39 weeks

Here I am only one week away from my "due date" and still pregnant!  Amazing!  I feel like baby may have engaged into my pelvis last night.  Very low movement, very heavy pressure on my pelvic bones down there.  This is getting exciting!!  I see my midwives on Friday this week, if I make it that far!  I am very anxious to meet this little one and see if it is a boy or girl and give him or her a name!

38 weeks

I am still amazed to be pregnant at this point!  But that is a good thing!  Baby will continue to grow and put on some weight, and also develop the sucking reflex.  So hopefully breastfeeding will go much easier this time.  Since Ronnie was 4 weeks early, he was not interested in breastfeeding.  So I pumped around the clock until he finally did it himself at 6 weeks old.  So I do have my breastpump and supplies in case it happens again.  And I am determined to make it work, so I will do what I have to do to make breastfeeding successful once again.  But since this baby is going to be more mature than Ronnie was, it should be easier.

Yesterday morning the Braxton-Hicks contractions have started to come on more frequently.  They still are today.  But nothing strong or regular yet.  I also felt some pain/pressure on my rectum yesterday when I would walk around.  But I am not feeling that so much today.  Baby may be in a different position today, or not down as low at the moment.  One of my midwives is coming here today for my prenatal visit.  I will post about that sometime afterwards, either tonight or maybe tomorrow.

My neighbor Casey is throwing a diaper shower for me this Saturday, permitting I have not given birth this week. :)  So I am looking forward to that.  Now to see if baby waits that long or not!

I made it to 37 weeks!!!!!!!!

I am 37 weeks today, I am going to have my homebirth!!  Woo hoo!!  I put my birth supplies in boxes today so they are ready to go.  I need just a couple more things, but otherwise I should have it all now.  Tomorrow I go for my weekly prenatal appointment.  I never made it to the weekly prenatal stage with  my first pregnancy!  Ronnie was already 5 days old by this time!  So I am glad this baby has stayed in longer.  That allows him/her to continue to grow and to be sure and develop the sucking reflex for nursing.  Ronnie did not take to nursing right away.  I had to pump every 2 or 3 hours around the clock until he finally got it by the time he turned 6 weeks old.  I have my own pump now in case that happens again, but I pray it doesn't this time.  The countdown is on! :)

Prenatal home visit

Yesterday both midwives and both assistants came for the 36 week prenatal home visit.  I also had my neighbor Casey and her little guy Blaise here.  Depending on the timing of my labor and delivery, and who can take Ronnie, Casey may attend the birth.  She is a nursery nurse at our local hospital, so she is around birth and babies every time she works.  I would like for her to experience a homebirth if it works out.

It was a 2 hour home visit and my head is spinning from all the information we covered.  Wow!  I was given some handouts about things, and signed waivers for things we declined.  We walked around the house so they would know where we keep things, and we tried to go over a basic idea of what kinds of things we would like to do during labor and delivery.  My blood pressure was good, baby's heartbeat was good.  So everything checked out well as far as mine and baby's health.

I've just got to make it 3 more days and I am in the "safe zone" for my homebirth!!!!  I was taking some walks this week and noticed that it causes my braxton-hicks to come on more frequently.  So I have decided to stop taking walks until I make it to Tuesday, just to be safe.  I'll be so relieved to make it to 37 weeks this time, knowing that when labor does start, I can just be at home!!!!!

36 weeks 2 days

Wow, this was the exact time in my first pregnancy when Ronnie was born.  At this moment in time (5:00pm), I was at Centennial Medical Center and active labor was kicking in.  Ronnie was born 2 hours and 40 minutes later.  I am glad that so far, this day has been uneventful as far as any signs of labor getting started.  And I pray that I make it just 5 more days so this baby can be born at home!!!  The midwives come here tomorrow for our prenatal home visit.  I will blog about that afterwards.  If you would like to read my birth story, you can read it at my midwives site by visiting this link:

http://www.tender-beginnings.com/marcy.html

The Webster Technique

If you look back at the photo on my last post, this one was taken just four days later.  And it was also the day after I had the Webster Technique done at the chiropractor.  Baby certainly changed position!  Wow!  And my back feels SO much better!  It is still sore and has some stiffness, but nothing like it was.  I can walk pretty much normal again!  Except for maybe a slight waddle due to my pelvic bones aching now.  But I really can't complain much since I can get around so much quicker and easier now.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Webster Technique, you can learn more about it at this website.  As well as find a Webster certified chiropractor in your area.  I am a firm believer that ALL pregnant women should get the Webster adjustment done within their last weeks of pregnancy.  You will feel better, and baby and your pelvis will be lined up for birth.

http://www.icpa4kids.com/about/webster_technique.htm

35 weeks

Here I am at 35 weeks already!  Yesterday I met with my doctor of consult, Dr. Wilters.  He is the OB who delivered Ronnie.  I am using him as my "backup" doctor for this pregnancy.  One of my midwives met me at the appointment.  It was really nice to actually sit and talk with him and get to know him a little bit.  

When I delivered Ronnie, I had never met him before, and the first time I saw him was when he came in to catch the baby!  So not any chance for chit chat during a time like that. :)  He is a really nice guy, and he's been catching babies for 25  years.  I like his personality and of course I already know how he is during a delivery, and it was a very good delivery even though it was totally unplanned.  One of the things he did while I was contracting was he used olive oil to stretch me.  I never knew an OB would do that, I thought only midwives did that.  He did not talk to me, holler at me, or tell me when to push.  He was silent and just allowed me and my body to do the work.  After Ronnie was born, they put some pitocin in my IV so my body would contract to deliver the placenta.  Dr. Wilters did NOT pull on the cord, at all.  He waited until I pushed the placenta out, and he gently guided it into the pan.  My midwife said it was so beautiful to see an OB being that gentle with the placenta that she almost cried!  After that he stitched me up since I had torn a little bit.  He never seemed to be in a hurry, he was just a quiet, patient man.  The whole labor and delivery was orchestrated by God, there is no other way to describe it because it went so well and turned out wonderfully for something that was unplanned and unexpected.

So even though I sometimes get nervous that I could go into labor at 36 weeks (which is next week already!!!) I have complete confidence in Dr. Wilters to allow me to at least have a drug free, intervention free birth as long as things go well.  But he did reassure me yesterday that just because I went early with Ronnie does not mean I will go early again.  I was glad to hear that and I have been more at peace since he said that.  I know that no matter when I do go into labor, that it is God's timing and it is in His hands.  I am still praying for my homebirth of course, I really want to experience it this time.  Baby just has to stay in for 2 more weeks and I'll get it!

I have come up with a conclusion on my pinched nerve in my back.  The last two prenatal visits I've had, baby is laying on his/her side, which  means all of babies weight is on my right side.  And it is the right side of my back that has the pinched nerve.  So I am beginning to think that if I can get baby to flip over to the proper position, maybe that will take the pressure off my back and release that nerve.  So we'll see!  Chiropractic care is not helping right now, so I am not going to continue going as often.  I know that after I deliver, the chiropractor can give me some good adjustments to get me back in-line.  But there is just not much he can do for me while I am pregnant.  So I'll see how it goes in these next weeks before baby comes.  Some days I tolerate the pain better than others.  I am trying to keep a positive attitude about it, but it does get the best of me at times.