Nancy visit 35 weeks

Currently Craving: Graham Crackers with Peanut Butter

well, we were supposed to meet Nancy last friday at 8am for our appointment but then she called at 7am and said she had to attend a birth so we were pushed. turns out that when we went in at 8am this morning she had just gotten home from another birth and we were almost pushed again. i am amazed she could keep her eyes open and keep her head on straight.

first the normal stuff. everything still looks good. my weight gain is still fine, i'm still fit with no major complaints. bpm was 130-140 range so babe sounded fine. she was head down with her back to my right side and her bum right up to my ribcage. as i told nancy 'she's EVERYwhere' and she still has a few weeks to move around on us before she actually has to set up fully. nancy said she felt like she'd dropped some since she saw us last and i agreed.

nancy did the group B strep test and since she was down there she went ahead and did a check. that was interesting because babe moved up out of my pelvis more and nancy decided to check her position again to make sure she wasn't tricking us. it took a little while but nancy decided yes, she is definitely head down not breech... that her little elbows were probably up by her head for a minute (that's probably what i've been feeling in my bladder sometimes). but the check revealed that we're not going to have a baby any earlier than expected probably. cervix is soft and not 'grissley' as nancy described some of them. but not dialated at all, so that's fine. and we'll find out about the group B in the next few days. if it's there i'll just have to take some oral antibiotics.

now that we're in childbirth classes we are starting to think about labor more so we asked 'when do we call you?' and so she gave us information about false labor and when to call. essentially she said we will KNOW when it is labor first of all and second of all, definitely call sooner than later and BOTHER her. she doesn't like it if we wait too long and then she's out living her life and has to change her plans. she said if average first labor is 12-18 hours she'll be there for 5-6 of them. that sounds reasonable.

we asked her about cord blood banking and she said we could do it if we wanted to but it didn't sound like she was the biggest proponent of it. mainly that the technology isn't in place for using it very very well just yet. plus it's taking blood away from the newborn. as max put it 'it's like a full blood donation from a newborn' after hearing how much has to be collected for it to be useful. it also sounds easier in the hospital than at home.

later she gave me a big list of 'birth affirmations' to read through. she said i should pick some that really resound for me. or even i could write my own. she said i should watch myself and find out what my fears are as i'm approaching labor and birth and then create affirmations to counteract those fears. then i have to practice them or post them around where i can see them. (somehow i feel an art project coming on). what is interesting to me is that last night i was reading the oct. issue of yoga journal which is perfectly timed for me.... all about using yoga to empower yourself and really connect to your personal source of power within. and i decided today to look back at my prenatal teacher training notes to look for affirmations to use during meditation and in general. so somewhere in this big list i'm sure to hit on just what we need.

nancy also said she doesn't need to have a doula there. that we don't need one to do her job for her. and that we should just have the person or people who will really make me comfortable and won't slow down progress. she said again... don't invite anyone just yet because it's really hard to uninvite. very true.

and that's about it. she gave us an article about hormonal systems in labor and how if they're working right labor and birth are working right. so we're to read that (max too!). and now as she said we've "graduated" so we'll go back next monday morning at 8am. and EVERY monday morning at 8am until babe arrives. luckily she said the appointments get shorter towards the end. nancy will do more educating in the next few weeks and then at the very end it's short and sweet and we go on our merry way. so all good news. now i'll just expect that increase in estrogen and decrease in progesterone in the next few weeks and we'll see what kind of crazy nesting flurry we have.