Pineapple.

When I was pregnant with Luca, this was my #1 craving. This time around, it just gives me heartburn...or indigestion...I can never tell the difference.

I just ate half a fresh one. This, in spite of the burning ring of pain enveloping my chest and flaming up into my throat at this very moment. Because it's rumored to start contractions. And they are welcome to start whenever they are ready.

Waiting....waiting...

39 Weeks.

No sign of baby. There's your update.

I'm going to be spending today and tomorrow drinking my tea, bouncing on my yoga ball, and walking. Oh...and thinking good thoughts. We ALL need the good thoughts, right?

I did decide this morning that perhaps Andre wasn't coming because he/she is sick of being called by a nickname and wanted mom and dad to sit down and finally decide on a REAL name. So this morning we sat down to blueberry pancakes and I told Darrick, "I am not leaving this table until we have a name." We each had a piece of colored construction paper and a few crayons (no, this is not art therapy...this is what adults use to make lists on when a toddler is in the house), as well as a baby name book. We wrote down our favorites, compared lists, crossed off things we hated that the other person liked, and whittled it down to 5 girl names and 5 boys names. We'll make a final decision when Andre gets here, but I'm just happy we got this far!

Luca, by the way, really wanted to help. Here was her contribution:



Andre....we are ready when YOU are!!!

Are We There Yet?

Another Midwife appointment, and YES I am stillllllll pregnant. I expected my appointment this morning to be rather uneventful since I am so close to the end. But I was wrong!

First off, all the 'usual' stuff was fine. My blood pressure was great, no real swelling, measuring a week ahead still, etc. But then we got to the part of the exam where my MW and her apprentice palpate my belly from the outside to see if they can determine baby's position. This is important for a lot of reasons, but primarily because it's illegal in AZ for a MW to deliver a breech baby at home. Well, when listening for baby's heartbeat, it was stronger on my left side, but its position was consistent with a transverse baby, which would be almost impossible to deliver at home, since almost all transvese babies end up in c-sections. Add that to the fact that my MW's apprentice couldn't tell for sure where baby's head was, and my MW started to be a little concerned. She came over to palpate my belly, and said she thought baby was head down, but typically baby's head can be moved some at this point, and she wasn't able to move it much at all. All this together led her to wonder if baby could be frank breech, meaning I'd feel kicks up high because both baby's feet AND head are up top, and the bum is at the bottom. Here's a picture of what a frank breech baby looks like:



Now, most texts consider this kind of breech to be the most favorable for avoiding a c-section, but most texts don't practice obstetrics in Arizona. According to my MW, there are few OBs who are willing to 'allow' a vaginal delivery of a breech baby, no matter its position. And, as I stated above, homebirth MWs are not allowed by law to deliver a known breech.

So, with all this in mind, I had some decisions to make. There are really only 2 ways to know if a baby is breech. The most obvious is via ultrasound, but the other way is to have an internal exam to see if she can feel whether it's a head or a bum presenting.

I was avoiding internals, as I think I've mentioned before, primarly because they don't really tell you anything useful, and I was afraid having one would lead to frustration. But in this case, I really felt like it was the least invasive way to get some answers. When I asked what would happen if baby IS breech at this point in pregnancy, I was given 3 basic options:

1. I'd transfer care immediately to an OB and schedule a c-section.
2. I could attempt an external version, which could work, but may not.
3. I could opt not to find out, in which case I could attempt to deliver at home, but if baby presented as breech my MW would be breaking all sorts of rules to attend to me.

Thankfully, baby 'Andre' IS head-down, and I am 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. The dilation and effacement mean little to nothing, really, except that it's more than I had at this point in pregnancy with Luca, and she was born right on time. But being head-down is EXCELLENT news!

I go back on Wednesday for a check-up, presuming we have not yet been graced with baby's presence.

In related news, I had reflexology done today as well. Reflexology is rumored to help encourage contractions and kickstart labor if the body is ready, and I found a place running a special which was $30 for 60 minutes. Let me tell you....best $30 I've spent in a loooooong time! I was a little uncertain at first because it was a man doing the reflexology, but you stay fully clothed and sit in a reclining chair, so I got over that pretty quickly. He started with my head, scalp, neck, and shoulders, then moved onto my arms and hands. Oh lord do I love an arm and hand massage. PURE heaven.

After that, he moved to my feet and calves. It was relaxing...SO much so that I drifted in and out of a light sleep at a few points, which I am never able to do during a massage.

So far, no contractions have come out of it, but if nothing else I sure am relaxed.

Dailies.

The things that are now a part of my daily life, thanks to pregnancy:

Tums (smoothies are the BEST invention ever!):



Evening Primrose Oil (morning, lunch, bedtime):



Raspberry Leaf Tea (you're 'supposed' to drink this 3 times a day, but I plan to do two bags at night):



Prenatals:



Honey Nut Cheerios (which replaced the less healthy addiction I had to Lucky Charms, thank goodness!):



Yoga Pants:



Baby Carrots (beta carotene, people!):




And the things that are part of my daily life, courtesy of the whirlwind we call Luca:

"Yegos!":



"Cuhyahs!":



"Pretties" (barette):



"Turn on monkeys" (It's a Big, Big World!):



"OH! Elmo!":



"More Raisins!" (It's always 'more' raisins, even if she hasn't had any yet that day):

37 Week 6 Day Appointment.

We saw our MW again this morning for my almost 38-week appointment. All the regular stuff is going well (HB in 140s, measuring a week ahead again, baby lower than last week, no swelling to speak of, weight gain ok) and I'm finally at the point where my MW says things like, "We'll need to see you in a week, of baby doesn't come sooner." EEEEEeeeeeeeeeeek!

We talked about quite a few interesting things today. I asked her about my indigestion issues, which have been getting worse over the past month or so. She wanted to know if it was tied to eating spicy foods, and I explained it's tried to eating ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, including plain bagels and baby carrots. She advised me to stop eating 2 hours before bed, avoid spicy foods, and try papaya enzyme instead of Zantac (Zantac works fine, but I'd prefer something more natural). She also assured me that indigestion is actually a GOOD sign, since it means that my smoooth muscle tracts are softening, which we WANT to happen before I go into labor.

I also mentioned that I had purchased some Evening Primrose Oil, but I wanted to check with her before I started to use it since I didn't want to use it too early. Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) is a gelcap you can take orally 2-3 times per day, and at the end of pregnancy you can also...ahem...insert it to soften the cervix. I'll start taking it (orally, thanks for asking) this week. She assured me it's not going to throw me into labor before I am ready, but that it will help prepare my cervix for an easier time dilating.

We talked a bit about a birth plan, and whether we had any special requests or labor or delivery. Standard HBs usually include delayed cord clamping, as few interventions as possible, and a hands-off approach by the MW and her apprentice. She asked if I plan to catch my own baby, have Darrick do it, or have her do it, and I asked if we could play it by ear. I'm not sure once I'm in labor how I will feel about it. Darrick is open to the possibility of catching the baby, but we're not going to lock ourselves into one thing or another until the moment comes. We talked about who will announce baby's sex, and we're still undecided about whether it will be Darrick or me, or whether we want the MW to announce it so we find out at the same time. Darrick and I will decide that sometime before baby gets here. In my head, I always imagined him announcing it, but we'll see. We talked about a back-up plan if we need to transfer. We'll go to the hospital I had Luca at (it's less than a mile away) and use whoever is on call. I had always assumed that I would only transfer if there was an emergency and it would end in a c-section, but she said most of her transfers are first time moms who cannot handle the pain or get exhausted. I don't plan on transferring for those reasons...here's hoping I am right!

Last, we talked about whether to do the eye ointment and Vitamin K injections at birth. Both are done standard in hospital births, though you can decline them. The ointment is an antibiotic intended to prevent mom from passing infections to baby as he/she is born. Since the infections it protects against (gonorrhea and chlamydia) are things I don't have, we are declining the ointment. Vitamin K is given to protect baby from birth-related traumas and some disorders that are not always known at birth but could be life-threatening. VitK helps with blood coagulation, bone metabolism, and vascular biology, and most babies will be fine without the injection but there is no way to predict whether or not a baby will have problems without the injection. We're playing it safe and getting the injection, since there's no way to predict for certain if baby will have a deficiency, and the outcomes if he/she does and we decline it at birth could be very bad.

My next appointment is this coming Friday, assuming I make it that far. :)

The end of the line.

The closer I get to my due date, the more I understand women who are ready to do most anything to get their baby OUT. I didn't have this feeling with Luca, but I also wasn't as big then as I am now, and Luca wasn't a big baby. Plus, I just think the second pregnancy is harder on the body in some ways. I'm not trying to complain, because I know other women have much rougher pregnancies than I, but the pressure on my pelvis and hipbones, indigestion caused by any and everything I eat (a bran muffin? a bagel? is this for real?) are getting really old.

I am taking comfort in the end being around the bend, though how close no one knows. The predictions are rolling in, with the soonest being March 1st (hello....that's in TWO DAYS!!!) and the furthest being March 18th. I'm thinking it'll fall somewhere in between - maybe a week early? Darrick is still convinced baby will be 'maybe a day early, if that', but what do men know about baby brewing anyhow?

I am getting more and more comments and questions from people everywhere, probably due to the...ehm...enormity of my belly. I hear lots of "How are you feeling?" from people and I always wonder...do you want the truth? I think people fit into one of 2 categories...those who have never birthed a child and/or were only asking to be courteous, and therefore want the sugar-coated niceties. To this group, I usually answer something to the effect of, "Great! Huge, of course, but I'm doing great!" and insert a smile, choking back the acid shooting frozen daggers of torture across my chest and up the back of my throat. The other category is Moms. Moms don't want sugar-coated niceties. In fact, even if you are 'great, thanks!' they don't want to hear it. No one wants to listen to a glowing pregnant woman going on and on about the miracle of life and the joy of a full round belly while in the back of her own Mom (or pregnant) mind she's preparing a shopping list that includes items such as Tucks pads, Zantac, cranberry juice, Colace, and Proactive. No, this category wants to hear the gory and uncomfortable details. They WANT to know that you get indigestion from bran muffins, you cannot sleep at night, and you're pretty sure the baby in your belly is going to weigh 10 pounds based on the fact that it trampolines off your cervix 87 times a day, leaving you gasping in shock and pain.

I also get a lot of questions about whether we are having a boy or a girl. We genuinely don't know, though we both have the same guess. People (strangers, people I know through work, friends, family) love to guess, and usually I love to HEAR the guesses. But there are times I'd rather not hear their reasons. Examples of what I don't want to hear about WHY someone thinks I am carrying a certain way include, "Oh, it must be a girl. You're carrying wide in your hips." (Thanks, asshole, but actually my hips are the SAME EXACT SIZE as they were pre-pregnancy, fuckyouverymuch.) and "It's GOT to be a boy. You're HUGE out front." (Ok this one is true, but c'mon....NO woman needs to hear this, least of all one who's 945 months pregnant and hormonal as hell!). There is a special place in hell for people who comment on a pregnant woman's size in anything but flattering ways. I am not so naive as to believe all pregnant women look beautiful and glowing, but I am wise enough to realize that if a pregnant woman does NOT look like a maternity model, you need to LIE YOUR ASS off and say she does, or shut the hell up. And because I am a glutton for punishment, I am going to share a picture of me at 37 weeks, 1 day pregnant. BEHOLD the 'Orb of Life' (Darrick's nickname for the belly, which lucky for him I found endearing and cute rather than obnoxious and cruel):



Anyhow, I now have maybe 2 weeks left, my body feels like a science experiment, I am flattered people care enough to ask how I'm feeling but unsure how to answer them anymore, and I really am pretty sure this baby is going to be a giant. I've begun to toy with the idea of eating eggplant and popping Evening Primrose Oil, but we'll see what my MW says tomorrow before I try anything too drastic.