Less than 2 weeks to go! A few weeks ago, people seemed surprised that I was so close to the end of this pregnancy - they said I looked small. Not anymore! The comments I get from friends and passers by are, "wow, any day now, huh?" The torpedo-belly is emerging for the world to see and maybe it has something to do with the way I walk too, the tired look on my face or the involuntary grunting noises I make when I go from sitting to standing. I'm ready. Now is this baby?......
This pregnancy has been similar to the previous ones, except when you add two other kids to the mix you get a lot more exhausted along the way. I don't have a ton to complain about except heart burn, some back pain, and in the beginning some lovely puking. :-) This MAY be our last pregnancy (no promises) so I'm trying to enjoy this time while it's here. The nightly dance sessions the baby has in my tummy cracks me up. Finn and Selah are excited for the new little one too. Selah helped me wash and fold all the burp cloths and receiving blankets last night. It was so cute. She's gonna be a great big sister. They both randomly come up to the belly to give hugs & kisses and say hello and good night to the baby. :-)
Surprises: We don't know the gender yet. It's sealed in an envelope in our room and we still haven't peeked! We probably won't at this point. I wanted the option to open it at Christmas...but we held out. I'm looking forward to the surprise now. My dad thinks it's a girl and he's been right for the last 3 grandchildren! A couple of good friends have strong feelings that it's a boy....so someone's wrong.
Names: We have some that have been at the top of our list for a while now, but this week Nate and I both went back to the drawing board. We found Selah's name the night before she was born. So it might happen like that again!
My tools: I've got a morning and nightly routine of some yoga stretches that keep me from feeling like I'm 90. Swimming twice a week has also been helpful. Tums are my best friend now, as well as Evening Primrose Oil lately. I've borrowed my friend Lindsay's HypnoBabies cds again this time. I used them with my other two pregnancies, and with Finn's it really did help, though I had to skip a couple of sessions and fast forward to the end of the cds because he came early! It was so relaxing and really helped when transitioning to "active labor". The self-hypnosis is supposed to allow you to have a painless childbirth experience. I didn't experience that exactly, but it did help. The problem is, every time I sit down to listen to a 30 minute session now, I fall asleep. But I'm getting really restful naps! If I listen to it after 9pm, I end up sleeping all night on the couch. Maybe some of the hypnosis is slipping into my subconsciousness while I'm asleep!
Delivery: This is so up in the air right now (not that you can ever really predict it). I had a great experience with Finn's birth for the most part. I labored all day at home (and the beach with friends, and then at home with Nate) and then went to the hospital at 8 centimeters dilated and had a wonderful natural birth. However....Finn was over 9 lbs even 10 days early, and had minor shoulder dystocia. (His shoulders were stuck briefly) All of that caused a little trauma to my body, but I recovered. When Selah's time came around, the doctors in SB were really really nervous and cautious and strongly encouraged a c-section. So we went with that. Now, the doctors and midwives here with Kaiser are encouraging me to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). They say they wouldn't have suggested a c-section last time around (frustrating....but I can't turn back time). My doctor doesn't agree with inducing labor with a VBAC either, which I'm fine with. So the plan is, a scheduled c-section on April 2nd, or if I go into labor before then, we go for the VBAC! I'm hoping for VBAC (soon) but I'll be happy with a healthy baby no matter what.
Please keep us and the baby in your prayers!
2 comments:
You are all in our prayers. We can't wait to meet the little tyke and introduce him or her to the new cuz:)
You're in our prayers too! The family is growing leaps and bounds and we couldn't be more excited.
Post a Comment