Thirty-three weeks five days

My good friend Tracy in Utah has informed me that she has officialy begun dilating and that her doctor says she could go into labor any time now. I believe she is due the first week in February (so sometime in the next week and a half). It's very exciting, as we've been emailing back and forth about our experiences--this is the first baby for both of us, and we're due within a month of each other. She's also expecting a boy, and plans to name him Logan. I've made her promise to email me as soon as she can after she's had him, to tell me about her birth experience.

I also asked another friend in the US with children to describe her birth experiences, and from what she said, it sounded like they were stereotypical American births: gowns, masks, stirrups, forceps, etc. Tracy swears her baby's birth is not going to go that way--and I know mine sure isn't. Two things that really got me were that, for all her children's births, the baby was whisked away almost immediately to the nursery ward, and for one child, the doctor decided to induce her early because the doctor was planning on being out of town for the due date. In fact, this made me furious when I read about it: a doctor's first priority should be the patient's welfare, and inducing labor shouldn't be done for the convenience of the doctor's vacation schedule!

These past few weeks I haven't been sleeping well at all. As I can only sleep on my side, I get painful pressure points on my hips and legs and have to turn over often: which wakes me up. Sometimes it'll only be half an hour before I need to turn. And then my bladder is limited capacity, so it takes less time to fill, waking me up more often. The baby does sometimes wake me up with his kicking, too. I guess that's one good reason for me not working; if I can't sleep at night, I can always catch up during the day. Now, I can be in bed at 10, and get up the next day at 10, but still only get eight or nine hours of sleep. This morning I woke up at 4.45AM and lay in bed for nearly an hour before deciding sleep just wasn't returning.

I weighed myself the other day and decided I've gained 25 pounds during the last eight months. Apparently it's normal to gain about a pound a week from here to delivery, so I can expect another 4-5 pounds. Also, breastfeeding is meant to help lose that weight, so hopefully it'll take me no longer to get it off that it took to put it on. I have a hard time picturing myself as overweight, actually. I know a lot of women struggle, especially after children, to lose weight, and I've never actively tried to. Hopefully it won't be too much of a problem.

I don't know if I've already written about it, but I've noticed that when I get annoyed or angry, it's hard for me to calm down about it. Usually sleeping on it makes it seem less important, but recently I've gotten quite angry and woken up the next day still as angry. I'm sure it's related to the hormones, but it's unpleasant--not just for Partner, but for me too. I've only had one crying fit which was quite early in the pregnancy (I think I mentioned it; I was frustrated and bruised all over from the daily injections I was having and ended up bursting out crying and refusing the injection), but I now have a very short fuse and hold long grudges.

Thirty-two weeks five days

The midwife thinks he's turned around now, so he's not breech any more; she wasn't entirely positive on that point, but she said she couldn't feel his head up under my ribs like last time. Of course, it's entirely possible that he'll want to turn back to breech--she said that even up to 36 weeks he'll still have enough space to turn around. But most likely he'll stay head down.

I've noticed that when I walk the dog in the mornings, I'm quite stiff in my pelvic joints for the rest of the day. I should probably mention that to my midwife, seeing as I want to keep getting my exercise. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. On a side note, I was really proud of myself and the dog yesterday: I taught her how to not pull on the leash and she picked it up within about five minutes. Even when we saw another doggy on its leash, and she started to pull towards it, I just reminded her (by abruptly changing directions) and even though she could still see it, she stopped pulling and walked beside me nicely.

It was Partner's birthday yesterday, but we also had our childbirth class: a tour of the labor and maternity wards at the hospital. They seem to have everything there that I might be interested in trying for giving birth. There is a birth pool, which I will definitely ask about once it's time. If it's free I will request it. If not, I will take advantage of a birth ball and/or a bath. We also heard a presentation from a breastfeeding support charity. Personally I have never even considered not breastfeeding. My mother breastfed, and it seems completely normal and natural to me.

I wrote down some of my birth plan, and Partner says he approves (he read it but he said he will give his ok no matter what). After our class (the midwife presenting it also went over some scary complications) we went up the hill to an Indian restaurant to eat out. We almost never eat out, and certainly haven't since I've been pregnant. But I was ok to eat a nice chicken korahi, sag aloo, and naan with some mango lassi to drink. After all, we didn't go out on my birthday (we also were at the hospital, but as a patient that time), so it was a birthday treat for both of us.

Thirty-one weeks five days

We went to the first of the childbirth classes last night. There were three other pregnant women there, and two other partners. None of the others knew what they were having (we couldn't wait to find out!) and three of us are due within two days of each other. Two of them are quite a bit younger than me, one was about the same age. All first pregnancies. We will be attending two or three more classes now.

The two midwives presenting the class went over the actual physical processes that happen during labor and birth, and stressed the importance of activity and good position. Physically, the baby will most likely be born more quickly and easily if a woman labors in an upright position, so gravity can help the baby down the pelvis. Since the baby has to maneuver through the bones of the pelvis and past the tailbone, being upright means he won't get stuck so easily, and won't get distressed so easily.

They also recommended their preferred pain relief: laboring in water, and the use of entonox. They also said a TENS machine can work very well for some women, and if entonox isn't helping enough, meptid injection is their next step. I have been thinking about pain relief, and their first recommendations were also my first choices of pain relief. I think I would rather not have injections (whether meptid or epidural), unless I'm too exhausted to continue laboring otherwise. Obviously I would go with the lesser drug first before an epidural.

I haven't yet written down my birth plan, though this first class has cemented some ideas for me, and I feel more confident about what I would like.

In other news, I had another visit to the hospital because Franklin's movements seemed a lot more subdued and less frequent for about a 48-hour period. The midwives there advised me to buy a coke on the way in and drink it, then hooked me up to the moniter again once I was there. His heartrate was fine and since I was laid there concentrating, I felt a bit more movement. I did drink some coke--it was foul; I don't drink fizzy drinks, and I especially don't drink soda. They explained that sugar can stimulate the baby, and he did seem to perk up a bit later on in the day. Partner thought when I told him about it later that I haven't been eating as much sugar as I normally would (I hadn't eaten much fruit, for instance, or had any juice for several days). I don't know if that's it. I don't think the baby particularly needs me to eat sugar. Since then, I've felt more normal movements.

I am on official maternity leave now, have just started studying a new online course and am in the middle of another online course. It looks a bit overwhelming, but I remind myself that I have full days to study now (no job to interfere), and the baby isn't due till March; the first class finishes in May. I should be ok. I was very touched that the managers gave me a lovely bouquet and card, and nearly everyone who works with me came in and gave me good wishes on my last shift: whether it was coincidental or not, I still appreciated it.

Thirty weeks four days

At my appointment with the midwife today he's still measuring a good size and when she listened to him we decided he had the hiccups. Cute! She also thinks he is breech for now, but it's not a concern yet. He's been poking me in the ribs a lot lately: ouch. He's a little wriggler.

My maternity leave officially starts next week, and my last day at work will be this Saturday (two days' time). However, weather conditions have been extreme this week--at the moment we have six to eight inches of snow on the ground and the roads are appalling; I haven't been in since Tuesday (two days ago) and even then I left early because of the snow. If the weather continues in this vein, I may not go back for that last shift. Not that they'll mind much; if the staff can't drive in, the customers can't either.

I'll be on maternity leave for nine weeks before my due date. The midwife told me that babies are born small if their mothers are quite active up to the birth. Since I'm having time off, that's giving him time to grow. Which may or may not be a good thing, seeing as I still have to give birth to him, whether he's tiny or huge! I'll still be getting in my walks though, as she also says that mothers who exercise have easier births.

I just have to be careful while walking in the snow and ice. Out in the field it's fine; the ground is rough and there's good traction even if it is frozen. It's just the pavement that I get worried about. Luckily I only have to walk three streets before we get to the field. But walking on that packed snow and ice, especially when the dog is pulling on the leash, is a bit scary. There have been times when I've made her walk behind me, just so she won't pull me over. She hates that.

I was meant to attend my first childbirth class tonight, but it's been canceled because of the snow. I also rescheduled a dental appointment (today) to next week. It's in the next village over and there's no way I'm driving there in these conditions. Partner actually had to walk from there to here when he got stranded in the snow. He got off the train from work only to find out the buses weren't running. It was a two or three mile walk in shin-deep snow in the dark. Poor man.

I'm finding sleeping comfortably a bit difficult now. I can only sleep on my side, but not for long periods before I have to turn to the other side. There have been a few times that he's woken me up with his banging, too. And I don't know how he managed it, but the other night he was hitting me in three different places at once. I told Partner he was playing his drum kit.