Second to last...

Well, this is the almost last post on this blog. I will post once more when I get Mia's birth story done, but in the meantime, I'm going to switch over to a family blog:

http://lovinlifewithkids.blogspot.com/

I've really enjoyed writing about my pregnancy here, and it still seems weird that it's over already! Thanks for following along with me, and if you want to keep up on our ever changing family, please visit the new blog...and feel free to leave a comment so I know who's watching!

Can things get any more nuts?!

Well, you'll notice I haven't posted recently...with good cause. We are moving in 9 days, and I have no idea how we're going to pull it off. I have spent every minute I possibly can packing...and I feel like I've barely made a dent. I will probably not post again until after the move, but when I do, hopefully it will include the full birth story. That will probably be the last post to this blog. This one was pretty much to track the pregnancy, so I'm going to start a new one on the whole family. Here is a link to pictures that our photographer did of Mia. She wants to take more, since some of the poses didn't come out like she had hoped, but I don't know if we're going to get that done before the move.

http://www.ninemonthslaterphoto.com/miak

Take care!

Birth Story in pictures

Here is the link to the slideshow our photographer made out of the photos she took. I hope to have the written version of our birth story to post soon, but for now, this will have to do! Feel free to leave any comments for the photographer here for her to read.

http://www.ninemonthslaterphoto.com/mia.html

Mia is continuing to do great! She was back to her birth weight within a week, and is a wonderful nurser. She's having more awake periods now, and it's pretty nice to see those little eyes just taking everything in. I'm doing just fine too...still having trouble with making myself take it easy. One of the potential pitfalls to homebirth is moms feel so good afterwards, they tend to overdo it. Joe is doing a pretty good job of keeping me in check...most of the time.

Mia just woke up, so we're off to nurse...again!

One Week Old!!

I will post the entire birth story when I have more time...but here are the bare bones:

On September 13th at 2:15 am, Joe and I welcomed Amelia Grace to our family. We had another wonderful home waterbirth...and the midwives were even here this time! She was 7 lbs, and 20 3/4 inches. We are all doing beautifully, and the boys are in love with their new little sister.



Here we are at 6 days old...sorry for the haze in the upper right corner, but apparently Dom got his finger on the lens and we didn't catch it...Mia is the important one in the picture anyway! :o)

D-day

So today is the official "Estimated Due Date"...big whoop. Since only 20% of babies are born on their due dates, I'm not expecting a whole lot to happen in the few remaining hours of this day. I don't think I've gotten much bigger in a week...what do you think?

I had a couple of rough days this week. Thursday and Friday I had these pain in the butt, piddly contractions ALL DAY. Literally, they started at 7am, and were every few minutes all day and all night long. Nothing I did made them stop, so we tried to move things along by taking some good brisk walks. While we walked they got nice and strong, but as soon as we stopped, they went back to just being annoying. By Friday night I was pretty much mentally done with being pregnant. I went 41 weeks with Dom, and just could not imagine another week of having those type of contractions all day. I hadn't gotten much sleep because it was seemingly impossible to get comfortable, so that didn't help either.

Today however, wasn't so bad, and I'm in a much better frame of mind. I got a good night's sleep last night, and I didn't have the annoying, mild contractions all day. I only the usual "when I bend over or stand up from sitting or laying down" contractions, which are much more managable.

We went to Curtis Orchard today, sort of our last family "outing" before we go from a family of four to a family of five. The rain was nice enough to stop while we were there, and it kept the crowds to a minimum. It was a nice change of scenery, and the boys had a great time...especially feeding the goats:

I'm pretty sure next time I update this it will be with a baby announcement...but I've been wrong before!

In the home stretch!

So here is a 39 week belly picture:





I've had two midwife appointments since I last updated, and happily everything is still good! Baby has had a nice growth spurt, because I've been eating like a horse for just that reason...to fatten the kiddo up. You do learn something new every day, and what I learned at my second to last prenatal is that skinny, long babies (like mine tend to be) can have nursing problems because they don't have much body fat. I would not have thought the two were related, but here's why: A baby without a lot of body fat has trouble regulating their body temperature. They can therefore burn through sucrose really fast, and become hypoglycemic, which causes them to be very sleepy, and they won't wake up to eat, even if they're hungry. So I've been eating everything in sight for the last week and half. This baby is feeling pretty long like the boys were (both measured 21 1/2 inches), and hopefully I'll still be pregnant a bit longer so I can get the kiddo up to at least 7 lbs. or so.


Baby is also no longer posterior, and is "really far down" according to my midwife. That makes me incredibly happy, since malposition has been one of my biggest concerns this whole pregnancy.


Everyone (except me) thought it would be amusingly ironic for me to give birth on Labor Day. Despite a nice bout of waves that had me wondering if I should call the midwife and let her know we might give birth last night, no dice. That is the second bout of warm-up we've had (the first was over a week ago, and that time we actually did call the midwife to let her know we thought we were close). I didn't get real worked up last night, which was good because they fizzled out around 10 pm after about 6 hours. I really don't mind being pregnant longer, as I'm still quite comfortable, with the exception of some fairly constant reflux and heartburn resulting from the drastic change in eating habits in the last couple of weeks. Not to mention these kids are always easier to manage on the inside than they are on the outside, and a couple more weeks of ease is never a bad thing!


I'll have a new update Saturday on my "guess-date!"

Almost 39!

Just a quick post to say I'm still pregnant...which is totally, completely, and utterly fine! I didn't update last weekend because it got pretty crazy since I had a friend from college come to visit, and I spent very little time on the computer...and getting on during the week is still a challenge. I will post a 39 week belly picture as soon as I get Joe to take one, and will update you all on my last (and possibly last two) prenatal appointments.

Officially "term" already?

Wow...37 weeks already! I'm having a hard time believeing that I am at the point where this baby is considered "full-term." Even stranger to think about is that this baby could come anytime. Odds are he or she won't, but it's still exciting and weird to think about. Joe and I set up the birthing room last night, and that really hammered home the fact that we're going to have another baby very soon. I'm really pleased with how well everything came together down there. The bed and pool fit perfectly, and everything is within easy reach and will be easy to find for us and the midwives. It may sound strange, but pulling out my nursing pillow and thinking that "I get to use this again soon!" made me smile.

Baby is still nice and active (often overly so in my opinion). S/he is still head down, but was posterior at my last position check. I certainly don't want to be back-laboring with a posterior baby, so I'm doing a whole bunch of pelvic tilts and really watching my posture to encourage this little one to rotate to anterior. I still have some time, so we'll see what happens.

I'm seeing the chiropracter about every two weeks, since I've found that my back and hips go wonky pretty easily now. I'm really looking forward to my apointment today, since my right hip has been driving me nuts. I've also started taking liquid calcium with magnesium every day, as I've been having quite a few episodes of Braxton Hicks and some round ligament pain. Other than that, I'm still feeling great...tired, but great. I know I could (and probably will) be pregnant for another few weeks, but I'm really anxious and excited to meet this baby. Since I'm having another pretty comfortable pregnancy, I wouldn't mind this little one staying in there longer (because as strange as it sounds I really do enjoy being pregnant). But I'm already feeling a little frustrated because of wanting to meet them and finding out who they are. Oh well, they'll come when they're ready!

The quilt is finished! All said and done it took a little over 42 hours start to finish. It was completely worth it though. I'm thrilled with how it came out. I really enjoyed the whole process, and definately plan to do more. I think I'll stick to smaller sized ones for now, like baby-sized and lap quilts...no big bed ones yet! Here is a picture of the finished product:

And a detail shot:

We also had our maternity portraits taken this past week. I absolutely love how they came out!! I want to make a note about the ones with the "older" looking shoes on my belly. That is a pair of Joe's shoes from when he was a baby that his mom gave us. Here is the link to our proofs on the photographer's website:

http://www.ninemonthslaterphoto.com/kolodinski.html

And here is the obligatory 37 week belly shot:

That's all for now!

Could this kid be any more active?

I couldn't nap today because the little bugger was moving and wiggling so much! I seriously wonder if there is such a thing as a too active baby. Neither of the boys was this squirmy...maybe that means it's a girl...who knows. I know the kid still doesn't like the binder, but it seems to be working. Baby's position was much better at my last mw appointment, head down and "on the way" to being engaged, as opposed to almost transverse. I just wish is wasn't so dang HOT! Being outside with this thing on is really tough.

Let's see, what else...we've got all our supplies except for a couple of shower curtains, and some new nursing PJ's for me. I get a couple of new sets for each baby...kind of a "new mommy" gift to myself. Outside of getting those couple of things, we just have to blow up the pool to full capacity (our battery powered pump doesn't have enough juice to blow it up fully) and we're good to go!

I'm getting my maternity portraits done next week, so I'm really excited about that. We're going to do most of them outside at dusk, so the lighting should be great. I'll have to post some of those when we get them in. We're going to do some family ones too, which will be nice since we haven't had a family portrait done since Dom was six weeks old...so that's almost two years ago.

I don't have a new belly picture yet, because I forgot to get Joe to take one before he left for WI this week (another three day trip for work). But I'll have him take one this weekend when I'll be 36 weeks.

I do have some pictures on the quilt though...I'm almost done!! I had to do some creative editing to get the border I wanted, and I'm really pleased with how it is coming out. This is the template I bought to use:

It is supposed to be 'diamond, loop, loop, diamond'...but doing that pattern didn't fit the width of the quilt. Joe helped me come up with a variation that did fit...this is a picture of what I'm doing with it (I left the pencil lines on hopefully it will be easier to see):

I've got 2 1/2 sides of the outer border done, and then I just have trim the edges and do the binding. Zack has started "helping" me with it too. It's pretty cute, I push the needle about halfway up through and he pulls it the rest of the way. I'll have to see if Joe can get a picture of him doing it, so I can prove in his later years that he did, in fact, quilt in his lifetime.

What's in a name?

Joe informed me last week that he is not as enthused about the boy's name we had picked out as he was a couple of months ago...which is fine, because upon thinking about it, I don't think I am either. So we are now, once again, without a boy's name. I think we'll probably just let it go until the baby is born, and if we have a boy, we'll just do what we did with Dom. Which was to not pick a name until he was 36 hours old.

I blew up the birth pool today, to see how much room we had left in the birthing room. I absolutely love the pool, and will reiterate how happy I am that I spent the extra money to get the LaBassine. The bottom is nice and soft, and the sides are higher so I will get deeper water. We currently have two bookcases in the birthing room that I will have to pack up (right now a bunch of small stuff is stored in them) and they will have to be moved, but that's not too big of a deal...especially since Joe will be the one doing the heavy lifting. ;o)

The baby has been very active lately, which has been a combination of fun and annoying. We watched Dom's birth video last night, and the boys were fascinated, and puzzled by the fact that Mommie was in a swimming pool, sounding really unhappy, and then a baby appeared...which they were then told was baby Dominic. We tried to explain to them that Mommie had another baby in her tummy that would be coming out soon, although we're not sure if they "got" the concept. We're trying to prepare them in case they wind up being present at the birth. I've found in my research that siblings tend to be more receptive to new babies if they realize that "this came from Mommie, so it must be okay," versus "Mommie just showed up with the weird little creature, and I don't think it belongs here." I guess it will all depend on timing. If they're awake and interested in being there, they probably will be, but I don't think we'll wake them up or anything.

Here is a 32 week belly picture:

And here is the quilt in progress:

I don't know how well you can see the quiting on the squares, so here is a close-up of what that looks like, I hadn't erased the lines from the blue square yet:

The white stuff sticking out the sides is the batting (the stuff that makes the quilt puffy). I've gotten 19 out of the 25 squares quilted with the double star design...only six left!! Yes, I intentionally rotated the stars they they weren't all going the same direction. I'm just going to stitch "in the ditch" on the two green borders, which means I'll just be quilting along the seams. There will be a pattern of some sort to the outermost border, but at this point I have no idea what that's going to be. That's all for now...thanks for checking in!

I get computer time!

Joe is in Wisconsin for work for the next three days, so I get the computer to myself! I used to be able to get on a few times a day, but with him working from home now, I don't get on very often at all. Did I mention he's working from home now? Probably not...well, he is. He's working for the engineering firm in Wauwatosa that he will be at after we move. It's been an adjustment for everyone having him home all the time, but I think we're managing pretty well. The boys have finally figured out that when he says he "has to go to work" he won't be getting in his car and driving away, so they don't run to the window to watch him leave anymore.

It just occured to me that I probably didn't mention that I am not working right now. I've been working from home doing exhibit design for about three years, but for a variety of reasons have decided to stop. The biggest reasons being that with a newborn, and a state to state move, I just need to clear my plate of a few things, and reduce my stress level as much as possible. I've yet to decide if I want to continue working when the baby gets a little older, we'll just have to see how things work out once we're moved. At any rate, my work computer is back with my employer, since I don't need it right now, and they do...which is why getting online is hard...we're down to one computer.

I thought I'd write an update on my last midwife appointment. I had an appointment on Friday, and everything was great. She commented that the baby isn't huge and since after two pregnancies (and a c-section) my stomach muscles aren't as tight as they used to be, the baby has a lot of room to move around. This came up because she wanted to let me know that since I've already HBAC'd, she's not worried about me birthing a breech. I told her I'm not worried about breech either, but for some reason I've had this niggling concern about the baby being acyclinic. (I've had people ask me what that means, so please forgive the brief definition:)

Acyclinic is the term used to describe a baby whose head is engaged in the pelivis turned at an angle. So instead of the back top of the head (the narrowest part) going through the pelvis first, the area above an ear, for example, is trying to fit through first. Presenting in this fashion makes the head too wide to fit through. The only way these babies can get out is via c-section. Many women are c-sectioned for acyclinic babies, but are told "baby was too big", or "your pelvis is too small," etc...

With this kid having that much swimming room in there, s/he being acyclinic is a definate possibility. (I've also had people ask me why that would make a difference, so here's another brief explanation:)

If a baby engages (drops into the pelvis) prior to labor on their own, the odds of them jamming themselves in there acyclinic are really quite low. It's certainly possible, but the risk is small. A baby that has lots of room to move around and get comfy up in mom's uterus is not going to be inclined to engage themselves in mom's cramped pelvis. They are going to want to stay where it is nice and roomy. So if a baby is unengaged, or "floating" prior to labor, the baby will essentially be getting forced into the pelvis via contractions. Therefore, the odds of the baby getting pushed into the pelvis with their head cockeyed are greatly increased.

All of that to say, I'm wearing the binder from my c-section most of the time now to "fake" the stomach muscles I used to have. By wearing it, I'm restricting the amount of space the baby has, and the plan is that will encourage them to engage on their own to get themselves more room. Once their head is in my pelvis, they will have more wiggle room for arms and legs. I don't really mind wearing it, except if I'm outside for long periods because it's been so hot lately, but the baby doesn't like it at all! It's really kind of funny how much the kid pushes at it!

In other news, I got my La Bassine (my birth pool) earlier this week! I can't wait to get it set up and test the 3" thick inflatable bottom! While roomy with very nice thick sides, the last pool we used had a very hard bottom, which was...well, hard on my bottom. The footprint of this pool is significantly smaller than the fishy pool we used before, which will be nice since we're birthing in a smaller room, as we've converted the downstairs bedroom into Joe's office. I'm really glad I decided to sink the extra $$ into getting this pool. The downside is we won't be able to use it as a giant ball pit/outdoor pool for the kids like we did with the last one.

Since I don't have anyone to take one right now, I plan to post a new belly picture this weekend...my kids are pretty sharp, but camera use is still a little beyond them. ;o)

Oh my it's been a while!!

I've determined that there is a specific gene encoded with a sequence to give a person the ability to keep a journal...I've also determined I completely lack this gene. Every journal I have ever tried to keep fades out of my life after about two weeks. Apparently, this phenomenon also applies to blogs. As I approach the end of this pregnancy, I will try very hard to keep current on this sucker.

Here is a new belly picture at 31 weeks...

I can't really believe that I'm already down to only 9 weeks or so! This is my favorite part of pregnancy...when the baby is always active, and I just feel happy with this big belly. I know that according to the ultrasounds we had, this kid only has two arms and two legs, but with all the movement and kicking (in multiple locations at once), I swear s/he has grown a couple more in the last few weeks!

The heat hasn't been too much of an issue, thanks to AC and tank tops, but I really hope we get a bit of a break soon. I feel bad about not being able to take the boys to the playground every morning like we used to do, but when it's over 80 degrees by 9 am, I just can't take that! Other than the discomfort of the heat from going out, I feel really good. No problems to speak of, just the usual back soreness which is vastly helped by chiropractic adjustments.

I'm on my 5th week of the Hypnobabies course, and although I'm finding it hard to get in all my practice, I really enjoy the deep relaxation I'm able to achieve with it. I think it will really help during my birth. I'm also finding it hard to listen to the CD's during the day, since it requires a half-hour of completely undisturbed time (not so easy to come by with two little ones!) So what usually happens is I only get to listen to the day's script as I go to bed...which means I get so relaxed I fall asleep halfway through. I think I'm going to have to figure out another way to get them in, because although I've been told it really won't make that big of a difference, I want to hear everything at least once!

In the last couple of weeks, I also started a quilt for the baby. Most of the fabric came from my Gramma Grace's fabric stash, but some came from Grandma Ethel's and a few pieces are from mine. The muslin for the back will be from Grandma Ethel. It makes me happy that even though neither of them is still with us, they are sort of still getting to be a part of this project. Here is a picture of the top completely pieced.

Now I have to do the actual quilting, which is where you sew all the layers (backing, batting, and the top) together and then finish the edges. The binding (the outermost border that seals off the edges) is going to be the lighter shade of green, to pull that color in again.

I suppose that's all for now, thanks for reading!

New pictures!

OK, so I finally took some new pictures of the belly. This is at 25 weeks this past Saturday:

Dominic has become fascinated with my belly every since we told him there is a baby in there. He wants to look at it all the time and play with my belly button. This next picture is of something we have coined the "Belly Bump".

Allow me to explain: Dominic will lift up his shirt and say "belly". At which point you are supposed to lift your shirt (exposing your belly) and get down to his level, so he can smoosh his bare belly against yours. We have no idea where he picked it up, but it's pretty darn cute. It should be noted that this isn't just a "mom's big pregnant belly" thing, as he does it to Joe all the time...except with Joe, Joe typically laying down and Dom will pull up both their shirts and then flop onto him. So there you have it...

What a crazy few weeks it's been! I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been busy or sick for the last three weeks. We spent all of last week in WI, which was nice, but tiring! The boys got bored with the hotel room after about three hours. Luckily the weather was nice for the most part, and there was a great playground a few minutes from the hotel. I discovered that Dom loves to swing, and Zack loves sandboxes. We also went to the zoo with my in-laws, which was a really nice day. The boys loved the little monkeys!

Unfortunately, with the drastic changes the weather went through while we were there (75 and sunny one day, 52 and raining the next) my system didn't handle it so well, and I developed a nasty sinus infection this past Sunday as we arrived home. It has now moved into my chest, so I've got a nasty cough and am having trouble sleeping, but I'm managing.

I had a midwife appointment yesterday, and everything was great. For the most part I've been feeling wonderful,with the exception of some irritating heartburn. I'm going to have Joe pick up some liquid calcium from my midwife next week, and that should help that issue.

I'm 25 weeks today, and baby is in theory 13 1/2 inches long, and weighs about a pound and a half. Baby is incredibly active lately, and it is so cool to feel the little bug wiggling and squirming in there! I always miss this part of pregnancy when it's over. I have no inklings on gender, and don't intend to even attempt to guess, as I was completely wrong with Dominic. That's pretty much it for now...still no updated belly pics, as I just haven't been in the mood, but hopefully soon!

Oh, yeah...we're having a baby!

So it finally occurred to me this weekend that I'm actually going to have another baby in another few months, so I should really think about getting stuff ready for him/her. Yeah, yeah...I know...it only took 5 1/2 months for that to sink in. What probably prompted it was a fantastic find at a garage sale this weekend. I had stopped at this particular house to look at something else (I honestly don't remember what it was now) and I found this absolutely gorgeous changing table. We had borrowed one from some friends who now need it back as they just had another baby themselves, and it hadn't occurred to me that we were going to need another one...and this one is just beautiful! I paid a whopping $10 for it! It's solid wood, so it is incredibly sturdy. Dom was climbing on it and it barely moved. Once I got it in the house, it looked pretty empty, so I pulled out some of the baby stuff and put it in there. Seeing the blankets, diapers, and changing pad all set up was probably the precise moment that it really, finally sunk in that we have another little one on the way. Here is a picture:

My midwife appointment on Saturday was great. Baby was completely curled up on the right side, so my tummy was amusingly lopsided when I was laying down. Baby has been a lot more active in the last week or so, so that has been fun. Joe finally got to feel the baby kick last week, and seeing his face when that happens is always a joy for me.

On another note, the boys are finally better! It took about a week for them to get totally back to normal, but their eating like little horses again, so we're all good. I hope to never see that stomach virus again!

As for a tummy picture...this one is from a couple of weeks ago, I think I was 20 weeks...but you get the idea. The baby bump has gotten a bit bigger since then, so we'll have to take a more current one on a day when I actually bother to put makeup on. lol

Home again, home again jiggity jig

Well, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. The weekend before last, we went to WI for my niece's first communion, and this last weekend, we went up again for Tasha's. It will be nice to spend a few weekends at home!! We've all been battling a stomach bug, and the boys are actually down with it again today...mild fevers, vomitting, liquid BM...the joyous trio of motherhood!! I know they're not feeling even close to okay because it is absolutely gorgeous outside, and all they want to do is sit and cuddle.

I realized this weekend that it hasn't really sunk in how far along I am. I know I'm over half-way done, but it seems like the last couple of months are a blur. I've been really busy and I think because of that I haven't been able to focus on being pregnant like I did with the first two. With Zack, he was my first, so I spent a lot of time just focusing on what it was like to be pregnant for the first time. With Dom, he was going to be my homebirth VBAC, so I spent a lot of time doing everything I could to make that happen. I'm just so busy with the other two, I haven't had time to really focus on and enjoy this pregnancy. That's something I think I'll have to work on...

Baby is doing great. I've been feeling movement for a while now, and while not huge by any means, I've got a little belly going. We have another midwife appointment this weekend, and as usual I'm looking forward to hearing the little bug. According to Babycenter, the baby now looks like a miniature newborn, is around 10.9 inches and weighs almost 1 pound. For some reason, the idea that the baby is that big already is sort of strange to me. I guess I just don't feel that big yet!

Glad to be done with "them"!!

We had our ultrasound yesterday and the area they were so concerned about was completely gone. (Which, for the record, is what we fully expected, but the OB apparently didn’t. @@) She was still maintaining that it was a bleed that miraculously healed in the last month. Despite the fact a bleed that big would not have healed completely in four weeks off of bedrest, when three weeks on bedrest did nothing for it…but whatever, it wasn't really worth arguing with her. So we are now officially, and very happily done with the OB’s office. I am so glad I never have to go back there. We were scheduled for our ultrasound at 11:00, and our prenatal with the OB at 11:30. The day actually went like this:

10:45 - arrived at clinic with Joe and the boys
11:06 – get taken to sonogram room
11:20 – finally start ultrasound
11:30 – back to waiting room
11:35 – get called to a cubicle for weight and blood pressure
11:40 – back to waiting room
11:45 - get called to exam room
12:30 – (an entire hour late!!!) OB finally comes in
12:37 – OB visit over

It was RIDICULOUS!! It was even worse because of the boys getting completely bored while waiting around for the OB. A few minutes before the OB finally came in, we were walking the halls with the boys, a nurse asked if we wanted some toys from another room. I said, “No, I’d like to see the d*mn doctor.” Her office door was wide open so I’m pretty sure she heard me. When she finally came in the boys were throwing tantrums, and she kind of acted irritated that they were making noise, and she had to talk over them. Joe and I both made comments to the effect of “Well, what do you expect when you keep people waiting for an hour?” She never apologized once, but she did say, “Well, we do the best we can.” Whatever…if you people weren’t always late you wouldn’t have a board with pre-printed signs for how long each doctor is delayed. Had I known that we were going to be waiting in the exam room for 45 minutes, I’d have told the desk to cancel our appointment, tell the OB to review the u/s pics and to call us. I don’t get how women think that kind of care is respectful or good. It seems like anywhere I’ve gone for prenatal care in the mainstream model women are herded around like head of cattle, and there is seemingly no regard for the fact that a patient’s time is valuable. Why do women put up with that kind of treatment? Okay, rant over…like I said, I’m glad I don’t have to go back there again. I’ll stick with my midwife who I see immediately and who spends at least a half-hour with me at every visit.

I did get a small measure of satisfaction out of annoying the nurse. I didn’t bother to do a urine sample, since I did one last week for my midwife and it was fine. I didn’t feel like peeing in a cup, and paying them to do an analysis on it when I knew it was fine. When she asked me if I had a sample for her, I told her “no” and why. She said, “You did it where?” I repeated that I had done one with my midwife the week before and it was fine. She said, “Well, we need one here every time.” I said, “No you don’t. If I don’t feel like doing one, I’m not going to.” She got this totally shocked expression on her face and clearly had no idea what to say to that. She scribbled something in my chart and got out of the room as quickly as she could. Joe was laughing when she shut the door, and we were both like, “I don’t think anyone has ever told her ‘no’ before.” So that was kind of fun.

I will give the OB’s office credit for the way they treated us with regard to respecting the fact we wanted very basic care. They didn’t give us a hard time about refusing all the blood tests, which is something I didn’t want to have to stress about. I was very up front and told them that now that this issue has resolved, I don’t see us needing their services again, and the OB said she was glad things worked out and wished me a good birth.

So that’s that. We're happily back to our homebirth plans full speed ahead.

Just a quick update

I only have time for a quick update, but I wanted to post that I'm doing just fine. I've spent the last two weeks increasing my activity level, and I haven't had any pain, bleeding, or any signs of problems with the baby. We are even more convinced it is not a bleed.

I still get tired pretty easily, but I'm hoping as I get more active that will fade quickly I can say I feel about 75% back to normal. The boys are very good about self-entertaining when I need to sit down and rest. I've got quite the baby bump going, and will have to start posting pics of my belly profile soon. :o)

Ultrasound update

So we had another ultrasound today, but instead of getting some answers, we now have new questions. The spot they were referring to as a “bleed” is now being referred to as an “area” since they aren’t sure what it is. I haven’t had any more bleeding, which is a very good sign, however, the area has not changed in size since two weeks ago. This fact, combined with a few other things they saw on the scan, presents us with the possibility that it could be one of two things: a bleed that isn’t getting smaller because it is full of old blood that can’t be reabsorbed -or- a leftover gestational sac from a miscarried twin. Since they can’t say for sure what it is, Cathy (the nurse practitioner) wasn’t comfortable telling me I could come off of bedrest. She is going to have the OB review the ultrasound pictures tomorrow, and if the OB says I can come off bedrest, she’s going to call me. I fully expect them to be “better safe than sorry” and not want me off bedrest yet. The ultrasound tech told us that it isn’t under the placenta for the baby that is there, who is doing just perfect, by the way. She also said it was the biggest “thing” she’s ever seen in ten years, and if it was a bleed that big, she would expect me to have definitely had more bleeding by now. The information I’ve been able to get also indicates that most women who have these bleeds and lose their babies, lose them before now. They don’t make it this far in their pregnancies…especially not with bleeds the size that this area is.

From all of the information we got today from the OB’s office, combined with the conversations I had with my midwives, we are strongly leaning towards this being a freaky, weird "water balloon" from a lost twin, that will most likely not cause any further problems, or interfere with our homebirth plans. We have another ultrasound scheduled on the 13th of April.

Joe and I have talked it over with both of our midwives, and we all agree on the following course of action: Since I have guaranteed full-time help for the next two weeks, I’m going to stay on complete bedrest for another week. If I still haven’t had any more bleeding, or other signs of any problems, I am going to increase my activity bit by bit the following week. If I still don’t have problems, hopefully I can be mostly self-sufficient by April. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

How quickly things change.

It’s amazing how things can change in an instant. In the blink of an eye, we went from having a normal, low-risk pregnancy to me being on bedrest with a 50% chance of losing our baby.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to update this blog, and I’m actually not supposed to be sitting in front of the computer right now, but I promise I’ll take it really easy the rest of the day.

On Sunday the 25th, at around 6:30 p.m. I got an unbelievable and unexplainable backache. At around 7:45 p.m. I started bleeding…big gushes of bright red blood. Needless to say, we were incredibly surprised and worried, so we called our midwives, who agreed that it sounded like a miscarriage. They were also sure to say that it could be something else, but we were not very optimistic. Since I wanted to know for sure if I had lost the baby or not, we decided to go to the emergency room at the small hospital one town west, about 20 minutes away.

Upon arrival, the medical staff was very sympathetic and caring, but they did not seem very optimistic, especially once they saw how much blood I had lost, and was still losing. We waited almost two hours for the ultrasound tech to get in and set up the room (they are not at the hospital 24/7). During that time, I prepared myself for the worst. We finally went to radiology, and when she had scanned for a few seconds she turned the screen so I could see our baby…perfectly healthy with a perfect heartbeat. The rush of relief was incredible to say the least. We quickly shifted to wondering where the heck all the blood was coming from. After a very extensive and long set of ultrasounds (both vaginal and abdominal) we went back to the ER to wait for the radiologist report. After another ½ hour, we were told I have a “uterine bleed.” The easiest way to explain it is to compare it to a blister. With a blister on your hand, if it pops it leaks fluid. Instead of fluid, a uterine bleed causes hemorrhaging. When a blister pops, you are left with a raw wound covered by a layer of skin. In the same way, I have an open wound on the lining of my uterus, with a layer of tissue covering it.

The ER doctor put me on immediate bedrest. The only thing I am supposed to get out of bed for is to use the bathroom, and shower every couple of days. The concern is that if I do too much, it will reopen the bleed or cause it to get bigger, which means it could undercut the placenta. I have not had any more bleeding since that first bout, which we are taking as a good sign. The doctors don’t know what causes these bleeds, there is nothing they can do about them, and they have no way to predict what the outcome will be. What they do know is that 50% of women who have these bleeds will lose their baby.

We had another ultrasound on March 2nd, and the bleed was measured to be 6.8 cm wide and 5.6 cm high. Apparently that is considered pretty large. I will continue to be on bedrest until at least the 15th, when we have another ultrasound scheduled. The only thing I can do is wait, try not to move too much, and pray. St. Benedict is the patron saint of pregnant women, so any prayers to him on our behalf would be greatly appreciated.

I think this is long enough for now…if I get internet access from my bed, I will try to post updates periodically. If we can’t get our router to work with the laptop, the next time I post will either be good news (I’m off bedrest), or bad (we lost the baby).

This is taking a loooong time!

It really seems like this first trimester is dragging along compared to my first two, and I finally figured out why. With Zack and Dom, we didn't find out I was pregnant until 5 weeks or later...so I was almost halfway through my first trimester already. This time, we pretty much knew when it happened. (It's pretty obvious when I ovulate. And at my age, when you ovulate the same night you had lovin' in the morning, the odds getting pregnant are pretty darn good.) I've had the inkling that I've been pregnant since the start, and we got confirmation at only three weeks along. So I've had the "pregnancy mentality" for over a month longer already!

Yesterday we had an early morning run to the ER. Not for me, for Joe. He took a substantial shot to the ribs while playing basketball on Sunday, and when he woke up Monday, he told me he wanted to go get checked out. After three hours in the hospital, some IV fluids, and a CAT scan, they determined he sprained the cartilage on a few ribs and bruised his liver, but he didn't lacerate any organs and he wasn't bleeding internally. It was also determined he does not like narcotic pain relievers given through IV, since it didn't take any pain away, it just totally looped him out for about five mintues.

I finally got a relatively decent night's sleep last night, although I don't know for sure what caused it. For two days or so, I've been living with a sinus infection that is really irritating my throat, my neck and shoulders have been so tight I haven't been able to get comfortable in bed, and I was waking up at 4 am every morning because I was crashing out at 8:00 at night. So yesterday I went to the chiropracter, got adjusted, and got some therapy on my neck and shoulders...something I am definately going to get done more often! I took some Olive Leaf Extract, which usually helps with my sinus issues. Then last night, I made myself stay awake until 9:00, switched to a more orthopedic pillow, and slept with a throat lozenge in my mouth. I slept four hours straight!! I don't know what it was that did it, so I guess I'm going to have to do all those things every night...except I think I'll add a hot bubble bath before bed to the mix, too. ;o)

On to baby: at 11 weeks s/he is the size of a fig (1 1/2 inches long) and is fully formed. The fingers and toes are fully separated and bones are starting to harden. Toothbuds are starting to form, and s/he could start getting the hiccups already. I'm really anxious to feel movement, but thats still a few weeks away. We're scheduled to hear the heartbeat in about two weeks, so I'm looking forward to that.

So I bit the bullet...

I know I missed a week, but hey, life happens. Sometime in the last two weeks I bit the bullet and switched to maternity pants. I figured, I could do the whole rigamarole of using rubberbands on my buttons, and not zipping my pants all the way, or wearing pants that were larger sizes, but frankly, maternity pants are more comfortable. And I am all about comfort this time around. I'm in that fun stage of early pregnancy where you can tell people are looking at your belly and thinking, "Pregnant or fat?"

I started taking a vitamin B complex last week to help with my fatique. While it helped me have more energy, I found it kept me from being able to nap in the afternoons. Which meant that I was ready to zonk out at about 6:00 every night. That didn't seem like a very good solution, so I stopped taking them. I'm managing to function, but I'll be very glad when I'm out of my first trimester, and not so dang tired all the time!

We went to my nephew's birthday party yesterday, which round trip consisted of a little over 7 hours in the car. I think I discovered that I'm more prone to motion sickness while pregnant. The entire car ride I felt queasy. Normally I get motion sick if I try to read a lot in the car, but I couldn't even read the directions without having a wave of nausea. Unfortunately, I threw up my lunch when were were about halfway home. The pizza wasn't nearly as tasty coming out as it was going in. The thing I feel the worst about is that we were in my Mom's car. Since Joe is wild pig hunting in Texas, the boys and I carpooled up with her. It would have been much worse if I hadn't picked up a Mary Kay order from my sister at the party (just so you know, while very cute, those bags aren't entirely waterproof). I don't think I get sick when I drive, so I think I'll be behind the wheel for any more extended periods in the car.

Let's see...baby is 10 weeks along now, so the fingers and toes are totally separated and the nails are starting to form, and the liver is formed and is starting to make blood cells. Other than that, the bean is just getting bigger and continuing to develop. Thanks for stopping by!

Where's the beef?

Ah food, glorious food. I've hit the stage in pregnancy where if I don't eat shortly after waking, and every couple of hours thereafter, I get nauseous. I'm craving protein (probably because of the extra iron I'm needing right now), so while the boys have grapes for morning snack, I have a slab of meatloaf...which Joe finds amusing. I'm still incredibly tired, and am trying to figure out the best combination of naptime and bedtime so that I am still able to get stuff done around the house, and get work done, too. My pants are starting to get snug already (especially after meals) and that is kind of annoying, considering I'm not even out of the first trimester yet. I don't think I had to switch to maternity pants until I was four or five months with Dom, but I think it's going to be closer to three with this kid.

As for this kid, at 8 weeks she/he is about 5/8" long (kidney bean size). All appendages have continued to develop, and the respiratory system and neural pathways have started to form. Here is a 3-d ultrasound pic of a baby at this stage, courtesy of babycenter.com...

Kind of looks like a kidney bean, too. That's it for this week! Thanks for reading!

So why homebirth?

This is going to be a long post, so be forewarned. After our last homebirth, I had many people ask me why we would choose to homebirth with a direct entry midwife, as oppsed to having a hospital birth with an OB, or even a Certified Nurse Midwife. Since I'm sure there are people wondering that this time too, I thought I would explain. There are a lot of reasons, but here are the big ones:

1) I've already had an unecessary c-section, and I don't want another one. The odds of me having a c-section with my midwife are less than 1%. I am not sure what the statistics are for our local hospitals, but I have yet to find any hospital with c-section statistic for low-risk mothers that is anywhere near that. The national average for c-sections is 29.7%. Since that is an average, there are hospitals out there with c-section rates of 50% or more. So just by walking in the door of a hospital in labor, my risk of a c-section goes up anwhere from 20-50 times. That is not acceptable to me.

2) I do not want to deal with unecessary and potentially dangerous procedures performed on me that are dictated by hospital policy. Policies such as: continious fetal monitoring, restricted food and water, a "labor curve" that I must progess along, or otherwise having my labor screwed around with, when it doesn't need to be. Since I am a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesearean) the odds of me being able to refuse these policies with little resistance from the staff is even lower than normal. I do not want to have to fight medical personel while I am in labor.

3) I do not want to deal with unecessary and/or potentially dangerous procedures performed on my newborn, and I don't want to deal with medical staff giving us a hard time for refusing those procedures. There are more than I care to list here, but they would include: immediate umbilical cord clamping and cutting, eye medication, Vitamin K injection, Hepatitis B vaccine, and circumcision.

4) I want a medication free birth, so being at home makes it impossible for me to get an epidural in a weak moment. I also know my support team will not offer me medication, like a nurse in the hospital might.

5) When I give birth, I want to be in a familiar, comfortable place, with people who I know, who know me, and whom I feel safe with.

I've also been asked the big "What if'" question: "What if something goes wrong?" There is a misconception in mainstream American society that childbirth is a disaster waiting to happen. Studies comparing low-risk homebirthers to low-risk hospital birthers have repeatedly and consistently shown that homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital birth. In reality, there are very few things that go catastrophically wrong very quickly in birth. 95% of the time, childbirth will happen just fine if you leave it alone. With a homebirth, I have one on one monitoring from an experienced midwife. The odds of her catching a potential problem early are much better than if I were in a hospital with a nurse watching a monitor showing my contractions at the nurse's station down the hall, while watching three other women's monitors at the same time. There is only a minute possibility that something would go wrong so quickly that I would not have time to transfer to the hospital before the issue becomes life threatening.

I mentioned a few interventions in #1 that are very typical for most hospitals. Any one of those things can lead to distress in the baby, a "stalled" labor, or problems with mom. One intervention typically leads to another, and another, and another. This is known as the "cascade of interventions." Any one of those interventions can cause problems, but when you start adding them together, you increase your risk of a whole host of problems which include fetal distress, instumental delivery, or c-section. So the truth is, the odds of something going wrong are increased by being in the hospital, simply by virtue of things they do as "standard policy". If you want more information on iotragenic (doctor or intervention caused) c-sections, and the cascade of interventions, you can read Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, by Henci Goer, or pretty much anything written by Ina May Gaskin.

So, I hope that answers any questions anyone may have about our choice to homebirth. Here's a quick update on baby's development: At 7 weeks, she or he is almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — and has elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. Both hemispheres of the brain are developing, as well as teeth, the inside of the mouth, and ears. And although I can't feel it, apparently the little bub is bouncing around like a mexican jumping bean in there.

I am still going to the bathroom a lot, and am still very tired. I'm trying to keep up with my excercise, but it's tough when I feel so run down all the time. Still no morning sickness!! That's it for this week...

So far, so good!

Well, here we are at six weeks pregnant. According to Babycenter.com the baby is about the size of a lentil bean (4 to 5 millimeters across). The baby's heart is beating about 100 to 130 beats per minute, and blood is beginning to circulate through it's body. It is also starting to build muscle fibers and, halfway through this week, will likely start moving arms and legs. Although with so much room to swim around, I won't be feeling anything for another couple of months.

As for me...still no morning sickness, not even a hint of nausea. YAY!! I am, however, experiencing my usual first trimester fatigue, and have resorted to taking naps with the boys in the afternoons. I've also noticed the mood swings have started to creep in, but once my hormones level off, that should get better...at least I hope it does for Joe's sake!

We're started to try to night wean Dominic, so I can get more sleep during my first trimester, but since we just started I'm not really sure how that is going to pan out. I've got to talk to some ladies who have nursed while pregnant and tandem nursed to get some additional ideas on what we can try.

I guess that's it. Thanks for stopping by!

We're pregnant!

A friend of mine blogged throughout her last pregnancy, and I thought it seemed like a cool idea...so I'm going to try it!

I'm just past five weeks pregnant today. My due date is somewhere around the 8th of September...although since I went to 41 weeks with my second son, I don't really expect to see this kid until around the 15th.

So far the only pregnancy symptom I've had is soreness when my son nurses...oh, and having to go to the bathroom every half-hour. I'd forgotten about the peeing all night thing, too. I'm hoping this pregnancy is like my last one, which was really pretty much a cake-walk.

Let's see, what else...how about a quick overview of my birth history? My first son was an unecessary c-section, my second son was an (accidental) unassisted home waterbirth, and we're planning a pretty hands-off home waterbirth for this baby. I guess that's it for now, thanks for reading and feel free to check in weekly for updates on the growing belly!