Monday, June 30, 2014

Pregnancy

My pregnancy was extremely normal. All of the things I expected to happen happened, some better than expected and some far worse. I learned a lot about my body in a very short amount of time. I'll just gloss over the highlights. Pregnancy is different for everyone and you can read a lot of books and forums on what to expect.

First trimester
The first trimester was a lot of ups and downs emotionally. My body was preparing hormonally for pregnancy and I've never done well with hormones. Due to this I learned a lot about being patient and also about really trusting my husband to take care of things so that I could get lots (and lots....and lots) of much needed sleep. There's not a lot to say about actually being pregnant in the first trimester because besides going batshit crazy, sleeping a lot and your hips getting bigger not a lot happens. I had some morning sickness (all-day sickness) and mostly craved juice and fruits that were really juicy. Ginger drops were super helpful and so was staying hydrated.

Second Trimester
This is the easy part of being pregnant. You've come to terms with being emotional and with your changing body, all the cool things that happen to your baby happen at this time. She grew little hands and feet and started moving around. Most of the sickness has gone away and (as long as you're careful) you're free to eat whatever you want! My husband loved being pregnant, you didn't have to ask him twice for late night sweets or twice a week pizza LOL. The only "difficult" part of being pregnant was due to a problem I had with a blood clot several years ago I was high risk and had to go to the doctor more often than normal and I had to take twice daily injections in my tummy. The bright side was that my husband was willing to do them for me and could do it (mostly) painlessly.

Third Trimester
Shit gets real here. Your baby is basically grown, just fine tuning and making sure all system are a go as well as getting super big. Like just when you thought you couldn't get bigger, you do. Lucky for me, my third trimester was cut short (37 weeks) and I didn't have to endure it as long as most women do. Every day was a battle to keep my feet from getting so big that they damn near were going to pop. I gained 50lbs during my pregnancy when my "plan" was to only gain 10-12. The most important thing to remember about pregnancy weight is that (as long as you're paying attention) it will all go away when the baby comes.

Preparing for labor
At about 32 weeks my doctor told me that my baby was around 8lbs and if I carried her to 40 weeks she'd be 10-12lbs and that would put me at risk of needing a c-section because of size and recommended we induce if she got much bigger. She actually checked me 3 times for gestational diabetes because of how big she was. The thing is, weighing a baby still inside the womb is literally impossible. They just take measurements and guess based on length and diameter. I had opted for a natural childbirth, which included not inducing labor, so I told her I would be waiting no matter what. The thing about wanting a natural childbirth and going to an OB instead of a midwife is that its an uphill battle to get what you want.
This is where things can get tricky. On one side of the coin, I want a natural birth with no interventions but on the other side, I want to be cared for by trained medical professionals who have been to years and years of college and training as opposed to a midwife whose training was watching (sometimes hundreds) of childbirths. I am not saying midwives aren't useful but with something like this I would rather have real doctors with medical equipment at my side in case things don't go as planned.

So to anyone reading this thinking about going natural but being cared for by a doctor you need to know this: you have to know exactly what you want and exactly what is medically necessary. Otherwise they will do things to you that you had not intended or didn't know about. They will not explain natural childbirth to you, they will explain the easiest way to get your baby out, the easiest way for them, not you. So, armed with the knowledge of what you want for your childbirth, what you aren't willing to budge on and what you will budge on given the proper explanation you are ready to let your doctor know your wishes. BUT letting your doctor know is NOT ENOUGH. You need to tell your partner/coach/doula/whoever will be in the room with you because your doctor may not be the one that delivers you.

With that in mind, here's my very simple birth plan:
No induction unless medically necessary (2 weeks past due date/signs of distress)
No pitocin
No pain meds
No episiotomy
Intermittent monitoring, ability to get up and move about at will
Necessary staff in the room only
Immediate skin-to-skin contact to nurse

I've seen birth plans go on for days, down to the tiniest detail. You don't have to be that detailed, choose the things that matter and everything else will go fine, these people have done this tons of times.


First post as someones mom.

I can't believe I have a 6 month old baby! It has definitely been an interesting ride. This time last year I was just finding out I was pregnant. It feels like it was eons ago. I have a lot to say on the subject but honestly, being a first time mom I felt a little intimidated about blogging about my pregnancy and definitely about being a parent. Mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing. I've since come to the terms with the fact that I do not have to be the absolute authority on it to at least share my point of view. For those of you that know me, I can be a bit of a control freak and I absolutely have to know everything about everything. So parenting has been a real challenge for me, I want to make sure I am one step ahead of whats happening so I am prepared and giving my daughter the best of the best care. Its just not possible. You can read and talk and prepare but every baby is different and most of what you find are just loose guidelines on what you can expect to see AND parents are incredibly opinionated people. Like, baring teeth and claws opinionated. Its scary.

So. I'm going to make separate entries to catch myself up to this point. My blog has always been a mix of stuff that interests me and it still will be but I'll be honest, I am a stay at home mom to a very young child so my life right now doesn't consist of much more than baby stuff, so that's what you're going to be reading about a lot.