We survived the move and now the countdown's on. I'm 36 weeks today. We've moved and have spent most of a month unpacking boxes, buying furniture and doing little house projects to make the new place feel like home. It seems the list is never ending. For every to-do we check off, three more get added. Except for painting, the new baby's room is the only one in the whole house close to complete. Good thing too, since there's only 4 weeks left (and hopefully one or two fewer, if I could have it my way!) Now that we're a little bit settled, it's easier to get excited about the baby coming. I am desperate to find out this baby's gender and super curious about it's personality and how it will fit into the family. I'm also really excited to see Audra as a big sister. She's gotten so helpful and independent lately. I hope she will enjoy her new status and playmate.
I've met with my new midwife twice now and really like her. This might be the dumbest thing anyone's ever said and I'll regret it in the moment, but I feel excited even for the labor/delivery part. I kind of feel like, bring it on, I can handle it and want to experience all of it fully and acutely (the pain, the accomplishment, the fear, the empowerment). I guess I'm just really excited for the home birth aspect and can't wait to meet this munchkin! The midwife is providing us with a water birth tub should we decide we want to use it in any capacity. I kind of just want to go with the flow, see how things unfold, and decide along the way. I have found a pediatrician for the kids and if the baby's a boy, the doctor will circumcise right at her office. We're dealing with irritating insurance issues since our health plan is being slow to get switched over, making it impossible to submit claims or even really know fully what are all our benefits. Such is today's health care system though, unfortunately.
I'm starting to feel uncomfortably huge and sluggish. I find I have to remember to put my feet up at the end of the day or my ankles disappear. I toss and turn and don't sleep and cannot get comfortable. It's a lot of effort to play with Audra on the floor and chase her around and help her at the playground or swimming. I certainly feel climbing up and down three flights of stairs too often! I'm still keeping up my 30-45 minute workouts 5 days a week, but those too are getting difficult and sadly, I do it out of obligation instead of for fun now. I've reached the stage where I don't know which to wish for more ... that the baby stay in (because out it will be chaos and sleeplessness), or that it come out (because in will be more back pain and discomfort). Needless to say, I am beginning to count the weeks.
Come out, come out, whenever you're ready! ;)
2008-06-02 (27 weeks)
It's all going to work out. Twenty-eight weeks marks the start of the third trimester and unfortunately, the beginning of hot summer weather! I have to say, since it's been so warm here lately I am beginning to count the days until we move into a house with air conditioning (29)! I'm starting to feel some of the aches and pains of the extra weight now. Most notably, my back often hurts, but it's as much from carrying around Audra as compensating for baby #2's weight out front. We're working on encouraging as much independence and walking on her own as possible, but circumstances do not always permit that. Secondly, it's getting difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position even with my body pillow. It's just so much effort to change sides that I wake completely up to do so and cannot fall back asleep. Good thing insomnia before pregnancy has prepared me for the sleepless nights already! The last thing that's gotten kind of annoying are the leg cramps. They come on strong and unexpectedly and hurt something fierce until you stretch it away!
On a happy note, I've found a home birth midwife in Rochester who I love! Her name is Rachael McGraw and she's a Certified Professional Midwife so her fees are reimbursable by insurance and she's licensed to carry/administer prescriptive drugs (like oxygen, hemorrhage drugs, vitamin K, etc) and perform skilled procedures (episiotomy, suturing, resuscitation, etc.) She lives a little over an hour away in the Twin Cities but will do all prenatal visits in my home, and she's open to water birth which I am considering since we will have a whirlpool tub in the new house. I'm really happy to have found her, Rachael seems great, so it seems things are working out and my stress in that arena (at least) has been greatly reduced. Yay!
2008-05-08 (24 weeks)
Gymnast baby It's week 24 and the baby has been busy tumbling and flipping and perfecting his/her gymnastic moves. It makes for very exciting nights lying in bed trying to sleep! I just want three minutes of continuous stillness, but apparently that's too much to ask. ;) Before too long the baby will run out of run to move around so much, so I guess I should appreciate the next few weeks of gymnastics.
