Friday, I was officially 38 weeks pregnant.
How am I feeling? I wouldn't say that I'm extremely uncomfortable. I would say that it is difficult to put my shoes and pants on. Each day, I find more clothes that need to go into the postpartum pile because they no longer cover the belly. Stephen said I can just cover up with a blanket until baby gets here.
The thing is, I anticipate being pregnant another three or four weeks, and I have things to do. I photographed a wedding yesterady and I have a senior session on Tuesday. Our birthdays are a week from Sunday, and Stephen and I have plans to go to the theater. I have playdates, and family birthday dinners, and MOPS meetings, and lots of miscellaneous projects to complete. I don't think I'll be able to get along with just a blanket.
I get the question, "Will you be induced?" pretty often.
Here is my take on induction. I ask myself three questions before I would ever be induced.
1. Is the baby ready to take on the outside world? (There is a push in the medical community to only assume the baby is ready after 39 weeks instead of 37 or 38.)
2. Is my body ready to deliver? (The sort of obvious answer is no or else I would be in labor.)
3. Will the baby be safe in utero until my body is ready to deliver? (Because, yes, a healthy baby is the most important thing.)
If the answer is no, baby is not safe, then I would discuss induction options or surgery (thank heaven for these options). If the answer is yes, baby is doing great in there, I patiently wait until my body is ready.
My baby might be ready to take on the outside world. He/she is probably six plus pounds and would most likely not have problems breathing or eating, etc. But, right now, my baby is moving frequently, is head down, and has a strong heart beat. My placenta is nice and high and in the back. I seem to have plenty of fluid. I show no signs of preeclampsia or diabetes.
As long as my baby doesn't have a preference, I'll choose to wait until my body is ready to cooperate.
Once upon a time, I choose to force my body to do what it was not ready to do. We made this decision with our doctor because we were asking the wrong questions. We asked,
1. Is the baby ready to take on the outside world? (She was.)
2. Are you emotionally and physically done being pregnant. (Sure.)
We knew that D'arcy was doing fine in utero. My non-stress test was fine. I still had plenty of fluid. She was moving frequently. But we decided that it didn't matter.
My body reluctantly, slowly opened. The process was exhausting and extremely painful. I choose to have an epidural to help with the pain which left me ill equipped to push effectively. When my body didn't cooperate, the doctor surgically delivered the baby.
Did you know that 50% of first time moms who try to force their bodies to deliver their baby will end up having them surgically delivered because their bodies refuse to cooperate? Then we blame our bodies saying they don't function properly when in fact it's our patience that seems to be lacking.
It happened to me and it left me having to make some really difficult decisions about having a VBAC.
So, I'm waiting and trying to carry on a normal life and trying to enjoy these last fleeting moments of pregnancy.
Maggie is certain the baby is a girl. If I use the word he, she corrects me and says, "No, mom, the baby is a girl." I'll ask her what her name is and she says, "Elope" which makes me smile.
Schroeder has a name idea. He thinks we should use the name "Aunchonauts". Nuff said.
The kids now know how baby is laying and will pat the top of my stomach on the right and say, "Hey, we are hitting the babies butt." Maggie sometimes prefers a hug from the baby when she gets bumped or falls. She'll come and wrap her arms around my belly and will ask if baby is awake. Then she wants to put her face up against my belly button to say a proper hello.
I think they are all really accepting and excited about baby's imminent arrival.
My midwife came for our home visit this week. I went to Target to get all the supplies and to the Good Earth Store to get herbs to help me heal afterwards. After she came, it occurred to me that I was really going to have to do this whole labor thing again. Yikes! I need to build up my courage. That's the nice thing about being driven crazy with waiting. At some point, you stop dreading the idea of labor because you are just so anxious to have the baby. I haven't hit that point yet. I need to become more annoyed with pregnancy before I'm ready to encounter labor. The midwife's visit also prompted me to work out some logistics for a photographer to come and thought through what I would do if I happen to be alone in the house when I go into labor. I'm not anxious about it all, but planning a bit is probably a good thing.
Here I am with all five of my kids around the corner from our house.
How am I feeling? I wouldn't say that I'm extremely uncomfortable. I would say that it is difficult to put my shoes and pants on. Each day, I find more clothes that need to go into the postpartum pile because they no longer cover the belly. Stephen said I can just cover up with a blanket until baby gets here.
The thing is, I anticipate being pregnant another three or four weeks, and I have things to do. I photographed a wedding yesterady and I have a senior session on Tuesday. Our birthdays are a week from Sunday, and Stephen and I have plans to go to the theater. I have playdates, and family birthday dinners, and MOPS meetings, and lots of miscellaneous projects to complete. I don't think I'll be able to get along with just a blanket.
I get the question, "Will you be induced?" pretty often.
Here is my take on induction. I ask myself three questions before I would ever be induced.
1. Is the baby ready to take on the outside world? (There is a push in the medical community to only assume the baby is ready after 39 weeks instead of 37 or 38.)
2. Is my body ready to deliver? (The sort of obvious answer is no or else I would be in labor.)
3. Will the baby be safe in utero until my body is ready to deliver? (Because, yes, a healthy baby is the most important thing.)
If the answer is no, baby is not safe, then I would discuss induction options or surgery (thank heaven for these options). If the answer is yes, baby is doing great in there, I patiently wait until my body is ready.
My baby might be ready to take on the outside world. He/she is probably six plus pounds and would most likely not have problems breathing or eating, etc. But, right now, my baby is moving frequently, is head down, and has a strong heart beat. My placenta is nice and high and in the back. I seem to have plenty of fluid. I show no signs of preeclampsia or diabetes.
As long as my baby doesn't have a preference, I'll choose to wait until my body is ready to cooperate.
Once upon a time, I choose to force my body to do what it was not ready to do. We made this decision with our doctor because we were asking the wrong questions. We asked,
1. Is the baby ready to take on the outside world? (She was.)
2. Are you emotionally and physically done being pregnant. (Sure.)
We knew that D'arcy was doing fine in utero. My non-stress test was fine. I still had plenty of fluid. She was moving frequently. But we decided that it didn't matter.
My body reluctantly, slowly opened. The process was exhausting and extremely painful. I choose to have an epidural to help with the pain which left me ill equipped to push effectively. When my body didn't cooperate, the doctor surgically delivered the baby.
Did you know that 50% of first time moms who try to force their bodies to deliver their baby will end up having them surgically delivered because their bodies refuse to cooperate? Then we blame our bodies saying they don't function properly when in fact it's our patience that seems to be lacking.
It happened to me and it left me having to make some really difficult decisions about having a VBAC.
So, I'm waiting and trying to carry on a normal life and trying to enjoy these last fleeting moments of pregnancy.
Maggie is certain the baby is a girl. If I use the word he, she corrects me and says, "No, mom, the baby is a girl." I'll ask her what her name is and she says, "Elope" which makes me smile.
Schroeder has a name idea. He thinks we should use the name "Aunchonauts". Nuff said.
The kids now know how baby is laying and will pat the top of my stomach on the right and say, "Hey, we are hitting the babies butt." Maggie sometimes prefers a hug from the baby when she gets bumped or falls. She'll come and wrap her arms around my belly and will ask if baby is awake. Then she wants to put her face up against my belly button to say a proper hello.
I think they are all really accepting and excited about baby's imminent arrival.
My midwife came for our home visit this week. I went to Target to get all the supplies and to the Good Earth Store to get herbs to help me heal afterwards. After she came, it occurred to me that I was really going to have to do this whole labor thing again. Yikes! I need to build up my courage. That's the nice thing about being driven crazy with waiting. At some point, you stop dreading the idea of labor because you are just so anxious to have the baby. I haven't hit that point yet. I need to become more annoyed with pregnancy before I'm ready to encounter labor. The midwife's visit also prompted me to work out some logistics for a photographer to come and thought through what I would do if I happen to be alone in the house when I go into labor. I'm not anxious about it all, but planning a bit is probably a good thing.
Here I am with all five of my kids around the corner from our house.
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