Dear Emilee,

Dear Miss Emilee,

Today we have your make up 3d/4d ultrasound. I would really appreciate if you could show us your face so we can get some really cute pictures. But more importantly, I would prefer that you just be head down. It's getting so close to my due date that I worry more and more that you won't be head down before you get too big and can't move anymore. Being head down and in position would make Mommy and Daddy so much happier, so if you could just do that for us today, we would be very very appreciative. Even if you still don't want to give us any pictures of us, just be head down. Thanks!!

29w5d - Dr's appointment

I had my doctor's appointment with the "brother" doctor yesterday. First, I passed my glucose test (YAHOO). There's one stressor off my back. The office was CRAZY busy. I think they have some office training this week so their appointments were limited and they had all 3 doctors in yesterday. There was a point when all the seats were taken and some people had to sit on the floor. It was cute though cuz all the husbands were offering their seats to the pregnant ladies.

So then we met the doctor. The appointment itself went great. Good weight gain - I think I only gained a pound or two. My belly measured right on. Heartbeat sounded good. Then we showed him our birth plan. Basically he said that my OB, Dr. S will approve it and then he will go along with it. He did look over it and didn't really have any objections. David thought he seemed kind of put off by the fact that I was going natural, but he didn't say anything about it. I also expressed my concern about her being breech. He did attempt to feel where she was and said he couldn't tell, which is weird since Dr. S always seems to be able to tell. But he said about 15% of babies are breech at 30 weeks and only 1-3% go on to be breech at birth. So my chances are good.

I also talked to my neighbor Julie and she made me feel better because I'm pretty sure she is flipping back and forth which makes me think she has the potential for being head down, she just needs to get there and stay there (and quit making Mommy a nervous wreck). I'm going to keep up with my pelvic rocks and hopefully things will work out.

29w5d Elective Ultrasound

We had our elective 3d/4d ultrasound on Sunday. It did not go as well as we thought it would. I was so excited to see her again and to see her "chunkier" than before. I was excited that Noah would be there too.

So we get there and right away, the ultrasound tech is like "oh looks like she is breech". WHAT?!?!?!?! She isn't supposed to be breech, she is supposed to be head down just like she was at my last doctor's appointment.

Ok, so she moves on and it turns out she is what they call "Frank Breech" which means her legs are up by her face in a pike position. That means that when she would switch to the 4d view, all you could see was her feet and hands, no face. She did give it a good try, even had me stand up and walk for a minute to get her to move, but she wasn't budging.

In the end, we got a DVD of our 30 minute session and a CD of pictures (which I couldn't even tell you what's on there since I haven't looked at it). Not only is it disappointing that we didn't get ANY face shots, but then like David was saying, she should have just stayed in "2d" and gotten movement there. Instead she kept switching back and forth to see what she could get, which was nothing. So I feel like we just paid $175 for nothing.

Luckily, she did say we could come back on Wednesday to see if we could get some better shots. She made it sound like even if we could, it wouldn't be a full 30 minute session. So we'll have to even see if she is going to cooperate on Wednesday.

At this point, I don't think I would ever do an elective ultrasound again. It just wasn't worth it.

Noah was being really cute though. He would come sit on the bed with me and poke my belly and say "Move" to get her to try and move. I don't know if he really understood what he was trying to do, but he thought it was fun. Then we went to Babies R Us and bought the stroller frame that we will use with her carseat. Noah loved pushing it around and he kept saying "sister" and "emmy". I hope he stays this excited about her even after she arrives.

The rest of the weekend was somewhat depressing. I was most upset by the fact that she is breech. I kept using the fetal doppler to detect her heartbeat and use that as a way to determine where she is. It seemed like later last night, the heartbeat was a lot lower and I couldn't feel her head jabbing into my ribs like before, so I think maybe she had moved back down, but it's so hard to tell.

We also watched a little more than half of the "More Business of Being Born" videos. So awesome and so glad I bought them. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is ever considering having a baby and even those that are completely done, it will just open your eyes to all kinds of things I'm sure you didn't know.

The most interesting things I've learned is that the maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate have both increased substantially in the last 30 years, right along with the C-section rate. The C-section rate has gone up from about 7% in the 1970s to 32.7% in 2009. The increase is due to several reasons (too many interventions, convenience, doctors who are just knife happy). I think most people would think that maternal mortality rates are linked to that in the sense that they die when they are being cut open, but it's actually the future of the mother that is more in danger. They can die from infection, scar tissue problems, etc, but one of the biggest causes of death in the future was something called "amniotic embolism", where basically the amniotic fluid goes back in the mother's system and she has an allergic attack and her heart and lungs just shut down, with no warning. Ina May Gaskin made a quilt as a "tribute" to all these mothers who have died through childbirth or related to childbirth and I was shocked how many of them were linked back to C-section. It's just sad and to think how many of those could have been prevented.

The other issue was infant mortality rate. I forgot the statistic but it was astounding how much more likely an infant was to die in the first month of life after a C-section birth than a vaginal birth. The MD talking about it suggested that it was linked to the amniotic fluid in the lungs. When the baby is in the womb, they are practicing breathing with the lungs with the amniotic fluid, so when they are being born, they have fluid in their lungs, they are supposed to. The difference is that when they are born by vaginal birth, the "squeeze" through the pelvis and cervix pushes out all the fluid from the lungs. Also called the "fetal heimlech maneuver". David got to see it on Noah. Even then, he still had some fluid left in his sinuses that had to removed, but otherwise, he didn't have to be suctioned or anything. However, in a C-section, that never happens and it's up to the doctors/nurses to get it all out. Sometimes they do, or sometimes they think they do. This doctor explained that if some is still left in there, that they can develop infections or essentially drown from it. Again, very scary.

My end comment. Sometimes C-sections are needed. I don't doubt that there are certainly infants and mothers out there that 200 years ago would have died without a C-section, but I think they are way overused today and the result is actually more death in both mothers and infants. If you ask me how you should avoid a C-section, it's to avoid interventions. Your body knows how to have a baby. If you start adding drugs, pitocin, artificial hormones, and restricting how it can move/labor, then you are messing with the process and many times the baby and the mother's body doesn't like it and will react with erratic heartbeats, high blood pressure, etc and then at that point, a C-section is needed.

Above all else, go watch the movie and do your research.

Last doctor's appointment and Doula

So my last doctor's appointment went well. I did tell him about my chiropractor appointments and he didn't necessarily say anything about them. He didn't sound like he personally "believes" that he can help but he said if it seemed to be helping me, then I should keep going.

I had a 7 pound weight gain, which is definitely more than 1 pound a week, but seeing that I'm way less than I was with Noah even at birth and that I wasn't gaining (actually losing) weight in the beginning, it's no big deal. I also attribute that to the last 4 weeks including the Holidays, where I may have indulged a bit.

The biggest news was that as I was scheduling out all the rest of my appointments, I found out that my regular OB is going to be on vacation the week she is due!! I couldn't believe it.

I had done all this work to prepare for Noah's birth and my dr seemed so supportive of our natural birth plans and when it came down to it, he was supportive. So while I was still nervous about this birth because every birth can be different, I was feeling a little less anxious than the first time. But then I find out that there's a good chance he won't be there and I feel like I'm back to square one again.

So the plan is to see his "associates" for my next 2 appointments, which I think is routine anyway just in case he wouldn't be "on-call" when I go into labor, but now even more important. I have met with the female doctor before, but never really "quizzed" her on her supportiveness of natural childbirth. This time, I plan to take our birth plan and really get a good idea of how these doctors feel. Hopefully they don't feel that much different than my regular OB and all will be well. Not to mention, we still have the chance that she can come early or late and my regular OB will be there. They say due dates are actually week 38-42, so that's 4 whole weeks she is due and my OB will be gone only one of those weeks, giving me a 75% chance of delivering with my regular OB (although I would think the greatest chance she will come would be that one week...but who knows except baby, right)?

This also leads me to our other birthing decision David and I have made - to hire a doula. We didn't really think about this much the first time around. I think we were on a "birthing" high from our Bradley classes and thought we could handle everything ourselves. Did we? Pretty much. I would say Noah's birth went pretty well. However, there were a few things I wished we had done differently and at the time, we were always unsure of what we were doing. This time, I think hiring a doula is a good decision so we have that second opinion, that second person to bounce ideas off of it, that second person to help David out when he has to use the restroom, update family, etc. And then when we found out our regular OB may not even be there, it just solidified our decision more.

So then the task of finding one... It turned out to be more difficult than I thought. It really irritates me that when you offer your services and someone contacts you, that you don't contact that person back within 24 hours. We have a rule at my work that we need to have an away message up explaining when you will get back to that person or you respond within 24 hours. With my Scentsy business, I have a personal rule that I always get back within 24 hours, but generally I respond within 15 minutes. I think I emailed about 10 doulas. One or two responded that they couldn't take me for that time frame, but one was like 6 days later. In the end, I only had 2 that responded at all, one within a reasonable time frame. I met with her first and she was fantastic. It really pushed us over the edge to hire a doula at all. The second one was good and we liked that she was actually a midwife in her main business, but I just think we didn't "click" with her as well. I'm sure she does great work though and I would recommend her to others. So now we are in the process of hiring the first one. I am really excited and can't wait for my prenatal appointments.

For those that aren't really sure what a doula does or includes, basically she is a support person during labor and birth. That's her main role. Our specific one will also do 2 prenatal appts where we will discuss our birth plan, my nutrition, what relaxation techniques we will use, etc. Then she will show up whenever we want her to once I'm in labor, most likely while I'm still at home. And will stay through the birth and make sure we have breastfeeding established. She will then visit us two times post birth to check up on us.

So that's what's been going on in our lives lately. I now start seeing the doctor (not necessarily my own...grrrr) every 2 weeks, so my next appointment is on Jan 23 (next Mon).

Tidbits

This post isn't really about any one thing, just lots of little things I want to share about our lives right now.

* Today is my glucose test. Not really looking forward to it. Technically, I'm predisposed to it because of the PCOS but I still take the Metformin, which I would think would help, but we'll see. I also have a regular doctor's appointment today and after today's appointment, I'll start going every 2 weeks. Just another reminder at how close to the end we are getting.

* Emilee may turn out to one crazy baby!! When Noah was born, I thought this was easy. Almost 2 years later, I still think he's a pretty easy kid (hence why we decided to go for another...hehe). I thought my pregnancy with him was "normal", but it turns out he was easy and laid back even in utero. I hardly ever felt him kick or move compared to Miss Emilee. She is all over the place, jabbing me with what I can guess is her elbows and knees. Not to mention all the over fun symptoms she has caused (longer morning sickness, pains in my back...see the last post). So I can imagine that once she is born, she is going to continue her reign of fun, which will make for 2 very tired parents. Wish us luck!! (But don't get me wrong, I'm so excited for her to arrive!!)

* Noah is almost 2...what!?!?! Seriously, how did that happen. Just yesterday, I was giving birth to him, and even more recently, having his first birthday party. How did another year pass us by? Noah is having a birthday party but this year, it's just going to be for his little friends and their parents. And of course, it will be train themed. Lots more posts and pictures to come regarding that.

* Other things Noah is doing is talking in 2+ word phrases. I never thought we would get here, but we are...finally. Most of the time, he still talks in 1 word phrases, but every so often, there is a "please" or a "mommy" or "daddy" in there too. Or he'll say "I got it" or "read it". The most amazing thing to me is his use of the correct tenses of words. It's not perfect, but seriously, when I can ask him what he's doing and he responds "reading" or "running", that is amazing to me. Not only is his language skills blooming, but his overall comprehension is good too. Of course, he still has his days when he just refuses to listen. And we are definitely doing more time-outs these days. But he really is a good kid and I can't wait to see what the next stage brings.

* One last Noah update is on his potty situation. We've always taken the approach that we will just wait and let him take the lead. And we certainly weren't pushing it before Emilee arrived. But we have always had a little potty chair out for him. And he started becoming much more interested in it. He tells us when he has gone "poo poo" and he also says "pee pee" or "potty" but I think more times than not, that just means he just went in his diaper. But we still take him to the potty. So far, if we put him on his little potty, he will most of the time go, but just a little, which makes me think he is forcing it. On the big potty, he likes to sit on it, but doesn't ever go. We also bought a little seat for the big potty, but again, still nothing there yet. I think it's really hard since we are both working and it's winter, so he's got a shirt, undershirt, pants, and diaper on and by the time you get all that off, it's exhausting! I think we'll just keep encouraging him and doing what we can and then maybe once she is born and we take a few weeks off when the weather is warmer, we will try a full-on potty training time with undies and everything. Are we crazy for attempting potty learning and having a newborn? Probably, but if Noah gets potty trained out of it, I'm willing to try!

* The only other interesting thing in our lives right now is we are trying to re-do an old rocking chair. We got this chair for $10 at a garage sale and it has an ottomon and everything. The only problems were that it was missing a few nuts, bolts, etc and it's ugly. We did use it in our living room until Noah came and needed more room. Now I'd like to put it back since we no longer have a "rocking" chair in there (we got new living room furniture). So we took it all apart and David is going to paint it black. My job is to take the cushions and make new covers. I think I can do most of it myself. I'll make sure and post pictures when we are done.

And 3rd trimester is here....

The whole time I was trying to conceive Noah, I just wanted to be pregnant. I would have done anything just to be pregnant, it didn't matter. And it happened. And I was so happy. Sure, I had a little morning sickness and some pains, but I was happy to be pregnant and having a child. I had Noah and moved on. Right around 12 months old, I started getting baby fever again. Slowly at first, but then I had it bad. We started fertility treatment and it just made it worse, but I had more hope this time. Luckily, we got pregnant pretty quickly and again I was thrilled that we were pregnant AGAIN.

But this time, way more morning sickness. It lasted until at least 12 or 13 weeks. It was all day sickness. And just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, my back and hip started hurting. I have since found out that that's due to a prior injury and the stresses of raising a toddler and being pregnant are just making it worse. I am still very happy to be pregnant, but man, this pregnancy is rough. I hate to complain, because I know SO many friends that are trying to conceive and haven't yet and would die to be in my position, but seriously, I'm having way more trouble this time around.

I am very thankful to be pregnant, really I am. But at this point, I'm just ready for the baby to be here. I've gone from having occasional hip pain (hopefully getting better with the chiropractor visits) to now having pains in my lower belly and upper back from just my ever growing belly/baby. I would sort of expect to feel this "immobile" about 2-3 weeks from delivering, but 13 more weeks!!! Guess I'll just hang on and hope it goes by quickly....