If We Did It Again

Recently, I was given the news from a good friend that she is pregnant. (!) I am so thrilled for her. She is a wonderful mother, a great friend, and I am glad that I get to be around for this pregnancy.

So, from this news, the birth blogs I read, and of course, the people everywhere I look having babies, I am thinking about pregnancy and birth. I have been fantasizing of the things I would do if we happened to get pregnant again. And, I know this sounds like the beginnings of a decision to have more babies; I assure you that is not where this is going!

Anyway! If a new baby were to come along, I would want to document the pregnancy much more than I did the previous ones. I would take the weekly belly photo, and probably post it on my blog. Exercise! I would exercise! During my first pregnancy, I exercised much more than the second. I took walks and kept fairly active the whole time. For the second, I got lazy. I had no desire to get off of the couch, chair, bed, whatever. Towards the middle, I did do a bit of exercise that was required for The Bradley Method class. Squats and pelvic rocks don’t compare to walking a mile, though.

As for prenatal care, we would most definitely go with our Midwife, again. She was absolutely wonderful. It would be nice to go through all of the prenatal care with her. Last time, we were with an OB up until about week 30 and then made the switch to our Midwife. The quality of care you get from an OB doesn’t even compare to that of a Midwife. You actually spend time talking with a Midwife; you learn things. With an OB, you are in and out of the room within five minutes. You get to hear the heartbeat and are sent home.

With the choice to have a Midwife, this means we would be planning a home birth. I wouldn’t have it any other way after our experience with Archer’s birth. The only thing I would want to change would be more pictures and possibly a video of the birth. I would also like to have close friends and family there.

So, there you go. This is just something that’s been on my mind, so I had to get it out. Now, back to enjoying my 2 boys, and no more of this crazy talk about more babies!

Ready for Labor!

If you were wondering what a 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant girl does at home while her family is at a super bowl party down the road at her in-laws house, you’ve come to the right place for that answer. She is probably spending a good amount of time on her laptop surfing the internet. When surfing gets old, she’ll resort to watching an episode of Arrested Development for the first time. While watching the show she decides that the time could be better spent if she were actively trying to go into labor. So, she places the laptop at the end of her bed to watch the show while marching around her room, doing squats, and swaying her hips. After this workout she goes to the kitchen to make a delicious strawberry, banana, blueberry smoothie. And while she is enjoying this wonderful snack, she decides to post a blog about her evening. Let the laboring begin!!

Docs vs. Midwives

We just recently had a hiccup in our home birth plans. I tested positive for Group B Strep. This is no big deal for me, but if this bacteria stays present for the birth of our new babe, it could be a bad situation. The chances of passing the bacteria are pretty low, but they are even lower if the mother is given antibiotics intravenously during labor. So, since the state of Indiana did so well in setting up laws and regulations for Certified Nurse Midwives, I had to go seek out a prescription for antibiotics. Certified Midwives can have their own private practice just as a family doctor would, but they do not have prescription privileges. So, in the event that a client would need a prescription, the client is responsible for finding a doc to write it. I don’t think all the bases were covered concerning the laws surrounding the practice of Midwives.

So, we first went to our family doctor to ask for this prescription. You would think this would be easy considering that fact that if I don’t have this antibiotic there is a chance of death to the baby. No, not so easy. Doctors today are more concerned with politics and protecting their selves before putting the health of a human being first. Once a patient transfers care to Midwifery, they are usually on their own. Docs want nothing to do with them. (At least in our area, this has proven to be true)

Our next stop was our prior OB. He was wonderful and very supportive of our choice for home birth. I am healthy, my Midwife is very experienced, and we have done our homework on all that goes into creating a safe and healthy birth at home. He actually made a few comments that discouraged us even more from delivering at the hospital. That was VERY unexpected. But very re-assuring to have a doc back us up. But with all is support, he could not write the prescription. Something to do with who he works for.

After freaking out and considering a delivery at the dreaded hospital our Pediatrician returned my phone call. I told him the situation and he immediately agreed to write the prescription. ‘This is for safety and health of the baby, so of course’ is what he said. I thought ‘No shit, that’s what any doc should have said!’ We are talking about a precious new life here! Anyway, this wonderful man also gave us prescriptions for the drugs the babe will need following delivery and any precautionary drugs I or baby would need should something go wrong. I want to kiss my Pediatrician! More docs should be like him. I’m sure they all started out this way, but so many have lost touch with what is really important; caring for the human life.

3 weeks!

3 weeks exactly until my due date! (translates to 4 or 5 weeks til the baby is here) 🙂 Yay!