Cooking a big baby

I am 33 weeks and 5 days, I am so thankful to have made it to this point with all the bumps along the way. I had my bi-weekly check up yesterday and the doctor measured me again. I am measuring at 36 cms which is a few weeks ahead of schedule. They noticed this about a month ago and sent us for the ultrasound then. The tech estimated her at 4.5 pounds, so I can only imagine she is larger than that now. The doctor suggested I start coming in once a week and we will keep an eye on her size. They also are concerned about the gestational diabetes playing a factor in her becoming a plump baby.

So pretty much at this point 1. Dr said if I go into labor they are not going to stop me and 2. depending on her size we may have to induce. Looking at a calendar if I am measuring 36 weeks now and ideally they would like me to get to 37 weeks according to my due date that brings us to November 20th. Thats about 4 weeks away. I can't even wrap my mind around it. The Mr. has been working late and we haven't even really had a chance to talk about it being I am asleep by the time he gets home and the mornings aren't time for serious conversation.

I feel like there is so much to do, I am excited and nervous and anxious at the same time. Her room is halfway there, we don't have a sitter lined up and if I have to be induced I most likely will also have an epidural. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I was just looking forward to at least trying to be as natural as possible.

My Gestational diabetes has been good, I submitted my weekly numbers to the counselor and she was pretty happy with them which is great. Thats another week I won't have to be on pills or shots.

I can definitely tell that she is running out of room, her movements are at some points sharp and I can feel every one of them.

But we are excited and its 9 pm which has pretty much been my bedtime and I am so sleepy. At least it is supposed to be a quiet weekend.

Meet Baby Citysaur!

Introducing Benjamin James, aka Baby Citysaur. Born 3/10/10 at 6:24 PM. Weighing in at 7 lbs 15oz, 20 1/4 inches long.

I mentioned in my last post that our midwife wanted us to kick start labor on Wednesday...well kick start we certainly did! We started out at 8:45 AM with her stripping my membranes. Then we did some nipple stimulation and took an hour power walk. At 11:30 AM, the midwife broke my water. We did more walking as we went out to have lunch and gather our bags at home, then back to the birth center. By the time we arrived back at the birth center at 1:30 PM, I was having contractions that were 2 minutes apart and was most definitely in labor!

Not the most flattering picture of me, but here we are, in the early part of active labor, just after arriving at the birth center. I did not look this good as the day progressed!

I won't go into the whole, explicitly detailed birth story, but I'll summarize from here. I labored for about 3 hours before pushing, exploring various positions including the birth ball, the shower, the tub, and hanging off the bedpost. About 4:30 or so, I went to the bathroom at the suggestion of the birth assistant, and I started to feel the urge to push. Pushing lasted about two hours, and was the most exhausting part of the experience. The only downside to not going into spontaneous labor was that Ben hadn't quite descended, so I had to work extra hard at getting him down. That part was difficult, because every time I'd make progress during a contraction, he'd slip back when I went to rest in between.

Eventually, after pushing for a while in the tub and hanging off the bedpost, I got into the bed to conserve energy. I almost had to go back to the bedpost, but when I realized they were about to make me get out of bed, I gave it everything I had, and he began to crown. And that's when things got serious.

Ben came out with the cord wrapped tightly around his neck. He was fine until right at the end, when his heart rate plummeted. When the midwife looked at me and said that we had to get him out now, and that I had to push without the help of a contraction, I knew she meant business. Even though I was beyond the point of exhaustion, I found the strength to get him out fast. They cut and clamped the cord from around his neck as soon as he crowned, and then a few pushes later, he was born. Daddy got to catch him, and he put Ben on my belly, but a split second later, the midwife whisked him away to the resuscitation table to work on him. He was born in distress - white as a sheet, depressed heart rate, elevated breathing and low body temperature. Daddy helped the midwife, and after 45 long minutes, he was finally up to snuff. They placed him on my belly and I fell in love!

Family portrait...that's my mom (Ben's Nana) in the pink, and my father in the picture. He couldn't be with us physically, but he was definitely there in spirit!

I want to say thank you to everyone who has followed my pregnancy journey here. I've really appreciated the support, and I've enjoyed sharing everything with you all. I don't want to say this is my last post ever (because I may still have a few things to wrap up as I gather my thoughts in the next few weeks)...and perhaps I shall continue on Littlesaur? Time will tell, I suppose!

The end is near?

So when I last left off, our midwife was telling us we had a big baby, and sent us in for a growth ultrasound for "size greater than dates". The ultrasound confirmed her suspicions, as much as it was able to. The tech was great at explaining to us that the weight measurement is just a guess, because they can't see fatty tissue, only bone. But all his bone measurements, including his skull, were measuring ahead as well. In sum, they put me at 15 days ahead of my due date, which would technically put me at 40 weeks...today.

There's a possibility that, had we chosen to go with a traditional hospital birth, we'd be talking to our doctor right now about inducing. Thankfully, we didn't go that route. We're delivering at a birth center, and that word hasn't even been brought up. Instead, they moved tomorrow's 38 week appointment from the afternoon to the morning, and they're going to "do some things" at said appointment to hopefully kick-start labor. Then send Mr. Citysaur and me home with some "homework".

Now, to most people, I've just been telling them that I'm not being induced, they're just going to do some voodoo magic on me. It's easier (and not TMI) to explain that way, especially to coworkers. But as this is a pregnancy blog, how about the real truth? I'm not 100%, because the midwife went over this rather quickly last week, but I believe the voodoo magic includes massaging the cervix and stripping the membranes. I'm not sure what else the midwife has up her sleeve, but I'm pretty sure I caught mention of those two at least.

So, perhaps Homer is right, and the end is near. I'm off work tomorrow, because after the appointment, we're supposed to go home and see if anything progresses. I was already 2 CM dilated as of last Thursday, so it's not totally out of the question that this could work. But even if it doesn't, I think it's likely he'll be coming some time in the next couple of weeks. It's still just a waiting game!

The Business of Being Born

I have finally watched this documentary regarding the medicalization of birth in America. It has just reconfirmed my desire to go natural. Maybe next time I'll get to do it in a birthing center or even at home. But for now, the plan is to labor at home as long as possible with our doula, who is also an RN, and she'll be in the hospital with us as well. If you'd like to watch it for yourself, you can watch it here: The Business of Being Born

Knowledge is power.

The Bradley Method

We had our first Bradley Method class yesterday afternoon. Our sessions started early due to the holidays. Our instructor condenses the classes into 8 weekly meetings that usually run 8 weeks in a row. Due to the holidays, we'll have two classes this month, two classes next month, three in January, and the last one in February.

Eight sessions of 2.5 hours each = 20 hours of childbirth instruction. That's a lot of talking about childbirth! I learned yesterday, however, that we'll not only talk about childbirth, relaxation techniques, and all those typical things, but we'll also discuss nutrition, exercise, breastfeeding, and newborn care.

Our instructor is the local childbirth guru. In addition to teaching Bradley classes, she is also a Doula, a Doula trainer, and a lactation consultant. As she put it, childbirth is her business! And she had lots of fun props, like these:

Of the seven couples in our class, five are giving birth at the local Birth Center, and it was nice to not feel like we were in the minority for once. One couple giving birth there even has our same due date!

Yesterday's class was pretty introductory, though we did get into a few relaxation techniques and she gave the partners some good tips and tricks for pressure point pain relief. Part of our homework for next week is that the non-pregnant partners get a massage every night. Mr. Citysaur really liked that assignment! Oh, and did I mention we have two workbooks full of information?! I'll be doing most of the reading, since Mr. Citysaur is pretty busy with his four graduate classes on top of working full-time. I'm lucky I got enough of his time to attend the classes.

Thoughts on the birth plan

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I met with our Bradley Birth instructor yesterday to pick up some books that she wants us to read before our private classes with her in early November. It turns out she is also a doula and is available for our EDD. So I really want to book her. DH has his reservations, but I am convinced that having her there for our labor and delivery would be awesome. Right now, I cannot tell if he's worried about coming up with another big chunk of change before the baby arrives (to pay for her services) or if it runs deeper, like he's afraid she might take his place or something. For now, it's on the table for discussion and I hope that, in time, he'll be more open to my desire to have her there.

From before I was pregnant I knew that I wanted to plan for an unmedicated and intervention-free birth. I hesitate to use the world "natural" since I feel that ALL mothers who give birth, in whatever form they end up doing so, have gone through a natural process in that their body produced another living being (or two or more)! That said, what I want is a natural birth in the conventional sense of the meaning of that term. No scheduling. No induction. No pain medications. No IV. No continued monitoring. No instruments. And certainly no surgery.

I know it can be done. Women have done it for generations and two of my best friends have done it recent years. Both delivered in a hospital setting with obstetricians and both had limited interventions. But I also know many women who hope for an unmedicated/intervention-free birth in a hospital setting often end up with exactly the opposite. And that scares me. And angers me too.

I have just read "A Thinking Woman's Guide to Better Birth" by Henci Goer and am also finishing up Ina May Gaskin's "Guide to Childbirth." Both have just reinforced my belief that birthing is a natural and normal process that our bodies are built to handle, given the right environment and plenty of time. So, in talking with our Bradley instructor who's a trained RN and doula, I want to hire her to come to our home and help me labor for as long as possible here, before transferring to the hospital (which is 7 minutes away).

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Honestly, I'd prefer a home birth or even one at a birthing center (they just recently opened one up in Tulsa), but it is cost prohibitive. It would cost several thousand dollars and just doesn't make sense when my insurance will cover my birth at the hospital for $15. Add to that, this is my first baby and although I am not considered "high risk" I will be 35 when I deliver and I am considered obese, two factors that some doctors consider on the riskier side of "low risk."

Of course, this means I may be risking a birthing process riddled with medical interventions, especially because my hospital is tied to a Level III NICU and therefore is used to dealing with higher risk deliveries overall. The rate for epidurals here is 90% and for inductions is 70%. Those odds alone leave me in a very small minority from the start. I wonder how experienced the staff is with "natural" childbirth? When I interviewed my OB/GYN at my pre-conception visit, she said she will support my desire to have an intervention-free birth. But now that I am close to the third trimester, I want to broach that subject more in-depth, so that if, in the end, she really isn't in line with my wishes, I have the time to come up with a plan B, which will probably mean finding a new provider.

All of this is very overwhelming and sometimes I feel myself questioning my desires in the first place. It's so easy to justify an epidural and pitocin drip. Everyone (seemingly) does it. And I certainly wouldn't have to fight to have them at my hospital (where their use is very routine). But I don't want to just "give in" because I am afraid of being perceived as high-maintenance or difficult. I want to allow my body to experience the birth process and then, if need be, make decisions along the way, always with the intent that it be as minimally invasive as possible. Being from San Francisco, I feel overwhelmed by the lack of support here in Tulsa. But I know it's here. In little nooks and crannies, and I am seeking it out. I have four months to get my support team and plan in place. And if it just comes down to my DH and my mom and our doula, well then so be it. We will proceed as planned and see where it takes us...naturally.

Exploring all our options

I'm not quite 12 weeks pregnant yet, and already I've run the gamut of prenatal healthcare options.

(As an aside, did you know this is what a color gamut looks like? I sure didn't, until I looked it up. Thanks, Google images!)

I started out with a visit to my OB/Gyn right after I got my BFP. I'd only seen that doctor once prior to that visit, for my yearly exam in February. I didn't have insurance at my previous job, so up until a year ago, I used my local Planned Parenthood for all my gynocological and birth control needs. So right around 4 weeks, I visited the OB's office, and had a great chat with the nurse, PIAC, and got blood drawn for bloodwork. Then she sent me on my way.

At that point, I began reading and researching childbirth. I was already pretty sure I wanted a natural childbirth. I found out from a co-worker that our local hospital has lovely birthing suites and there are midwives that deliver there - so I began to look into that option further.

Turns out in order to be delivered by a midwife at the hospital, you have to change practices. (That may seem obvious, but I was all new at this, so it was a revelation to me). So, that's what I did. I found the practice - an office of 8 OBs and 2 midwives - called for an appointment, and filled out the paperwork to have my records sent over from my OB's office.

At a day shy of 9 weeks pregnant, DH and I went in for our appointment with our "medwife." A medwife is a term for midwives who often work in a practice with doctors and treat labor management more like a doctor would. I didn't know the term until after our visit, but it definitely fits. The midwife was perfectly nice, and it's quite possible we could've had exactly the childbirth experience we wanted with her and her midwife partner - but after leaving the appointment, Mr. Citysaur and I both felt slightly uneasy. Some of the things she said during the course of the appointment just didn't match up with our philosophies of childbirth as a natural human event - and that wasn't at all what we were expecting.

So, I went home and did even more research. Fortunately, I like this research thing. I finally decided to visit the local Birth Center, a mere 3 blocks away from the hospital, and only one mile from our home. It started with filling out their online insurance information form. Two days later, I got a phone call from a very helpful employee, who spent a good twenty minutes on the phone with me, explaining what my insurance would cover, what our costs would be, and when payments would be due. She then answered some of my other questions about the Birth Center, and signed me up for the group tour later that week. I was already at ease, and very excited about my tour.

The day of the tour, I excitedly pulled up and parked on the curb - then passed a laboring couple strolling along the garden path outside the facility - housed in a charming turn-of-the-century two story home in an historic neighborhood. I walked in with a huge grin on my face and a feeling of nervous anticipation. The tour was everything I hoped it would be. We had to go a little quickly, so the laboring couple could take over the main birthing suite, but we still had plenty of time to see everything. After the tour, our tour group (a good mix of moms-to-be with and without dads-to-be in tow) sat in the parlor and had our questions answered by the tour leader - who happened to be one of the two midwives. As she began answering questions, I started to feel like a bobblehead - every one of her answers made me nod enthusiastically in agreement. We had finally found a match for our hippie/natural birth philosophies!

Before ending the tour, the midwife told us we were welcome to sign up for an appointment if we liked what we saw. I was the first person in line! I was able to get an appointment for the same day I had my other follow-up appointment scheduled - next Monday - which is fortunate, because Mr. Citysaur and I both have the day off already. I called him on the way home and gave him the recap (he wasn't able to take the mid-day tour with me due to work), and he couldn't have been happier.

So to recap, that's three different practitioners, with three different birthing philosophies. Lots and lots of paperwork - a new set for every practice. I kind of feel like this guy. But all definitely worth it!

I went on the tour the day after I outed myself at work/to the general public, and those two events together combined to bring such a wonderful feeling of peace about this pregnancy - one I hadn't felt until then. We are now one week away from our first appointment with the Birth Center, and I can't wait to finally hear our little baby's heartbeat!