesn't sound yummy.
Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: Pressure, cramping, backache. I get it all but nothing timeable yet
Wedding rings on or off?  On and off
Happy or Moody:  Feeling pretty good and happy.
Looking forward to: Channing being here!!!
Dr. appt. : On the 31st at my  Dr's apt. I was dilated 1cm and 75% effaced. She said she could sweep my membranes at my next appointment if I wanted to. My blood pressure was high 160/100. I tried explaining I rushed to get there and had drank some pop ( which usually makes it higher).  They checked again before I left and it was still high. So off to L &D triage I went for tests and monitoring. I had no symptoms of pre-eclampsia so I wasn't really worried, but if my blood pressure didn't go down an induction would be a possibility. After 2 hours of monitoring me and the baby my blood pressure had went down to with in normal ranges with a few on the upper end of normal. Then Channing decided he didn't want to be monitored anymore and moved and my heart beat was picked up. So to be safe he was monitored longer and an ultrasound was ordered. In the end everything looked fine. He is measuring small, but this has been the case the whole time and I don't really get why they made it seem like somewhat of an issue now. Plus he weighed 5.6 lbs last week and was told that was good so who knows. I am offically on bed rest. Boring! 

At my next Dr's appointment another NST was done. There was some protein in my urine so they decided to do a 24 hour urine test and blood work again. Blood work came back good but there was enough protein in my urine to give me the status of mild pre-eclampsia. Baby was still looking good he is just measuring a week behind. This has been the norm for him from the beginning.  The Dr was more worried about me. She wanted Channing to have a little more time to develop so we decided to start induction with cervadil tonight and then pitocin in the morning, We did another cervical check and I was now 1.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced. a half cm in four days seemed pretty good to me. 

37 weeks

 

 How far along? 37 weeks = Full Term!!!

Total weight gain:  37 lbs hoping things start to slow down. I have noticed my appetite has decreased a ton
Stretch marks? still none. I really hope I don't get them. I will be really disappointed if i get them in these last few weeks or after the baby is here.
Sleep:  still waking up alot during the night. I seem to sleep better and for longer periods during the day. Maybe this is just because I am exhausted from my restless sleep at night.
Best moment this week:  getting some medicine from my Dr. I have been in awful pain since this past weekend due to lovely pregnancy induced hemorrhoids. Apparently these are supposed to be more painful than childbirth. I guess this was a good test run to see what my pain tolerance is.
Miss Anything? having a normal sleep schedual
Movement: still a kicking, poking, moving machine
Food cravings: nothing i really crave. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: mexican food. doesn't make me sick or queasy but very unappetizing pretty much the whole pregnancy. I find this humorous since the bambino is part hispanic. We went to eat mexican the other day and i seriously was going to order a hamburger bc everything sounded so gross. I decided on nachos.
Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: alot more BH contractions but no consistency yet.
Symptoms: look at best moment of the week :/
Wedding rings on or off?  On and off
Happy or Moody:  Happy, nervous, emotional! You name it I am pretty much feeling it.
Looking forward to:  Monday I go get my maternity pictures taken :)
Dr. appt. : was quick and pretty much revolved around my ass. My blood pressure was up 140/90 but was most likely caused by the pain I was in. I was also dehydrated so I have been drinking water like a fish.  We also met with the pediatrician. I really like the Dr's office and Dr. Some of the things I like:

• they have after hours nurses to answer phone calls
• they have a separate wating room for sick patients
• one of the pediatricians in the office will see Channing after he is born and do the circumcision (did you know there were two ways to do this?! i had no clue)
• if our little guy is sick they will get him in that day. 
• they will also work with me on a vaccine schedule that we want. I think a baby getting vaccinated for 8 things at once is over kill so we plan to space them out. If any of you have a delayed or alternative vaccine schedule I would love to see it.

35 weeks

 Running behind on these. I will post the 36 week beginning of next week.

How far along? 35 weeks. Baby is about the size of a large cantaloupe

Total weight gain:  total weight gain 34.9 lbs. I was hoping not to gain any this week to make up for Christmas. Alas, no luck! Oh well I really can't complain. I do not look like I have gained almost 35 lbs. It is mostly all belly (what belly I do have).
Stretch marks? I think i may be getting some on my boobs. At this point I can't say 100%. 
Sleep:  Still sleeping well and alot more. It seems like 8 hours of sleep doesn't cut it right now.
Best moment this week:  The first of 2 child birth classes.  I was glad to see the hospital already did alot of what I wanted. It is also pretty nice that the baby will stay with either me or Eric at all times. If the baby goes to the nursery Eric gets to go with him and stay while they do whatever they do.  We also met with our Doula last Sunday. Since we decided to stay with our OB I am glad I went this route. I feel much more comfortable about having the birth experience I want.
Miss Anything? BEING ABLE TO BEND WITH OUT GROANING :) HA
Movement: feel like he is  trying to poke out of me with his butt! He is REALLY strong. It doesn’t necessarily hurt, but it’s not exactly pleasant. I do love his movements no matter how uncomfortable it gets. I'll try to take a video to post of his crazy movement.
Food cravings: Still cold drinks. The more ice the better. I also really enjoy hamburgers, but try to only have one occasionally.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No :)
Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: I had a worse than normal Braxton Hicks contraction last night while at Karaoke. I had not really noticed them lately. I am glad it was only one and not several or I may have freaked and though I was going into labor because it was so different than normal.
Symptoms: still joint pain in my fingers. Plan to ask the Dr about this on Tuesday. I find it funny this is the only place i seem to have noticeable swelling
Wedding rings on or off?  Pretty much off. I can wear them but by the time I start moving around my fingers start to swell.
Happy or Moody:  Happy!! I feel pretty lucky to not have had all the emotional mood swings.
Looking forward to: working on the babies room. We got alot accomplished last weekend even with our busy schedule.  This will be another busy couple of days with appointments and what not but plan to start painting the furniture today. I had hoped to put up the map wallpaper I ordered. It said delivery was supposes to be yesterday but no paper :( . Hoping it is not lost.
Dr. apt. update: we did a position scan this week. Is is head down, weighs 5lb 11oz and is measuring right on track. I also have carpal tunnel syndrome which is why my hands have been hurting. Basically there is not alot that can be done except where a brace. It will go away once I give birth. I have another appointment next week so will do another update then if anything interesting is said. 

Natural child birth and Hypnobabies

As I wrote about in one of my other post I have decided to try a natural birth. There are so many different birthing classes ( lamaze, the bradley method, etc. ) to choose from. After doing some research I have decided on hypnobabies. It uses tactics that I already believe work. Like relaxing the mind and body. As well as using positive thinking to navigate situations.

So what in the world is Hypnobabies?

It’s a childbirth preparation course designed based on the philosophy that childbirth is a normal, natural event. It does NOT have to be agonizing. Rather, we associate pain with childbirth because we’re surrounded by a culture that insists childbirth is a scary, painful time that requires being rescued by epidurals and modern medicine just to survive it.
It doesn’t have to be that way! Pregnant moms shouldn’t be afraid of their baby’s birth. This course helps de-program the mother from all those negative connotations associated with birthing. It teaches the mother how to allow herself to deeply relax, both physically and mentally.
It also gives the mother specific tools in hypnotic anesthesia for childbearing. It’s the same sorta technique that hypnotherapists use for clients who are allergic or who otherwise cannot tolerate pain medications, but require a surgical procedure. For instance, there’s this guy who used hypnosis during his wisdom tooth extraction.
Now, the method used in that dental procedure is not quite the same as what I will learn in Hypnobabies. Since childbirth is a natural event (and getting a tooth yanked out isn’t), the body is already making preparations for birth to happen.

The course was developed by a woman who was a Bradley Method instructor for a decade, and then also an instructor in the HypnoBirthing method (different from Hypnobabies!). She saw that the two methods were somewhat lacking, and set out to create a course that gave moms more tools for birthing. You might recall that I did Bradley with my preparation for Jonathan, so it’ll be interesting to do a little comparison later on.

Hypnosis for childbirth

As explained in the HB course materials, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You don’t do anything against your will. You are in complete control of what happens, and whether you accept or reject suggestions given to you while under hypnosis.
Visit the hypnosis for childbirth page on the Hypnobabies site for a lot more details.
As mentioned on that page, the HB course will teach you how the body works to get the baby out, and how the muscles involved work more efficiently when the body (and mind!) is in a relaxed state.
From the site: “Comfort in childbirth depends on much more than deep relaxation, so you are also taught the most in-depth hypnotic anesthesia techniques that exist.” This point is key.
Some other childbirth classes do emphasize relaxation, but I think some fall short in giving moms tools on how to effectively relax and stay there — and regain your relaxation if you start to lose it. Or, they are effective at the relaxation part, but they don’t give you additional tools (like hypnotic anesthesia). Hypnobabies doesn’t just tell you to relax — it teaches you how to relax.

The course emphasizes “eyes-open childbirth” which I think is really cool. You don’t have to be laying completely still in a bed, or have your eyes closed to still benefit from your hypnosis. Instead, you can be mobile, talking, and moving about and still use your hypnosis during your birthing.


About the home study

You can opt to take an in-person Hypnobabies course, which is six weeks long. Or, you can do a five-week home study (plus maintenance!). Due to scheduling and personal preference, I’m doing the home study.
The course kit for about $125 shipped.With a 20% discount for signing up for their newsletter.
Contents:
- Hypnobabies workbook (195 pages)
- Quick Reference and Birth Partner’s Guide booklet (39 pages)
- CDs containing 12 Hypnobabies scripts
- Big stack of misc. handouts


Visit this link for more information on the pack, plus descriptions of what’s on the CDs. Also on that page is an outline of the course contents for each week.
If you’d like more info, of course you can visit the main Hypnobabies page, but you can also download two tracks for free. One is an intro to Hypnobabies, and the other is called “Relax Me,” which is simply a track to help you, ya know, relax!
I have already been listening to the "relax me" track. I suggest it for anyone who needs to distress. I absolutely feel more relaxed and energized when I am finished.

There are tons of you tube videos on hypnobabies. This one is my favorite:  hypnobabies birth of Grace. Obviously she is still having pain, but the way she peacefully manages it and how relaxed she seems is pretty amazing to me.

I guess in a couple of months we will see how well it works. I have read alot of birth stories where it has worked and a few where it didn't work well enough to not get pain meds. I will post updates on how the home study course is working when I start it.

29 weeks

How far along? 29 weeks. baby is the size of a butternut squash

Total weight gain:  total weight gain 22.3 lbs.  I am still pretty much all belly so I can not really complain. I really thought I was going to get huge everywhere. I can still fit in a handfull of my prepregnancy jeans with help of a belly band. I did buy a pair of maternity pants the other day. I was getting sick of bending over and my pants coming down b/c they are not buttoned.
Stretch marks? Still none
Sleep:  This weeks sleep has been  up and down. My stomach is definitely getting bigger and Channing has been laying in a way that is putting alot of pressure on my lower stomach. There have been several times laying on my side feels like my stomach is going to rip apart. I think he finally moved of that spot. I am finally feeling some relief.
Best moment this week:  Getting furniture for the baby room. We drove up to Denver and went to ikea. We also walked around the 16th st mall. It was so nice to get out of the house. Now I can finally get all the baby stuff put away.
Miss Anything? being able to move around or even stand with out falling over. I tend to trip over invisible things anyway but the belly is for sure throwing off the balance even more.
Movement: Still moving a good bit. As I said before he has been laying in a funny position. One night I couldn't take it anymore so I lightly was pushing on my belly to get him to move. He was pretty pissed off about it and was just kicking me back. He finally moved but was back in his spot by morning. Stubborn little guy!!!
Food cravings: clementines. I could eat them all day long
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: BH every now and then
Symptoms: I have had some acid reflux. it had actually stopped for awhile ( it was happening every night). I have never had acid reflux before. I think its more annoying then painful. Last night I had to sleep upright for awhile until the medicine kicked in. My throat felt like it was burning way to much to lay down
Wedding rings on or off?  On
Happy or Moody:  Still in a good mood. We did put together the ikea dresser yesterday and that was a huge test on my patients. The directions seemed to be awful if ikea directions can get any worse. We actually ended up putting the top of the dresser on backwards. Didn't realize this till we were all done :/ It may just have to stay this way
Looking forward to: Finding a place for everything. I am not the cleanest person in the world. Having things not put in a place normally doesn't bother me. Pregnancy has defiantly changed this. Having so many things that are not organized is driving me crazy. I think I have taken nesting to a different level. I have organized the bedroom and all of our clothes, the bathroom, the hall linen closet. Now i am tackling the babies nursery. Eric thinks I am nuts! We were putting away baby clothes last night. I was having him fold the socks a very specific way. He says " i am surprised you are not sorting these by heavy and light weight socks". I just look at him and show him the two drawer organizers I had going one for heavy one for light. He just laughed. I think he new better then to question my crazy organization tactics.  

27 weeks

I promise I'll add a 27 week photo by tomorrow :) So I totally flaked on last weeks post. I was back in WV and was pretty busy and just didn't take the time. Here is a picture on me and my cousin and the baby shower. I think this is the only side shot I got the whole time I was home.

How far along? 27 weeks.

Total weight gain:  total weight gain 19.8 lbs.  I had no weight gain at 26 weeks and for 27 weeks it is saying I have gained 4 lbs. I personally am not buying it. I think I may be retaining some fluid from flying. 
Stretch marks? Nope! Had a scare at victoria secrets though. I must have scratched myself and in the changing room lights it looked exactly like a stretch mark. I freaked!!! I am also noticing a faint linea nigra below my bellow button. 
Sleep:  Still sleeping well. Except for the other night when I seriously thought Eric was going to push me out of bed. He was like sleeping with a snoring child. It was awful!!
Best moment this week:  got to go back to wv :) and seeing everyone at the baby shower. Also a stranger finally asked me if I was pregnant. I guess the weekly 2lb weight gain all went straight to the belly.
Miss Anything? beer sounds so yummy and refreshing.
Movement: channing is now kicking my in the ass or what seems like it. It is such a weird feeling i had to google it just to make sure it was possible.
Food cravings: fruit and lots of it
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: still some BH contractions. Going to talk to the dr about this. They have been more frequent this week and my stomach just hasn't been feeling right. Hoping it has to do with me trying to come down with a cold.
Symptoms:  getting some RLP again and sinus issues
Wedding rings on or off?  On but getting snug
Happy or Moody:  Overall I'm a pretty happy girl!
Looking forward to: Dr's appointment today and baby shower tomorrow. We also will be meeting with a doula tomorrow to see if we want this as an option. 

25 weeks

 

 

How far along? 25 weeks. the baby is now the size of a rutabaga

Total weight gain:  total weight gain 15.8 lbs.
Stretch marks? Nope! still keeping my fingers crossed
Sleep:  Still sleeping well.
Best moment this week:  we went out for Halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays. I painted our faces as skulls and I wore my skeleton shirt.
Miss Anything? the way clothes used to fit. it was so much easier to get ready
Movement: still pretty regular. He is usually quiet a day or two a week.
Food cravings: hmm. nothing in particular still wanting sweets, but i did cut back this week.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: none Started getting braxton hicks. This is normal as long as they are not frequent. They don't hurt they are just a little uncomfortable.
Symptoms:  I have been breaking out like crazy!! this is not normal for me so I hate it.
Wedding rings on or off?  On
Happy or Moody: Mostly happy. I had one moody day this week. Between trying to find a nice place to live on our budget (renting in Colorado is just plain expensive) and dealing with some other issues. I wasn't a very happy camper. Eric realized quick asking me if " i was ok" was not the thing to ask. I believe  a really bitch remark came out of my mouth in response. Opps!
Looking forward to: Flying back to WV on Thursday.

Ob vs Midwife

When I first found out I was pregnant I had no reservations about using an OB.  The further I go through pregnancy, the more Dr's appointments I have, and the more researching I do I have slowly begun to change my mind. If you read the Dr's apt. update on my 24 week post you know I have only seen my OB once. The rest of the times it has been the Nurse Practitioner. 

Here are the issues I am having with keeping a Dr:

• only seeing the Dr once so far. They try to get you in to see the Dr every other visit. Obviously, for whatever reason, this has not been case. The one time I did meet with the Dr was my second visit. I must say... I did like her. She was way more put together then the scatterbrained NP they have me seeing. She always seems like she is in a huge rush and I always have to remind her of things that she should be reminding me off ( like getting a flu shot).  The way the practice works I may not even get my Dr when I go into labor. So getting to know this Dr and her ideologies may be pointless in the end.
• lack of time at Dr's appointments. I guess I should have expected this. I feel like everything that goes on in my 10 min Dr's apt. could be done at home. Just give me a doppler to monitor the heart rate. I can take my own blood pressure. Unless I have something serious going on there is no point. I guess I was expecting a more nurturing aspect to the appointments. 
• higher risk of interventions during labor. I always new this to be so but it has really been weighing heavy on me for what ever reason. I don't want to be rushed or pressured into things because it is convenient for the Dr. I absolutely do NOT want pitocin. Unless it can save mine or the babies life no thank you. In no way am I interested in having very unnatural contractions. I am also further concerned with interventions being put on me because I am GBS+.  I tend to have a slight type A personality. I do not like being in control of my body. So it's really important that I have a say so in my birth.

These are the main things that bother me with having a Dr vs a midwife. Using a midwife would eliminate these factors. A midwife:

• will see midwife every time
• Relationship is professional, but also more personal and nurturing. Are known for longer appointments to answer questions and to guide you through this major life event.
• the use of interventions declines greatly when using a midwife. 
• I can still give birth in a hospital. In no way do I want to do a home birth. I really wish there was a birthing center here. I think that would be a perfect in between.

Another reason for my change in thoughts is I have decided to try to do it all natural. In no way do I feel like I need a gold star at the end. If I end up needing an epi. or pain meds oh well. From what I have read you feel much better after giving birth when you don't have an epidural and the baby is less likely to be groggy because of it's side effects. The majority of the women in my family did it natural so why can't I. I have also been doing alot of reading on managing pain.
The two books I am currently reading are :

• Mindful Birthing by Nancy Bardacke it has many exercises on breathing and using the breath to keep you present in the moment. Instead of focusing on what has just happened or will happen next. There is also alot of looking at things in a more positive light. The way it explained pain was pretty cool and really put it into perspective. It makes so much sense when reading it and could really be applied to lots of things not just birthing.
• Birthing from Within by Pam England this book has alot of similar ideas as the first. I think the main thing to bring away from this book is Birthing From Within means really listening to your own story, your own art, your own family and trying to take steps that are best for your baby and yourself. There is no formula. There is no one right way.

There are a few more books I want to read. One is Ina May's guide to childbirth. I also want to do Hypnobabies. It is basically learning to self hypnotize and once again using positive thinking .  It also really makes sense after reading about it. I'll do a whole post on it later to explain further.

Part of me thinks I should just stay with a Dr this time and see how the experience goes. If it wasn't what I really wanted then I can go  a different route next time. I just wish this wasn't weighing so heavy on me. I feel like if I stay with a Dr I will be really disappointed in the outcome. If I do stay with a Dr I am seriously considering getting a Doula ( a nonmedical person who assists a woman before, during, or after childbirth, as well as her partner and/or family by providing information, physical assistance, and emotional support). I think nursing school made me very keen on this idea. I think the fact that they are there to advocate for you and your wishes and not what is protocol  is very important.

Have any of you used a midwife or doula? I welcome advice on this topic :)

24 weeks

How far along? 24 weeks. the baby now ways over a 1lb

Total weight gain:  total weight gain 13.6 lbs. I love Halloween but all of this candy is killing me. My appetite increased this past week. This doesn't bother me but the fact that all I want is candy is an issue. Eric said he would hide it from me if i wanted. I think the evil glare was enough to know to leave the candy where I can find it. I am still right in the middle for weight gain so I can live with a 2lb weight gain two weeks in a row.
Stretch marks? Need to get back to using lotion like I was. Even though I don't really think it will help. Keeping fingers crossed for no stretch marks.
Sleep: Still sleeping really well. I have only needed to use a pillow in between my legs. the past few nights I have not even needed that.
Best moment this week:  Feeling the baby move more regularly is pretty awesome.
Miss Anything? Not really
Movement: every single day.... I have no clue what he was doing in there the other day. It was obvious he had his arms and legs going like crazy. I like to think he was having a dance party in there.
Food cravings: Reese's and snikers. Hence the two pound weight gain.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: All Boy
Labor Signs: none Nope!   
Symptoms:  Itchy boob...yes boob, singular.  It's just one in particular and it drives me INSANE!!  I just want to rip off my bra and start scratching like a crazy person but I know I can't!  It's honestly so annoying though. I am also getting hives which is annoying because it is hormone related so not much I can do.
Wedding rings on or off?  On
Happy or Moody most of the time: happy ! My mood hasn't really changed from pre-pregnancy
Looking forward to: Going home in two weeks. Which makes me realize only 4 more months till Channing is here! This is nuts and the time will fly by because of all the holidays. I really enjoy being pregnant so I would like time to slow way down.

***Dr's apt. update***
Last Friday was my monthly Dr's appointment. I must say I was annoyed! I was suppose to see the OB again ( i have only seen her once). Something came up and I was seen by the nurse practitioner for the umpteenth time. I find going to the appointments to be unnecessary and a waste of money. They ask how I am feeling and listen to the baby. That is it! I am seriously in there for 10 min. They never tell me what to expect or what changes will be taking place. I have had to look up everything online as it has happened. I really want to get to know the Dr and make sure we are on the same page. I am beginning to think a Midwife would be a better fit for me. I am going to do a whole post on this later. Besides the lack of attention at the Dr's it was a good appointment. Channing's heartbeat was very strong. They also started measuring my belly this time. I also will not have to go back for another a/s. The tech that did the ultrasound couldn't get a good picture of Channing's heart chambers. The NP said the radiologist was able to see the chambers so everything looked good. I was kinda bummed. I didn't want anything to be wrong, but wanted to see him again and get some better pictures since we didn't get any of his profile. We have decided to get a 3D ultrasound done sometime in November.