Moodiness, Belly, and Babymoon!

You can tell I am winding down cant you?  I went from posting every day to only twice this week- and now that I think about it,  one was a guest post and one was a post about someone else's post, lol...I guess it was bound to happen.  I have been thinking about a new post, but my thought process went a little like this " I need to post something......ahh, not now...Im in a funk...I'll post when I'm in  a better mood." Well, I am still not in a great mood but we will call it "improved"...

I thought I'd share with you where I am at in regard to the pregnancy and getting ready for new nugget:

So I am 35ish weeks pregnant, I think....I havent been really keeping up too closely.  I rely on my Midwife Toni to tell me at our appts and then I promptly forget...

I have gained 30 lbs, not too bad...people tell me I'm "all belly" which is a great compliment you can give to a pregnant woman (even if it is a lie).  

I am still getting HILARIOUS comments & reactions about the size of this legendary baby belly....The top 2 moments, by far, that made me CRY laughing were:

1. I was walking to my car from work and happen to look over my shoulder, behind me, when I notice an oncoming truck of landscapers giving me the  "Hey, how you doin?" look...(Mama still got it ;)....that look COMPLETELY changed when their truck made it along side me where they could see the big ol baby belly....seriously, the drivers mouth went from an admiring smile to a mouth gaping open in surprise....it was soooo funny!
2. Another moment when I was leaving work and walking to the front desk to sign out...there was a man there talking to the receptionist.  He was only able to see me from the chest up due to the height of the counter...he politely smiled, I politely smiled....but then I rounded the corner (of the "L" shaped desk) and he saw the belly and let out a very low & long "whoaaaaa"...then he realized he said it out loud an immediately apologized....as I promptly busted out laughing! He said he totally didnt expect to see a belly like that when I rounded the corner...he said his wife has had 4 kids and he's never seen anything like that...lol.  I learned later that he felt so bad he called the receptionist later that day to make sure he hadn't hurt my feelings or offended me. lol, oh I was in tears laughing!

Good times

SO on a different topic, Callan will be moving into his new room this coming week...I FINALLY finished it....and it is so stinking cute! I will post pics next week....2 cribs in my house at the same time....who'd of ever thunk it...

I have new baby boy's room all ready....although I didnt have to do too much, just unpack newborn stuff and wash all the tiny newborn clothes and onesies and get them hung up.  It really is a cool moment to get the new room all ready....really makes you think about the new little person you are about to bring into the world...the person you dont event know, but love unconditionally. My world is gonna change tremendously...again, pretty soon!  Still just need to pick out a name...we have 3 we are throwing around but cant seem to commit on one.

Still got a list of things to do to get ready for my home birth...which I can hammer down on now that Callans room is done.  But its FRIDAY and I will do none of that this weekend!!!!  This weekend is my "babymoon"...my Mom has got my kid and the hubs and I will be relaxing at a friends MANSION, poolside and I will be in a bikini, lol (its a private pool)!!! I've got a massage booked, gonna do some shopping...oh yes...I will be relaxing and I need it!!!! See ya suckers! I'm makin' like a baby and heading out!

Induction Survival Guide

I just love women!  Well, not like that, but I just think its wonderful the women who look out for one another...who look out for people they dont even know! Them's the good kind.

Cori Lynn Gentry is a Birth Bootcamp instructor in California who wrote an Induction Survival Guide...and it is so thorough!  Its very real and useful info.  

Its goes through: 

• The different ways of induction 
• several different scenarios that can happen 
• Tips on a positive induction experience

Most of you probably know I am not a believer in non-medically necessary induction, and if you think its not a big deal then I urge you to read THIS.  There are some very important things going on between you and your baby at the end of your pregnancy.

If you HAVE to be induced I think just knowing what you can expect brings a certain amount of comfort.....Isn't Cori AWESOME for writing this???

Read the Induction Survival Guide HERE

Guest Post: Nicole- What can happen

From Kellie: I have never met Nicole personally, but I was reading another blog about birth where she had made a comment about her first birth experience and it really broke my heart. I wanted others to learn from her experience, so I reached out to her and she happily obliged me with a Guest Post. Stories like this are the reason why I started this blog in the first place, it kills me that this can even happen, but it does. One lesson to be learned here should be that you cannot put blind faith in anyone just because they are a Doctor or Midwife, YOU need to educate yourself....this is YOUR body and YOUR baby!

I was an uninformed 19 year old. I had never heard of birth choices except who your OB/GYN was, so I picked the closest one in proximity to our rental home and I wanted a woman; Dr. L delivering out of Arlington Medical Center. Starting at 16 weeks she did vaginal exams, they were uncomfortable but I didn't mind because it kept her in the room a split second more than her usual 2 seconds. She never explained why she started doing them and I never asked. Several years later I requested my records which indicated that she did so because I had had a LEEP procedure 6 months prior to becoming pregnant. (The LEEP procedure can diagnose and treat abnormal cervical cells). I've researched and understand that there is a raised risk for preterm labor but it continues to baffle me that I wasn't made aware of the risk and I'd love to hear from a provider as to why an exam would lower the risk and not raise it.

She terrified me into an induction at 39&1/2 weeks  because of suspected large baby. I didn't know that much about natural labor except that my mom had 2 of them so I could too. They briefly touched on natural labor in the hospital Childbirth Class but mostly the ins-and-outs of pain medication.

The morning of the scheduled induction I was blasted with so much pitocin that I was crying through my first induced contraction; I begged for the epidural . Five long hours later it was time to push. The epidural had been unsuccessful in numbing the uterine pain but pretty successful in eliminating any sensation to push. 

Despite everything I was feeling good and eager to accomplish pushing my baby out.  Two pushes in she asked if I was tired, I replied "No, I feel great"! The next push she said I wasn't pushing hard enough and she was only going to let me push one more time. Before I could even ask her what the HELL she meant, she pulled out the vacuum that was already prepared and yanked out my baby so fast that I received 4th degree tears. 

I'm still unsure of the urgency to deliver, there is no indication in my record of fetal distress. My healthy 9 pound baby stayed with me for an hour, made eye contact, latched like we were both pros, THEN my LAST uneducated mistake was letting them take her to get a bath. We will never unravel the mystery that followed but she stayed in the NICU for 7 days, for unknown reasons why.  I fought tooth and nail for every breast feeding. I'm so thankful that we bonded so early on because it could have been much more devastating.  Despite all that, and not knowing any breast feeding moms, we successfully breast fed for 13 months.

As a footnote, I would like to say that, now as a Doula, I have met and seen doctors that work beautiful in emergency and heightened risk areas. Though I have yet to write my following 5 birth stories, I will tell you that I continued with one more slightly less traumatic induced labor, followed by a very peaceful high risk birth that led me to the path of peaceful births and natural living. I stalked a local midwife, got pregnant and with the support of my husband, she helped me birth 3 of my babies at home free of intervention and no tearing.
If you would like to know more about how this journey has lead me to become an Herbalist and Doula please follow me at  http://instictiveroots.blogspot.com/p/services.html