In all the craziness of preparing for the holiday, I forgot to take my regular weekly photo. But I think this one is even better. Special thanks to my good sport brother-in-law.
The last week of the second trimester was pretty uneventful (and thus awesome). I'm continuing to live in my Gap supersoft long-sleeve shirts , and I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before someone at work calls me out on the fact that I'm rotating about five outfits at the moment. Oh well ;) As someone who was not particularly fashionable before this whole gestating process began, I'm sure no one is terribly surprised that comfort is winning out over fashion in a huge way now.
The most exciting thing that happened this week is that I had my first prenatal visit with the midwife practice that I recently transferred to. Can you say breath of fresh air? My midwife sat with me for almost 45 minutes and answered the one million questions I had come up with, listened to all of my concerns, and explained everything in great detail. I really feel like I'm so much more a part of my own health care now. She kept reiterating the fact that they were there to support me, give me all the information I needed to make decisions for myself, and then help me carry out the plans I make. At my last OB appointment, I asked a few questions that pretty much just confirmed my concerns that attempting a natural birth with that practice would not be particularly supported. My OB said that I could probably be successful if I had a five to six hour labor, but that once I approached the twenty-hour mark, they would want to speed things along (with pitocin). I was told that a few non-negotiables were continuous fetal monitoring, an IV, movement limited to walking around my room/bathroom, and eating limited to popsicles and jell-o. I was also told "you can't argue with us if we tell you you need a c-section". I understand where my OB was coming from when she made that last statement, but I really didn't appreciate the way that she worded it. I am all for any intervention that is necessary for me. And I don't want a single intervention that is not. I really want to be able to trust my provider and any recommendation they make for me. I didn't feel that trust with my OB practice. Since leaving them, I found out that they have an approximate 38% c-section rate. Even a limited amount of research will tell you that that is excessive. I'm really surprising myself with how strongly I feel about all of this as I get closer to Baby O's birthday. Anyways, I am so relieved to have found a practice where I feel supported in attempting to have the kind of birth I want. Now it's just a decision of birth center (connected by tunnel to the hospital!) or hospital. I have a feeling you'll be hearing a lot more about that decision in the weeks to come.
A few more tidbits:
Pounds gained: 24 as of my appointment this week. Gahhhhhhhhhh.
Stretchmarks: The obsessive hunting for them has begun, but so far so good. I've been slathering this stuff on nightly for months now, and it at least makes me feel great even if there's no science behind it.
Coolest happenings of the week: Baby O' is continuing his in-utero acrobatics, much to my delight, and hubs' as well. Now we're able to watch the show from the outside, which is one part creepy and two parts totally awesome.Bellybutton status: about half in and half out. I took a picture, but isn't it sort of creepy to post a zoomed in picture of your bellybutton on the internet? Who knows why but I'm sort of drawing the line here.
Nursery update: Hubs had the week off after Christmas and has been working SO hard on getting the floors finished. He put the fourth coat of waterlox on today and here's a sneak peek of the progress:
Finally, Happy New Year's Eve to all of you and thanks so much for reading along and being a part of this crazy journey in 2010. I don't think there is any way to describe how much our lives are going to change in 2011- but also no words for how excited we are for all of it!
Cheers!
