Nancy Appointment 32 Weeks

Currently Craving: Peaches

This morning we had our next appointment. at 8am. 8am is too early for me to have an appointment, i'd only just fallen back asleep from my 4am wake-up when the alarm went off. but oh well. we made it there on time and it was the same routine.

the stats are still good. weight gain continues at a good rate (she actually said 'good' when she's never said anything before). and babe's house measures well. Nancy says 'good she's growing' and she told us babe could grow as much as a half a pound a week at this point so i'd definitely be feeling that. and i have to agree that yes, i'm feeling that. babe's heart rate sounds good at 140-150. and she's in a good position: her back to my belly on the left side, bum up, head down. she is not terribly far down in my pelvis just yet. nancy says with the shape of my body and my birthing genes she'll probably move into position quite easily when the time comes. she also said not to get attached to 'optimal fetal positioning' because essentially the baby will be in her own specific optimal position and we can just let her go there. with her position as it is i tend to get lots of kicks and tickles on my right side. and her head is sitting right on my bladder... hence the need for three potty breaks just to get this far into the post. (ok, slight exaggeration, but not much) when she drops she'll be below my bladder and conditions should improve.

our questions for her were about how to go about choosing a pediatrician and she let us know that if we're not going to be non-vaccinators we're in good shape. and she let us off the hook for going in and having interviews. personally i was not specifically excited about doing that. it seemed not fun and like something we don't want to spend time on when we have limited time together, and i'm NOT doing it alone. (i'd much rather spend time worrying about important things like: curtains for the nursery....hmmm priorities?) her thought was that nobody in town has a really BAD reputation and that as long as they're ok with the home birth and aren't unreasonable about seeing the baby once she's born then we're fine. we can go on friends' recommendations and convenience to our house. and if we don't gel with the ped's personality we'll just find someone else. and that's good because i didn't know what to ask anyway.

and her topics for us started preparing us for the birth gently. we filled out at much info as we could on the form she'll send in for the birth certificate. and she gave us a questionnaire about planning our birth. thirteen questions ranging from 'what is your fantasy birth' to 'strengths and weaknesses' to 'fears' etc. we are supposed to each think about it and answer separately and then come together to talk about it and then bring it back to nancy. some of the questions help to specifically prepare her for how to help us through the birth process. she talked a little bit about other women giving her heads up about their particular ways of handling stress and how that is helpful for her to know going in so she isn't alarmed if i suddenly start doing something really strange.

she also loaned me a copy of birth reborn by dr. michel odent. he's the french OB who started paying attention to letting the mother really have what she needs in birth. he also started using water for pain relief and found that women would request the water over the drugs. so he started the whole water birth idea unintentionally when women got so relaxed in the tubs that they ended up delivering faster than they could get out. she firmly believes we should have a tub for the pain relief. and i'm such a water person i have no problem with that. she cautions about absolute attachment to water birth in that she says the baby will tell us where she needs to be born.... on the bed, on the floor, in the water, at the hospital ... and we'll listen to what she says. i like the idea that really Babe directs the show. it is so much about trusting our bodies to make this birth happen and not about what is convenient for nancy or sounds 'fun' for me.

in our discussions she mentioned a few time 'end of pregnancy hormones' in reference to other women and i had to stop her and ask 'are those starting by now for me?' and she said 'yes'. honestly, judging from my previous post and just how much more emotional and whacked out in my body i've been feeling lately i already knew but i didn't want to be starting too early. but she says with the emotional and physical changes i'm showing i'm in good shape and they don't mean we should expect babe any earlier than she is meant to be here. whew!

and then we pretty much looked ahead to scheduling the next appointment. it would normally fall two weeks from today, but that is labor day so i'm a little further out on that next friday. another appointment 10 days after that and then i'll start going once a week. and then one day or night...