Monday, January 09, 2006

22 Weeks--Over Halfway There!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted a pregnancy update. First, I must back up and fill you in on my 19 week appointment! Everything was good-- it took a while to find baby's heartbeat, just because he/she kept moving away from the doppler, but once Sherry found it, it was nice and strong. And fast, around the 150s this time. My weight is still good; I think I've gained about 7-10 lb. depending whose scale you go by. I think I'll go with my scale, which is the 7 lb. one! Sherry said 10 was just fine, though. My blood pressure is still staying very consistent, which I'm thankful for--right around 120/80. So far so good! We also talked about birthing tubs and she has done a lot of water births, and gave me a name of a lady in Maine that has a business of renting the Aquadoulas, and she even comes and sets it up for you, and then comes back and takes it down when you're done. Her price also sounded better than the one I found at the Aquadoula website. So we may look into that. She thinks waterbirths are great, but even if you just use the tub for parts of labor, that that is great too. Just whatever the individual mom is comfortable with. I've always been interested in the idea of a waterbirth, and having the option of using the tub would be nice, I think.

So it was a good appointment, and I'm looking forward to the next one, which will be next Monday! I'm NOT looking forward to getting on my scale and seeing how much I've gained over the holidays, though--too much sweet stuff!!

I'm definitely getting a bigger tummy all the time, and baby is also getting a lot more active, which is fun. :) The movements are strong enough for Jim to feel most of them, now. I've started to have a little heartburn now, but nothing too bad. Usually having one Tums will take care of it, if it gets bad enough for me to even bother with the Tums. I know it may get worse, the farther along I get, as it did with Sam, but I'm hoping not.

The other big news (not really pregnancy related, though) is that I was able to finally get Sam completely weaned around the beginning of December. We had been down to one nursing a day for quite a while, but even that was just starting to get to me, since I was already tired from being pregnant. We finally just stopped, and it was a lot easier and smoother than I expected. I guess we were both ready! It's a little bittersweet, but I am SO thankful to have a break before starting in with nursing the next baby. There is nothing more special than the sweet bond that nursing your child creates, and I'm happy that we were able to continue for so long, but I am also glad that I was able to accomplish my goal of weaning him before Christmastime.

I'll try to be more timely with my next update, which should be after my next appoinment. Thanks for reading!

1 comment:

Carrie said...

Zan, you crack me up! :D I'm really not sure if I will like a waterbirth or not--I think the idea of it sounds cool though, so I would like to give it a try. At least for labor, maybe not for the actual birth. We will see. I'm going back and forth on it a bit because it's like $200 to rent a tub, but you get to keep it for a while, and I also like the fact that they will come set it up and take it down. I think it would be nice to have the option, anyway.

With Sam, I planned to labor in one of their tubs (this was at Dartmouth) but they only have 2 and they are in different rooms from the rooms where you give birth. They don't do planned waterbirths there, but are fine with women laboring in water. Anyway . . . since I was so far along by the time I got there (7 cm.) and also had the blood pressure issue, I had to be hooked up to stuff and didn't have the chance to get in a tub. At that point, I didn't care. I was in bed the whole time after I got to the hospital; I remember being on my side a lot and squeezing Jim's hand to pieces! I delivered in the more "traditional" position of half-sitting up, with the nurses supporting my legs. It seemed easiest to push that way. It will be interesting to see how and if this labor is different.

Refresh my memory, how far along are you now? I was thinking you're due in Feb/Mar, is that right? I know how that measuring small thing goes--with Sam when I was just over 36 weeks, the midwife was concerned b/c I was measuring small, so she ordered an ultrasound to make sure my dates were on track. Everything was just fine, though, and he was born 4 days later, a bit small, but not in the preemie stage. Good job with the low B/P! At least you shouldn't be a candidate for pre-eclampsia. :)