LOL Just for Jen, I finally put up my 13 week belly pic. And no, I don’t have them mixed up… I’m actually smaller this week (even though I feel bigger!). I think I was bloating badly at 12 weeks.

For your amusement, here’s a couple more 13 week photos:

The cat was less than amused with me. ;)

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I’d really love to say the nausea went away with the exhaustion, but… it did not. Yesterday at work I spent some good quality time with the toilet. And to make things even more fun, I was gagging and dry-heaving so hard I managed to pee my pants a little bit. Thank goodness for wearing pads, that’s all I have to say.

I’ll have to write more later… I have to get going!

I’ve been feeling weird… things… all day. In my stomach. And to be perfectly honest, I really don’t know where in my stomach. This morning/last night it felt like ovary pain – leftovary. Now it could actually be my ovary for some reason – maybe it’s getting squashed. It was very light, but it felt suspiciously like the times before that I’ve had obvious ovary discomfort. Then this morning I was laying here and it felt like my uterus was sore, achy. At another point today I felt like I was having very very mild cramps – like from my cervix. Now today I think it’s my actual stomach that is unhappy with me, but things are kind of coming and going.

It’s all very weird. Very very light… I kind of have to stay still to really feel them. But it’s something that makes me stop and go, “Huh…”

Honestly I think I’m just feeling things growing. Things getting a little smushed (ovaries), things expanding (uterus), muscles getting pushed here and there. Nothing that worries me.

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Today I stopped by a local library just to see what they had in their baby/childbirth section. I ended up taking out four books. One of which is called “Mothering the Mother,” is written by two medical doctors and a psychotherapist all about Doulas. It’s very enlightening. I had really hoped it would help Den understand, as it has large sections talking about what Doulas do, and how their goal is to enhance the relationship between the mother and father during the labor experience, not interfere with it – as I gathered was his fear about a doula.

For me… well, you all know I’m a numbers and information girl. Emotional support is all very well and good – and necessary! – but tell me what’s going on. What’s happening with my body. What the nurses are checking. What the numbers mean to me. Heck, tell me what the numbers ARE.

I’m still not 100% sold on this natural childbirth thing. Well, I’m sold on the idea – I’m just not sold on the belief that I can do it! It does scare me, yes – I think it’d be foolish to say it didn’t. I simply have no comprehension of what kind of pain it will be. How can I say I will for sure weather something, when I don’t really know what it is I’ll be going through? I have absolutely nothing to compare it to. I’m not much of a “pain” person. I was the kid who insisted on pulling off her bandaid a millimeter at a time, even if it took half an hour. I have had horrible AF cramps for the past several years, but how the heck am I supposed to know how bad they “really” are? Or how they’ll compare to labor? Labor just seems to be such a different entity. It’s not pain because I’m hurt. It’s not pain because I got my period again. It’s pain to bring about this child into the world. Pain with a purpose. Pain with a definitive end. I guess I can just prepare the best I can and just take comfort with the fact that I am a woman, we are built to do this, it won’t be easy, but I will get through it.

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More pains. Pretty sure these ones are gas. :lol: That, and my stomach is saying “feeeeed meeeee!” It loves pumpkin pie. :)

This morning….

6:48 – Den takes the dogs out of the bedroom to take them outside. I vaguely hear it.

6:59 – I wake up, Den is gone, the dogs are chewing on cookies. My stomach feels “off.” I evaluate for a minute. Must need to pee. I get up and pee, and go back to bed.

7:04 – I roll over yet again. Still feels “off.” Can’t get back to sleep. Maybe it’s hungry?

7:06 – I sit up. Ugh. What is wrong? I should go get foo…. *gag* Oh crap. *gag* Run for bathroom. *gag gag barf gag*

7:08 – I eat some crackers and make myself a hot chocolate.

8:01 – I’m still sitting here, sipping hot chocolate. Irritated, because now I’m awake and I don’t want to be.

A conversation I’ve had frequently over the last few days:
Other Person: “You’re in your second trimester… isn’t morning sickness supposed to go away soon?”
Me: “Any day now. I’m ready for it to go away aaannnyyyy day now.”

Please don’t let me be one of the lucky ones who has it the entire pregnancy. That would suck.

My legs hurt. And I don’t mean up near my groin… I mean from the knees down. I’ve been getting foot cramps now and then…. and between that and the idiotic walking I did yesterday (I got lost, on foot, in a strange city), my poor legs hurt! It’s down the front of my legs, and the top of my foot… not the calf. Very weird.

Still continuing the random, light uterine/belly “pains”. A lot of what I’m feeling is most definitely my stomach muscles. I hear my friends talk about “round ligament pains”… and then they mention it, they’re talking about sharp, stabbing pains. I don’t have those. I used the word “pains” in quotations for a reason… I don’t feel like I can really call them pains! They’re more light aches. I admitted to Den today that sometimes I just lay still to “listen” to them…. to feel them better. I don’t know why it’s so reassuring. It just is.

::

I’m reading up on the Bradley Method. I’m debating whether a class would be worth the $250 I was quoted. I do think the method itself is useful though, and plan on utilizing it during labor, as long as it works. I really like the idea of going to “sleep” to work through contractions… to deeply relax and sink into myself and not be disturbed while my body does its work. The book itself is a little iffy. I think the method is good; the way he writes, at least in this edition, is very preachy. There’s a lot of “you have no business being there if you don’t…” He’s very sure that HIS method is the only one that works, and the rest are all just pale imitations and that you’re wasting your time even bothering. I don’t know. The foreword really irritated me. The facts and studies he talks about later don’t as much – as long as he sticks to just information, and not judgements.

I am looking into doulas in this area… finding out their fees and services and availability. I still really feel the need to have one. I feel like it would give me a real leg up, so to say. The statistics are so very reassuring. But, a lot will come down to cost.

Today I met with one of the Midwives from the Midwife group at the Hospital and had a nice long chat with her. I brought a load of questions with me about how they typically do things, and she answered them all and gave me extra info to boot. Here’s my run-down:

There are 14 Midwives total, and 1 or 2 are always on call for labors. It could be any of the 14 that end up delivering me, but it will always be one of their Midwives (unless there are complications and they need an OB to step in). For office visits it’s up to me – I can choose to see the same one or two midwives for every visit and just “meet” and shake hands with the others… or I can have an appointment with a different Midwife every time. She said they really do work as a team, they have weekly meetings where they go over all their patients. She said she feels very confident that, no matter which Midwife is at the labor, they all follow the same proceedures.

They have a nurse who answers calls during the day, answering any questions I might have, and during the night/evening one of the Midwives takes the calls.

How often for appointments: once a month until 28 weeks. (I think it’s the same basic schedule as with my current practice.)

They do one ultrasound between 18 and 20 weeks for the biophysical profile, and no others. She said even if they can’t tell the sex at that ultrasound they do NOT do a second ultrasound. (I was like, “Umm, if I really really REALLY wanted to, could I get a second one anyways?” She said maybe, but they don’t recommend it.) I told her I’m all for the non-medical ways in everything else, but I want to know the gender, lol.

She said they do not do vaginal exams up to the due date like most practices do. She pointed out that if someone is 3cms dialated they could stay 3cms for weeks, so it really gives them no beneficial information. So they don’t do them.

They induce labor at 42 weeks pregnant – no sooner, unless there is a medical reason to get the baby out quickly. They highly believe in letting the body go into labor on its own time. After the due date they will do ultrasounds and listen to the baby’s heartbeat to make sure the baby is healthy, but if everything checks out okay they will let the pregnancy continue unimpeded.

If my water breaks but labor doesn’t start, they will not start pitocin right away (unlike most OBs). She said they usually tell the woman to go to sleep! She said labor more often than not starts within 12 hours of the water breaking, and the mother should get some rest while she can to prepare. Unless, of course, there are indications of fetal distress, etc.

When I first check in they will monitor the baby’s heartrate for about 20 minutes, then turn me loose. During labor they do intermittent external fetal monitoring every half an hour for about 5 minutes at a time. Just to make sure the baby’s doing fine, then they take off the monitors. She did say that sometimes the nurses do like to leave the monitors on (because they are used to more constant monitoring), but that I could ask them to remove it, and when the Midwife checks on me she will remove it, so I can remain mobile.

They highly recommend walking, using the birthing ball, using the shower or tub, and other relaxation techniques to deal with early labor.

They do not do routine IVs as soon as you’re admitted. She said they have a refreshment stand with water and juice, and encourage you to drink fluids by mouth! An IV will be started only if I am unable to keep down fluids for an extended period, or I need medication for any reason. Basically, they need a solid medical reason to do an IV… they don’t just do one as a matter of course. (Yippee!!!!)

They do not do routine episiotomies. She said less than 5% epi rate, and they only do it if the baby needs to come out and the skin is stretched tight. She said of the ones who don’t get epis, around 30% will need stitches for a tear – but she said they prefer to stitch up a tear for 30% of women, then do an epi and be guaranteed stitches!

She said about 50-55% of women in their practice do ask for epidurals – “Because that’s the societal expectation,” she said. Of the rest, about half get an IV for various reasons, half don’t.

How much time the Midwife spends with me during labor varies on what is going on… she said they may just check in with me from time to time, or they may end up spending the entire labor with me. She did say they like to leave women in early labor alone and not bother them too much.

During labor they do vaginal exams every 2 hours – unless the labor is progressing very rapidly, in which case it could be more often.

For delivery, she said they do have a preference that you give birth on the bed rather than, say, the toilet or the floor (which they have done, she said), but that they don’t care what position you choose to birth in. Whatever feels/works best. (No laying flat on my back for me!)

I mentioned birth plans and the Bradley method, and she said that the Bradley method has a lot of good about it, but that the downside is that it is very strict and some women come in thinking their labor is going to follow a specific, exact course and when something throws it off they get tense and, well, basically panic. Not helpful. So she said if we can take all the positives from the Bradley method and still be open to change and following the flow of the labor, then we’ll be in good shape. Same thing with birth plans, she said – that some women come in with this set view of their labor and birth and are too inflexible.

They have signs all over the office about how breastfeeding is best for the baby and how skin-to-skin contact is a wonderful, beneficial thing. They do have an LC on staff at the hospital, and they do offer prenatal breastfeeding classes which she recommends.

::

So that’s it. It was kind of funny, because I walked in a few minutes late (stupid traffic) already feeling bummed about the half-hour drive just to get there every appointment. I then had to wait in the waiting room for half an hour, and I was feeling even more dismal about it. I got called back and sat in a room for a little bit when the Midwife – an older woman – walked in. Immediate first judgements, I thought, “Oh boy.”

But then when she started talking about the practice and their beliefs and procedures, I really felt so bouyed! I love it all. I honestly walked out of there feeling like I could now scrap my “birth plan” because they already did it all…. and there’s no need for me to specifically request something they do as a matter of course.

So it does look like I will be switching! I don’t know when… I may just have my 16 week appointment with my old Midwife and let her know that I did decide to switch (and possibly give her some info on the Midwife group she seemed interested), and book my big ultrasound. Then call the new practice and set up my 20 week appointment with them. Though I’m quite tempted to go ahead and cancel my old appointment and set up the 16 week with the new practice. Not that it would make a difference. The U/S will be scheduled for the same timeframe and at the same place, no matter which office I go through.

The only thing it has NOT cleared up for me is whether or not I want to hire a doula! A lot of the reasoning behind me wanting one was to be my advocate so that I get the things that I want in my birth preferences. But if I have the Midwife there, doing all that already… that take a huge weight off my shoulders! Den is still going to be my primary support. Quite possibly a doula isn’t necessary. I’m going to have to think on it for a while. I still don’t know how much one would cost… so that’s worrying me. I’m waiting for some to email me back. I only got one response so far and it was, “I’ll be happy to meet with you to discuss!” Yeah, well, I don’t want to meet 10 different doulas, I just want to know how much you charge and what you do. Grrrr. (And the one doula whose ad was written all in POORLY SPELLD CAPS LOCK didn’t even get an email. Seriously people. Don’t use all caps!! Ugh. Pet peeve.)

I hope I have enough time here to take a quick nap before work.

Well, whether or not I have “shin splints” or just some mild muscle soreness going on (it’s weird that it continues from my shin all the way down to the top of my foot), it’s worse today. Urg. And I know what it’s from too.

Tuesday morning I dropped my car off at the dealer’s mechanic in an unfamiliar town nearby. I had to leave it there for a few hours, so I had printed off a bus schedule, planning to hop over to the mall for some shopping. I had the bus schedule and a printed map. No worries. I set off walking. (I jogged for about 20 feet. Haha. Yeah, jogging sucks.)

I tried to follow the little map, but it became increasingly apparent it was missing out on a LOT of detail. I kept walking and walking and still couldn’t find freaking maple street. At one point I ended up on main street, thinking it was the correct one – the realized it was past the time the bus would come by anyways. I’d already walked like 20 minutes, nearly half an hour to get that far.

I ended up calling my husband at work who asked if I wanted him to come get me. “No, that’d be silly…” I said. He ended up coming to get me. I’d kept walking and found a larger park, told him the name of the park, he googled it and was like, “Why the frick are you there?” So he drove out to get me – a half hour drive from his work – and took me to lunch. When he arrived he said, “Honey… when you get lost, you REALLY get lost, don’t you.”

Now granted I knew where I was, roughly – in the middle of such-and-such city. And I knew, vaguely, the way back to the mechanic, even though it’d be a half hour walk. But there was NOTHING near the mechanic at all, I was starving and exhausted by that point. So yeah, good thing Den came and got me. Me, pregnant, in a slummy city, lost. Fun stuff I tell ya.

After we ate Den had to get back to work for a meeting so he dropped me off at the mechanics – a half hour early, so it wasn’t done yet. I ended up sitting on a small bench (it was actually the bench seat from some kind of vehicle, sitting there in the middle of the garage) and fell asleep until the mechanic told me my car was done. I tell ya, I was exhausted, lol.

So that was my fun of the week. And now my shins hurt like crazy, and I didn’t even know you could do that just from walking (or from jogging for about 30 steps, but whatever right?).

It was fun today at work, trying to sweep up a small room with sore legs…. while about 5 young (5 week old) kittens kept trying to climb my feet and pants legs. :shock: They’re SO adorable now that they’re running around and playing… but wow, they are all over the place underfoot!! (But seriously, how many people can say they get to go to work and play with a litter of wee kittens? Hehehehe.)

An interesting article regarding antidepressant use during pregnancy.
‘“The risks of untreated depression during pregnancy are significant,” Berard, from the CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, said. “Given the safety of most antidepressants during pregnancy, a careful evaluation of the risk/benefit ratio should be done before deciding to discontinue their use. Although physicians and women think they are protecting their unborn child, they might be doing just the contrary.” ‘

Interesting.

It was also one of the things I forgot to bring up with the Midwife, and it is making me slightly nervous. I don’t think it’ll be a problem, as I do have a significant medical reason for staying on my anti-depressant. (And to be honest, other than a couple of weeks really early on in this pregnancy I am feeling very well emotionally!) I just hope they aren’t disapproving. I am open to switching, especially if it turns out I can’t stay on celexa during breastfeeding. I’m a little worried about how switching would go (if I switch and find out the new one doesn’t work for me very well, etc), but breastfeeding is very important to me so it’d be worth the trial-and-error.

Luckily, being on anti-depressants does not make me any higher risk or anything. It’s just a side issue. Hopefully it doesn’t affect the baby at all, but I would be far more worried about how my depression would affect the baby.

I am also a little worried about what’s going to happen (to me) after the baby is born. I know that having diagnosed depression puts me at a higher risk for post-partum depression. Since my depression seems to be managed just fine with medication (at least this particular medication), I am hoping that, with some small adjustments of dosage, if necessary, I will avoid any major depression after the baby is born. I sure hope so.

Of the four books I borrowed from the libraries, one was about doulas, one was Husband Coached Childbirth (the Bradley method), and one was The Official Lamaze Guide. I have not read all of the Bradley book, but I read the first few chapters. As I said earlier, I wasn’t too thrilled with the tone of the book. Bradley states several times that “If you aren’t willing to do X, you shouldn’t even try.” Maybe not in those same words, but that was exactly what he meant. I did find a lot of the history interesting, and as I said, I do think the method itself is extremely useful.

The Lamaze book is giving me a very different vibe. It doesn’t have that preachy tone to it. It does have an obvious agenda in promoting “normal childbirth” – intervention-free, medication-free. Although, given the stats and research to back it up, I think it’s justified. But to me what I like about it is that so far a particular method hasn’t been stressed or even brought up to be honest. It talks about choosing your care provider, choosing where you’re going to give birth (again, it’s very clear in stating that giving birth at home is the best place to be, unless you have complications), but most of all it’s talking about how empowering childbirth can be. That childbirth is natural, that our bodies are built to birth babies, that we are capable. That we should be treated with respect during labor, not drugged up and left all alone for hours strapped to a table. I just like the tone of it.

It’s funny, because both books promote basically the same thing. Maybe the difference is that one is written by a male, the other by females! (And Den can scoff all he wants at that… but there’s a reason women tend to go for other women for comfort! The men in your life so frequently try to “fix” it, they lack that female empathy. Yes, even husbands.)

I am certainly not basing my choice of birth “method” on the tone of the books, just to clarify. I’ll choose what classes to take based on what they teach at the classes and how that fits with what I want out of my birth. This is all just reviewing these particular books. ;)

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I want to put in some quotes here from the book about the history of childbirth and the changes that happened over the last hundred+ years. It makes me very, very glad I am giving birth now.

(The early 1900’s)
“Medical science had negative effects on mothers and babies during this time, too. To hasten delivery, doctors used procedures and instruments that often harmed mother and baby. Studies showe that in the United States, obstetric interference in hospitals was associated with a large increase in baby deaths from birth injuries.”

They talked about all the benefits of science during that time – antibiotics and blood transfusions, and of course the better water treatment, housing and sanitation that made overall standard of life better and descreased the mortality rate of women and infants. But at the same time, doctors were taking over from midwives (and not very nicely, I might add – the midwife was made out to be a dirty, unclean, unknowledgeable person) and all that intervention they did to “fix” labor, to hurry it up, to make it conform to expectations, caused a whole lot of problems. And yet societal expectations continued to follow that way, moving from midwife-attended homebirths to male-doctor attended hospital births.

“By the mid-1930’s, most births were happening in hospitals. … From here on, the home was deemed an unfit palce for birth, and birthing women ‘required’ outside help and such ‘improvements’ as twilight sleep (morphine and scopolamine injection), which heavily drugged a laboring woman and erased her memory of birth.”

“If you could step into a 1950’s American hospital, you’d see women left to labor alone — often drugged and confined to bed — then moved to loud, bright delivery rooms and strapped onto sterile tables, lying on their backs with their feet pressed high overhead in metal stirrups. Gowned and masked doctors and nurses directed these births and typically forbade mothers to have family present and to hold or sometimes even see their babies right after birth.

… By the 1960’s, medicalized birth was so common in the United States that most women didn’t know there was any other kind. They routinely labored without support, were given enemas, had their genitals shaved and disinfected, and gave birth on their backs, draped with sterile sheets to prevent them from touching (and possibly infecting) their newborns. Hospital staff whisked the babies away … and put them on display in nurseries far from their mothers.”

:shock: :shakehead I mean, seriously, can you imagine???? I think people now take for granted being able to have their husband with them, to be able to remember giving birth, being able to hold your own child after you give birth. I know I sure did for a long time… I mean, that’s just how it is, right? I really just cannot imagine giving birth in the 50’s or 60’s. My MIL was mentioning giving birth to my husband… she was stuck on her back on a table, unable to move because she was drugged up, alone and frightened. For hours. Just the thought of that stuns me! How could they DO that to women?

I am very, very lucky to be born when I was, to be giving birth now instead of 50 years ago. I am just very thankful to be given all the options I have now.

I’m checking out the hospital online and on the Birthing Services page they link to the OBs, the Midwives, and some other things like a virtual tour of the birthing suites and a “customizable birthing plan”. It’s a PDF, so I checked it out. It lists things that the hospital typically does, and has some checkboxes for options like “I would like an epidural” and “I would like to use the shower during labor,” etc. Note that this sheet is for the entire hospital, not just the Midwife group.

As I’m scrolling down, this is what one bullet says:
“If the baby is fine, s/he will be placed on your chest immediately following delivery. The midwife/doctor will wait until the unbilical cord stops pulsing before cutting it, unless the baby needs immediate assistance.”

!! I didn’t even know any hospitals routinely waited for the cord to stop pulsing!

Another one!

“If you’re breastfeeding, your baby will receive no formula, sugar water or pacifiers unless ordered by the pediatrition and approved by you.”

Oh and one more, just for fun, because my eyes aren’t big enough as it is… It states you have to give written consent before a circumcision is performed.

I love this hospital.

For those of you who have checked my belly pics page, yes I have the 14 week pic up. And if your reaction was :shock: you are not alone. My friends are saying that crazy word – “popped!” I just want to know how my body knew I hit the second trimester, because isn’t the timing a little freaky?

This morning when I got up I, as usual, got up and made a quick run to the bathroom. (I am still managing to sleep all night without waking up to pee, which is quite an accomplishment – accomplished in part by me getting up to pee about 4 times before falling asleep in the first place. But this means in the morning my bladder is all like, “HELLO!”) When I exited the bathroom in all my naked glory, my husband – who had been sitting on the couch watching TV – stared. “Don’t move!!” he instructed and dashed for the camera. So yes, now I have a naked first-thing-in-the-morning pic of myself. No, I am NOT sharing. But it was really interesting to see what my husband sees.

I pulled up an old (like over a year old) photo of my boobs (don’t ask why I have a photo of my boobs), and my jaw nearly dropped open. I know my boobs feel a lot firmer and fill out my bra better, but I was NOT prepared for the difference, not at all. My boobs are HUGE compared to what they were!! It’s not that they “grew”, it’s more like… instead of looking like perky little half-cups, they’re now full cups… they swelled and firmed up. It’s craziness! It’ll be interesting to take another boob picture in a few months and see how much more they’ve changed!

But most of all, that naked-picture-from-the-side shows me my silhouette. The real one, not complicated with sweatpants and bras changing the look of things. And it’s so gorgeous. I’m getting that pregnancy silhouette, and it just makes my eyes tear up. How long I have imagined this, waited for this. I feel so beautiful.

And yeah, I’m sure a big part of that were my expectations. I always had this vision of pregnancy being an amazing, beautiful thing. The puking and minor aches and pains… they’re not something I’d classify as “great.” But the whole package? If that’s what I need to put up with to get all the rest of it, hell yes I’d do it again. I wouldn’t trade this for the world.

My mom didn’t talk about pregnancy often, but when she did she’d always say she felt wonderful the entire time. She managed to avoid pretty much every negative pregnancy side-effect somehow. I’m sure she wasn’t always comfortable, but in looking back she would just say that she never felt better than when she was pregnant, she loved being pregnant. I’m sure that helped shape my expectations. (Now her labor experience, on the other hand, was pretty horrible. I don’t really know what kind of pain meds she got, but she labored for over 24 hours and finally had an emergency c-section where they had to give her general anesthesia and knock her out so she wasn’t even concious when I was born. :( And my dad, well, my dad is pretty much useless in those situations. If he was even allowed in the room, he probably cleared out right away on his own!)

I know I’m in the second trimester, the honeymoon phase – although I’ll kindly point out that my morning sickness has NOT gone away yet – and I know it’s going to get a lot harder as I get closer to my due date, as the baby grows and makes everything more and more uncomfortable inside me. But I’m really hoping that my “view” on childbirth helps me walk into it with a positive viewpoint, much like this pregnancy.

It’s funny, because I hear two very different stories when I talk to friends. Those who have no concept of natural childbirth and walked in with an expectation of lots of pain and waiting an epidural straight away, everything they say about childbirth is very negative. “It was horrible. It was messy, it was painful, and god I loved that epidural. Before I got it I was in so much pain, I was yelling at them to go get the anesthesiologist! You are absolutely crazy for not wanting an epidural! Ask for it straight away!” For them childbirth was something to be avoided, mitigated, medicated, and suffered through.

But then I talk to my many new friends online who have gone through natural childbirth – whether or not they ended up getting medication – and I get a very different picture. “It was amazing.” “My husband was right there helping me through it, he was wonderful.” “Soon as she came out, the pain all went away. The nurses couldn’t believe I was sitting up, talking and laughing.” “At that point I ended up getting the epidural so I could get some sleep, but it was the best thing for me. I lasted that long – you could totally do it.”

I don’t think it’s in any way a reflection of the “strength” of the women involved. I think it entirely has to do with their expectation going into it.

While on the road to Boston yesterday I was reading through the Bradley book, reading some parts to Den, and talking aloud. I think I’ve decided that taking the Bradley course would be best for us. I think it’ll be beneficial to me, and I really think Den will appreciate being highly involved in the process. I know that’s what he wants, and even though he keeps telling me to pick whatever class I want, I know he’ll appreciate it in the long run when he’s given tools to help him help me through my labor. I’m also going to take a breastfeeding class at the hospital. The hospital also has an on-staff LC to help and answer questions after you give birth, and they have a post-partum breastfeeding class as well.

I did admit to Den that a big part of the reason I am looking forward to taking a childbirth class – any one, really – is just because to me it’s part of the big expectation of being pregnant! Yet another way to celebrate. I really can’t wait. (No they’re not starting until at least January!)

I do want to say that I see some pregnant women wishing their pregnancies would hurry up. I surely don’t. I am also telling everyone I see that I expect to go to 42 weeks. My tactic here is to not be disappointed and upset when I hit 40 weeks pregnant with no labor! I do not want to get impatient. I’ll probably be huge and cranky by then, but if I start NOW convincing myself that my full pregnancy will be 42 weeks, well, then I stand a better chance right? ;)

It is a very good day today, yes it is. I woke up to cuddles from my cat and dog, my husband practically glowing over how pregnant I look, I feel good… I am just very very happy.