15 weeks

 I'm 15 weeks tomorrow!

I can't believe it! It's great. :) Today during my acupuncture treatment while laying there relaxing I think I felt a little baby flip inside of me! I felt Robby at around 17 weeks and I've heard sometimes with your second you feel it earlier - either way hopefully soon I'll be feeling lots of little kicks. I know Robby is going to LOVE being able to feel the baby moving and I can't wait for that.

So I'm still having headaches - not as often but still every now and then. They are so annoying. Thanks everyone for your advice and thoughts though - I appreciate all your input! I love when women can share advice with each other. :) It makes me feel better that this seems pretty common and normal! And that hopefully they'll go away soon!

Weird sleep - ugh, so annoying! Last night I could NOT fall asleep - no really, I didn't fall asleep so at 4 am I finally got out of bed and got a yogurt and got on the computer for a few minutes... after going to the bathroom tons of times I was finally falling asleep and then Robby woke up at 6:30 with a bad dream.... and yeah... I didn't sleep. Oh well. Today I laid down at 1 to try to take a nap because I was so dang tired but my body was just totally resisting sleep. Awesome. Now it's 9 pm and Rob is giving me a hard time because I am READY for bed. :)

So with Robby we paid the $50 extra for a 16 week gender check but I had said, no, we don't have to do that this time, we can wait and I made an apt for 19 weeks actually for Oct 19.... but I just realized I'll be 16 weeks next week - we could find out NEXT week what this baby is (assuming it cooperates) and now I CAN'T get the idea out of my head!!!! Rob is saying no way we are can wait but we'll see...

 

I'm not the best at taking pictures of myself! Oh well! There is a tummy!

Ideas?

Alright so the first trimester is almost over and I have had very little to complain about - this has been great! Not throwing up, more tired but not completely exhausted... but for like the last week and a half I've had 2 problems... Headaches & I can't sleep.

Headaches - from the base of my neck... off and on and it just kills. I went to Dr Dummar on Tuesday and he did a chiropractic adjustment which made it feel better then but then they came back quickly. Saturday I had a massage which again felt great but didn't solve the problem. I don't like taking tylenol because I feel like I'd rather not take meds during the pregnancy and I feel like it doesn't do anything anyway so what's the point - the two times I have taken it it's barely made a difference. The most frustrating thing is when I WAKE UP with a headache! Cause you think getting sleep would make it better! Grr! Oh well, it's just getting really old! And I wish there was more I could do!

Can't sleep - I fall asleep... then I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go BACK to sleep. It is SOOOO annoying. Sunday I woke up at 3:30 am and didn't go back to sleep at all. I just get up and go to the bathroom 18 times... roll around... sometimes I'll get up and eat something. Becca said maybe my body is hungry and I am going to try just getting up and eating something right when I wake up next time and see if that helps me go back to sleep. Also, I usually take all my pills (prenatal vitamins, fish oil pills, cofactor pill, and herbs that I finally capsulated because I couldn't drink them anymore!) so I'm drinking a lot of water at bed time which = lots of trips to the bathroom. I'm trying to take those a few hours before bedtime and just deal with the fact they make me nauseous so cut back on the middle of the night bathroom trips.

I'm still able to sleep on my tummy although it is getting a little uncomfortable. I just lay half on a pillow to distribute my weight and that seems to help!

I have another appointment with Sheri in two weeks but I might just call her and see if she has any suggestions for these problems!

Do you guys have any ideas??

If you got up in the middle of the night and were getting a snack what would you get? I need some ideas...

And yeah, let's just pause for a second - I'm almost out of the first trimester! Thursday I'll be 14 weeks! Ahhh! Still feel like this baby is such a miracle. Robby's prayer tonight was short and included, "Please bless the little baby... I'm thankful for the baby and please bless it will stay in there..." We are just so glad to be pregnant.

First prenatal

I meant to blog about this right after and I kept forgetting!

So you know how I had decided on a midwife and so when she called me back on Monday and asked when I wanted to come in I said RIGHT AWAY! I was able to see her the next day, so last Tuesday, for our first appointment!

I pulled up to her house and she and her 5 year old son were just getting out of the car - hurray! Someone for Robby to play with! You guys, this is so great, Robby just ran around and played with her son for the whole hour we were meeting. And we scheduled my next appointment to be when her son would be home again so they can play. It's such a relief knowing he's welcome at these appointments and now he even will have FUN!

It was kind of funny because she and her son had just been at McDonald's at the playplace - it was his first day of school. She said, "oh no, Esther! Today we're going to talk about nutrition and now you're not going to listen to a word I say when you see me with my Dr. Pepper and cheeseburger!" Ha! I told her no, now I won't worry about her judging me if I tell her I ate something like that. :)

We did talk a lot about nutrition and I asked her what I ask every doctor, "How bad is it if I have an occasional diet coke?" I am basically asking for it when I ask this question but I need someone to convince me not to drink soda!! She told me a pretty convincing story - when she was pregnant with her 9th baby, at age 40, she decided she'd just drink Dr. Pepper if she felt like it! And all through her pregnancy she kept having bladder infections... and she said, "I know what it was from and I didn't care!" And then when she was in labor her midwife broke her water and all her contractions stopped - she said in a serious voice, "And Esther... I had to have a hospital birth." She went to the hospital and she had a cervical infection. So they gave her antibiotics and an epidural and then the baby came without any other problems but it was not the kind of birth she wanted and she felt like the infections were linked to drinking soda and just not taking as good of care of herself as she should've. She pointed out that it has to go through your kidneys which are right next to where the baby is!

If my goal is to have a healthy baby and to be able to give birth at home then I need to take the best care of my body that I can!! So I am going to do my best to eat healthy foods and exercise and not drink soda.

My favorite part - we heard the heartbeat! I was almost 12 weeks at my apt and my uterus is tipped back so I knew it would be hard to hear the heartbeat but since I'd been having some cramping that weekend I was desperate to hear it!! She was very patient in searching for it and we found it a few times although it was very quiet - her monitor picked it up and it was definitely a baby's heartbeat! It was such a relief! I'm excited for my next appointment where it should be much clearer and easier to hear right away!!

She also took my blood pressure which was a little high which was random for me. She said it could be a fluke and she's not too worried about it but if it's high next time too then we'll start talking about ways to lower that - like eating more garlic apparently. I've read exercising can help as well - trying to get back into that these days!

And just fyi she does urine tests each week like at a regular doctor too. Other labs and ultrasounds are elective and we'll do an ultrasound around 20 weeks to try to find out if it's a boy or a girl and see if everything looks good! So that's just like a month and a half away! Ah! So exciting!

Basically I still feel really good about my choice and my midwife is great and I'm happy. :)

Ideas for natural childbirth

This is for you, Tiffany! And it's just one of my favorite subjects so I figured I'd do a post instead of a comment in answer to your question!

So, you're thinking about not having an epidural? Want to know what your options are? Well, I'm no expert but I've got a few ideas and am happy to share!!

When wanting to avoid an epidural these are some things I think are super important:

1. Educate yourself! Read read read read!!! Lots of awesome positive childbirth books! 
One of the keys to success in achieving a non-medicated birth is retraining your brain to NOT BE AFRAID of labor! Reading and learning about the process is a huge step in this. Learn what your body is capable of how awesome it is and let yourself feel empowered and not scared. Fear is what makes labor painful! When you can relax and let your body do it's job labor is less painful and goes much quicker!

This is my new favorite! The one I mentioned last time, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth 

Birthing from Within...

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Journey into Motherhood - this is full of positive birth stories which are awesome and helpful to read!

Watch this movie: The Business of Being Born

In fact, if anyone is in Utah and is interested we can make it a movie night! I just bought this DVD and would love to have anyone over to watch it and chat about birth!! Just let me know! And I could probably get my expert sister in law Becca to join us and answer any questions you have!

2. Take a childbirth class that focuses or covers natural childbirth and other coping measures

 Like this class taught by Becca - I think she has a few openings left for her class in October!!!

With Robby I took this Hypnobabies class and felt like it really worked!! Looks like that instructor isn't teaching right now but I'd look into that method for sure.

3. Choose a care provider who will be supportive and limit interventions

 OB, Family Practice, Midwife... You have options! Find someone with a low c-section rate (midwives and family practice that's easy because it will be 0 but you can ask about their transfer rate). You want to find a care provider who will be patient and allow labor to progress as normally as possible. Studies show OBs typically want labor to adhere to a schedule (dilating about 1 cm = hour) and when that doesn't happen they are more likely to introduce pitocin or other interventions which are not medically necessary and will make continuing in labor without medication more difficult!

I've had some people ask me what the difference between an OB and a midwife is - A Midwife sees you all throughout your pregnancy just like an OB. I'll be seeing her once a month till the end, then it goes to every 2 weeks, then once a week. My apts with her are 30 min - 1 hr, as opposed to the 5 minutes some OBs schedule for you. She is concerned with your nutrition and any questions you might have and it's important to create a relationship of trust through the pregnancy.

**On this same note, CONSIDER GIVING BIRTH AT A BIRTH CENTER OR AT HOME.

I know this will sound very foreign to most of you and you might not know anyone who has done this so let me be an example for you! The easiest way to avoid unnecessary interventions is to stay out of a hospital. Hospitals continue to stick to policies that have shown to have no benefits to women or babies and if anything are detrimental (the "nothing by mouth" rule which restricts you from eating or drinking in labor; continuous electronic fetal monitoring which has shown to have no benefit over intermittent listening and has been linked to higher c-section rates and use of forceps). Ok, sorry guys, this is probably more info than you're interested in but I've just learned so much and feel like I'm bursting to share!!!

So it's just something to consider - some women don't even know these options exist and I want them to be aware of what's out there!

4. Hire a doula to support and guide you through your labor

Even if you have the most doting, loving, supportive husband I think having a doula is probably the BIGGEST key to having a non medicated birth! Having a trained labor support person with you through every moment who comes with a bag of tricks and knows comfort measures and position changes and can make suggestions is priceless. Or, if you are worried about the price, a doula costs a couple of hundred dollars (I think we paid $350 for ours) but if you consider the price of an epidural which is what? $500? So if you pay for a doula in place of an epidural that's pretty good!

You can go here to look for a doula in Utah. I chose a few to interview and then picked from there!

Like I said, I'm not an expert, this is just my opinion!

My story 

I knew I didn't want an epidural because there was no way someone was sticking a huge needle in my back. End of story. So I needed another option to manage the pain. I began looking around at childbirth classes in my area and settled on Hypnobabies. 

I went with the first doctor my friend's recommended and while he was a great doctor to THEM it was clear he wasn't what I wanted when I walked in and saw a sign on the wall in the waiting room that said something like, "If you are planning on using a doula or Hypnobirthing or Bradley Method please let us know so we can transfer your records." Oooookay. At least they were upfront about it so I knew right away I needed to change. I went with the 2nd recommendation and that doctor while he seemed "ok" with the idea of me wanting natural childbirth the first appointment but at the second when I started asking more detailed questions he was impatient and I could tell when it cam down to it he didn't really care. Third doctor - I set up an apt to interview Dr. Shelly Savage before I switched my records over and she seemed very open to helping a woman have her birth be whatever she wants. I went with her and was very happy! But it was hard and awkward to switch doctors! Here's a tip - if you find a NEW doctor you can ask THEM to request your records from the old doctor and you don't even have to tell them. Figured that out by doctor 3.

Throughout my pregnancy I read and learned and my opinions on birth developed... I had stronger reasons for not wanting an epidural and was excited about natural childbirth! 

I had a great experience with Robby with Dr. Savage, my doula Angie, and at Timpanogos Hospital. But I know I can have an awesome experience at home with my midwife Sherri, my sister Becca as my doula, and hopefully in the water! While it's totally possible to have a great experience in a hospital you are definitely going against the grain of their usual procedures and it can feel like a fight at times. I'm excited to be in my own home and have only my supportive team around me... 

Whew, sorry for being so wordy! Can't give a short answer! All she asked for was "A BOOK" recommendation and this is what you get. :)

I found one!

So after my three interviews I've settled on a midwife - Sherri Price! She is great! I knew even just from our 2 phone conversations (first to make an apt for an interview, second to change the date of that apt) that I probably would end up liking her the best! She was very interested in how I was doing even though I wasn't her patient yet.

We met with Sherri first on Thursday afternoon at 5. We had a nice hour long visit with lots of chatting and Rob and I were both really comfortable with her. She told us about her and her 20 years of midwifery experience and most importantly we just clicked!

Rob was ready to have me cancel the other 2 apts since I liked her so much but I just felt like if I went ahead and did the other interviews the worst that could happen is I'd be more convinced that she was the one for me.

Thursday at 8:30 pm we went to the Better Birth birth center and met with Suzanne. She gave us a tour of the birth center which is a beautiful facility and I was curious to see it even though I knew I wanted to go the homebirth route. It was a different kind of interview - more... official? We reviewed my medical history and she said she saw no reason why if this is what I wanted I shouldn't be able to do this. We asked her our questions... she was very nice and I think the midwives there are all very experienced and any of them would do a good job but one of the benefits I'm looking for in a midwife is that I will be building a relationship with this person throughout my whole pregnancy and then they will be the one to be there to support me in my labor and birth. Going with a practice where you rotate through a group of midwives isn't my first choice for this pregnancy.

 

They have a beautiful bed, awesome jetted tub, and kitchen stocked with drinks and frozen food and snacks for mom and other people there while she's laboring...

Friday at 5:30 we met with Heather Shelley at the birth center she runs in Pleasant Grove. Again, we toured the facility even though we let her know we were planning on birthing at home. It was a nice place - a much older home compared to the brand new Better Birth facility but still looked like a great option for someone who is looking for a birth center. Heather was very nice and we asked her our questions and chatted a little and once again I just knew we weren't clicking as well as I had with Sherri.

After that I just felt excited that it was over - that I did it! I looked around, did some interviews, and get to have this amazing person as my care provider!!! I left her a message yesterday (Saturday) and I'm hoping I'll be able to go in for an appointment this week or very soon and hopefully we can hear the heart beat on a doppler or something! I've had some cramping this weekend which I know is totally normal but it just reminds me of my miscarriage and makes me worry!!

So yes, we are planning on a home birth. I'm sure there will be lots of you who think I'm crazy and I will say 10 years ago I wouldn't have believed I would do this and now I can't imagine it ANY OTHER WAY. The education and exposure I've had has led me to choose this and I know that this is a great option for us and I hope I can share with you guys some of the things I've learned over the next few months! If you think I'm nuts I'd ask that you have an open mind as I share some of what I've learned and if you don't think you can be supportive feel free to stop reading my blog now because I'll probably be bringing this up from time to time!

Right now I feel like I can't get ENOUGH of birth books - I'm kind of obsessively thinking about giving birth right now! I can't wait! I feel so lucky that I have the chance to have another baby and know it's going to be another awesome experience like it was with Robby! The books I've read recently that were very informative:
Gentle Birth Choices
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

I really recommend the second one (Thinking Woman) - I wish I could quote the entire intro to explain to you guys why I think a homebirth is such a good option for me but that would take a long time (and maybe be illegal?) but it is great.

Search for a midwife

I am 10 weeks now and feeling really good! Besides having a dumb cold all week that is. I'm not really nauseous and I want to take a nap most days but it's not like I can't get out of bed.  I was really relieved after seeing the ultrasound and then felt grateful about not having bad pregnancy symptoms but the longer time goes on and I don't feel that "pregnant" it makes me wonder a little and wish I had a doppler so I could just check for baby's heartbeat again!

While I haven't decided on my care provider yet I have three appointments set up this week with midwives and I'm really excited about them! And maybe one of them will let me use their doppler for a minute to put my mind at ease. I know my uterus is tipped so the baby is farther away from the surface though and it still might be a little early to hear anything but we'll see.

The midwives I'm meeting with are:

Sherri Price
Heather Shelley
Better Birth midwives


I'll update you all after my interviews!

ONE Baby!

We were thrilled to have our ultrasound on Monday show there is ONE baby with a good strong heartbeat growing in my tummy! We would've been really excited for twins but mostly we were just relieved to see a heartbeat!!!

We survived our trip back east and traveling home and then it was just 2 days left before the ultrasound! It was nice to be so well distracted before hand. I didn't realize how NERVOUS I was until we were sitting in the waiting room for a longer than usual wait and I started feeling pretty sick to my stomach.

For those who don't know I had a miscarriage and so my last ultrasound experience ended in looking for a heartbeat and baby and finding a barely there 6 week old fetal pole that had stopped developing. This made me feel pretty nervous and anxious...

We sat for 15 minutes in the waiting room... then probably another 5 with that sheet thing draped over me waiting for the doctor to come in.... I joked to Rob I was going to take the ultrasound probe and just do it myself!

As soon as Dr Foulk began the ultrasound I saw the baby instantly... and a few seconds later he held it still and I could see little baby's heartbeat fluttering!!!! RELIEF!!! I just was so happy I forgot that we were looking to see if there might be more than one baby! He measured the little guy and we got to listen to his heartbeat - so amazing! Then I asked, "so we only see one baby in there, right??" He said yup and scanned side to side to make sure there wasn't anything else in there.

They gave us three printed off ultrasound pics and a little card signed by all the workers at the Fertility center, it was very nice. Dr. Foulk said I "graduated" to my OB or care provider and when I settle on who my midwife will be he wants to send them a letter with some background on what happened.

 Listening to the heartbeat... 177.33....

 It was so amazing to see baby's legs and arms kick and move around!!

 It says he's measuring 8w6d which is 2 days bigger than based on my due date which doesn't change anything in my opinion it's just great to see he's a good size!! Looks perfect to me!

We had to race straight from the ultrasound apt to Heber for my acupuncture apt - on the way, before we lost service in the canyon, we called a few people and sent a bunch of texts to spread the word. We called Robby first - my sister in law, Becca, was watching him at her house so we called and asked for him and I told him, "Mommy has ONE baby in her tummy!" I was worried he'd be disappointed since he kept saying he was hoping it was TRIPLETS (which would've been quite the unusual thing since we only put in 2 eggs!) but he seemed happy right away. When we came back from our apts to pick him up we walked in the door and from across the room he shouted happily, "MOM! You have ONE BABY in your tummy!!!" So I was glad he was happy!

When we got home we found Taba, my sister, had left us a fun surprise to celebrate in the fridge - some Martinelli's! So we cracked it open and took some pictures to mark the occasion!

I was sad I didn't get a chance to blog about it the last 2 nights since after Robby's gone to bed I've done nothing but work until I'm about to pass out! 

Speaking of passing out, I have definitely been more tired but not completely exhausted. I've been more nauseous but not throwing up. At first I was wishing I was more sick so I would feel more reassured but after seeing baby's sweet little heartbeat I can just be grateful I haven't been more sick!

The one thing I've got is a (what feels to me!) a giant tummy already. I was thinking twins would've made a lot of sense but that's ok! I stuck out right away with Robby too (and feel the same way symptom wise as I did with him too - does that mean it's a boy? we shall see!) so I'm trying to not worry about it but I'm already finding I look awkward in all my clothes and don't know what to wear! It doesn't help that when I was reading on some pregnancy site that at 8 weeks "you probably have a bulge but it's just water retention." Boo. It's just not as fun since I worked so hard to lose all that weight earlier this year but it's DEFINITELY worth it!!!!!!

Oh well! It doesn't help that not only am I not sick or throwing up but I feel like I'm starving all of the time!!! At every meal I feel like I'm eating at least double and am hungry every 2 hours... I decided if I'm going to be eating so much food to just try not to eat so many treats! Because I think you should listen to your body but that doesn't give me an excuse to fill it with junk... so wish me luck! Since today Doritos were sounding amazing... and Panda Express...

All in all we are just SO GRATEFUL and SO EXCITED!!!!

And now it feels like I can just breathe a little easier and I'm starting to get deeper into my search for a midwife! And can plan on taking a childbirth class - this time I get to take one from my wonderful sister in law, Becca, who is a doula, and I've been lucky enough to be at 2 of her homebirths and this woman knows how to give birth!!! She's teaching a round of childbirth classes this October at her home in North Orem if anyone else is interested let me know!!!

Once again thanks for all of you guys' support you are awesome!!!