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Pregnancy Symptoms This Month
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Last night I had a hard time getting comfortable in bed, and I have to go to the bathroom a couple times a night. I don't know if I wrote about this yet or not, but I have a spot right by my ribcage on my left side that feels very peculiar sometimes. I think the baby might be sitting on a nerve or something. It feels kind of tingly. I had it when I was pregnant with Ellen, too, and that is one reason I have a hard time getting comfortable at night, and during the day, too. With Ellen, though, I was still working and sat a lot during the day, so my back hurt, too. This time around, my back doesn't hurt very often... especially since I haven't been sitting at the computer so much lately.
Here are some more things that are different this time around. . . I don't have much swelling of my ankles or fingers. I haven't gotten a dark linea nigra like I did with Ellen. The hair growth on my legs really seems to have slowed down! Honest! My face is hardly breaking out at all; with Ellen it sure did! So it's probably a boy, right? Who knows! The heart rate is high, though--150--so it should be a girl ;) . . . but the midwife seems to like to take the heart rate after she pokes and prods my baby to feel the position, so of course the rate would be high. lol
Baby moves often. He/she really made my tummy ripple in church Sunday morning. It was so funny! I wonder if baby has moved and is perhaps facing a slightly different direction; I've been feeling more movement on the lower left side of my tummy than I have felt for a few weeks.
After church, my dad--Mom and Dad ride to church with us--asked me some questions about my having a homebirth. It was weird. All of a sudden he was wondering about emergency plans. . . like what about an ambulance and stuff. I didn't know he had any concerns about my having a homebirth; he never mentioned them before. Mom talked to him some more after church, and apparently he does like it that I'm going to have a homebirth, but somehow the pastor's sermon sparked his thinking, and he started wondering about certain questions. Hmmmmmm.
Well, another thing is that I am afraid he might feel disappointed that I'm not inviting him to the birth. He asked me who was going to be there, and I said John, my husband; Mom... to watch Ellen and make soup and cinnamon rolls :); the midwife; and her assistant. After I told him a bit about how the midwife is trained to know when something is not going normally in childbirth, and when she notices it she can tell me, and we can discuss it and go to the hospital calmly if need be, etc., he still seemed quite concerned. He walked away.
I went to him and told him my midwife liked to answer questions, and he was welcome to call her if he wanted more answers to his questions and concerns. He then said that he wasn't going to be at the birth anyway, so it didn't matter. . . Well, he said something like that. I don't understand why his not being at the birth would mean that he wouldn't want his concerns answered. You would think he would want his concerns alleviated even if he weren't going to be there. Ah, well, I don't know!!??
Mom had told me before that she didn't really think he wanted to be at the birth anyway. I had thought he might and was afraid he might feel left out. Mom talked to him, and I suppose things are okay now, but his talk with me really bothered me and made me feel bad. . . and puzzled. Sigh.
I guess at one time maybe I thought dad might come to video tape the birth; maybe he thought I'd want him there for that??? But I know I could not let him be here for the birth because I am afraid I would feel too inhibited and self-conscious. Plus, our relationship is a bit strained. It would be too hard for me to relax. Also, especially if he is worried about homebirths at all, he'd better not come. I want to try to avoid as much negativity around me at the birth as possible.
I even feel a little nervous having my mom there. She is wonderful and kind, but I hope she won't be too scared for me. If I sense her feeling scared, I don't know what I'll do. I guess I can always say that John and I would like some time alone, and then maybe Mom and Ellen can go for a walk or something.
My dream is to labor at night with only John and myself there. Ellen would be asleep, and then right when the baby was coming she could get up and come and see!
I am starting to get nervous about how will we handle having two children. I know it will work out. John sounds positive about it.
My nipples are getting sore again. Sigh...........
I am also getting more emotional. I'm getting upset about little things and sometimes feel like crying about things that I really shouldn't let upset me.
I had an appointment at my midwife's today. No protein or sugar in my urine. I've been drinking enough water. The baby's heart rate was 140 bpm. My blood pressure was fine. My weight gain was fine; I guess I've gained about 23 pounds so far. Baby was in the same postion as it has been for a month or so... head down with his/her back to my left side. When my midwife felt the baby's head, she could tell that it had grown since our last appoinment two weeks ago. The fundal height is 35 cm. At my last appointment, the student midwife measured it at 32 cm, so apparently baby may have had a growth spurt. Everything looks good!
This appointment the midwife told my husband how to deliver the baby in case it comes before she gets there. lol There was not much to it at all!! Actually, she believes that the mother delivers the baby. She said the mom could do it by herself. If it comes that quickly, things should be fine. The main thing he should do is to make sure baby is warm. He should put the baby on my tummy and put a blanket over it and wrap us in a blanket. She said if the placenta comes, too, that he should make sure it is level with the baby.
She said the baby's lungs should be developed by 36 weeks, and that when the 37th week comes I should be able to deliver at home. . . I don't have to be a complete 37 weeks like I had thought. Not that I will have the baby early! But it's nice to know that I should be able to have a homebirth in about two weeks if baby happens to want to come that early.
Our next appointment is in two weeks and will be a home visit. That week I will be 36th and a half weeks!!!!! Yayh! I'm so excited that it's getting close!
I really want my baby to come before the due date. I don't know how I'll make it if baby comes later than December 16th. Of course I want baby to come when he/she is ready, and I should enjoy being pregnant while I can, but I must admit I am getting a bit tired of being pregnant.
I don't know how I'll have enough patience for two children. If this child is like Ellen, I'm in trouble! No, I know it'll work out somehow. At least this time I know I can carry, sleep with, and nurse baby as much as he/she needs to and as much as I want to without my feeling guilty. I really believe this will help baby and mamma be much more content and relaxed.
Thursday night we attended an Infant Safety/CPR class at a local
hospital. We took the class a couple years ago, too, and this time we think we understand cpr even better.
The appointment with my midwife on Friday was a home visit. She came to our home to make sure she can find it quickly when I’m in labor. Ellen got very excited about the midwife visiting our house.
I found out that baby is posterior now... his/her back is facing my back. I feel movement from the hands and feet on both sides now, whereas before the baby turned posterior I mostly only felt them on the right side. It feels a bit weird. I am doing an exercise to try and help it turn before it’s head gets so big that turning becomes more difficult. If baby doesn’t turn, I could be in for some wonderful back labor.
Baby’s heartrate was 140. Fundal height was still 35 cm. My blood pressure was fine.
John and I took a four hour childbirth class today. It was really good. Since the class was in a room right next to my midwife’s office, the midwife and her daughters watched Ellen for us. It worked out great. Ellen loved being with the girls, and she really likes our midwife. Ellen was able to come and visit me in class whenever she wanted to. She saw some photographs of moms in labor and babies being born and nursing, plus she saw a video of a mom having a waterbirth. We would like her to be at the birth of her sibling, so I’m very happy she was able to see those things.
The childbirth instructor helped us learn a lot of comfort measures to use during labor. The husbands/labor support person leaned how to do couterpressure, the hip squeeze, effleurage. Moms leaned the importance of communicating what feels good to us, and we learned some helpful positions to labor in. We got to smell this wonderful massage lotion that was scented with lavendar and ??? my mind is blank now! Ack. Was it sage? It started with an “s” sound!?? We also were told that the smell of peppermint is good for nausea; Altoids can be helpful.
Our instructor does not feel that learning patterened breathing is very important. She said it can work for some women, but she felt it is more important for the mom to breathe in the way that she finds most helpful. She did show us how to do “he he he ha,” but it was just one of many things that might be helpful for mom to relax in labor. She focused much more on comfort measures and slow deep breathing rather than breathing patterns.
There were a couple doulas there to help with the class. When they came by and demonstrated certain relaxation techniques, it felt so good when they did it! It almost made me wish I was going to have a doula at my birth!! If I were having a hospital birth, I would definitely have a doula present.
When I had Ellen, I did find breathing patterns helpful. I’ve heard that the majority of moms do not. It sounds like a lot of women forget how to do it when they are in labor. This time I know more things to help me relax, plus John has leaned more to help, too, so I doubt I will be so reliant on a certain style of breathing. Plus this time I feel that I am more trusting of my body and the wonderful birth process that God created, and I am going to really try to listen to my instincts and go with what works! :)
We rented the birth tub from our childbirth instructor. We got to take it home after class today. It’s pearl colored. We are going to inflate it next week to see how it works. She said it takes 15 to 30 minutes to pump it up with the foot pump, and that it will take about two hotwater tanks to fill it up.
I was thinking that the baby wasn't moving quite so much lately, but tonight after dinner, he/she was very active! John felt baby move more than he's ever felt him/her before, and he was surprised at how strongly he could feel baby's movements!
I'm going to get off the computer now before the electricity goes off. It's quite stormy here tonight.
November 21, 1998
36 weeks, Saturday night/early Sunday morning--25 days until due date
I ordered a birth ball this week and hopefully will receive
it in the mail next week. I think it sounds like a neat idea.
November 21, 1998
37 weeks, early Tuesday morning--22? days until due date
I feel very big. My pelvic area feels quite sore. I go to the bathroom *a lot*. My nipples are very sensitive, and it's uncomfortable when Ellen nurses. I feel bad, but I don't let her nurse for very long. I hope nursing will be better after the baby comes. I've heard many negative stories about tandem nursing, but I've heard some wonderful ones, too. I'm pretty sure Ellen will continue nursing for a while longer yet, and hopefully our experience with tandem nursing will be positive.
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