Today was my 4 week dr. appointment, and from here on out I see my dr. every 2 weeks - I'm officially in the home stretch and SO excited to meet Baby Agbai in about 9 weeks. It was the most successful dr. appointment yet:
- I slowed my weight gain
- My blood count went up (it usually goes down for most women at this stage in their pregnancy but mine was low before so I made that up and then some!)
- I passed my glucose test
- My uterus is measuring normal so it doesn't appear that Baby Agbai will be abnormally large which I thought before
On another note, a friend of mine recommended Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. I really wish I could have given birth at home or at least have had a midwife but I had insurance constraints. Anyway, I find the birth stories very inspirational. We're raised in Western culture to fear birth, but it really is an empowering experience and I'm learning that my mindset will have a great impact on my birthing experience. I keep telling myself, "I was made to do this!"
I plan to have a natural birth and hope my next baby will be a home birth. For those who say home births are risky, the rate of deaths/accidents in hospital births is much higher than home births. And don't get me started on the U.S. Cesarean rate . . . I'll save that for another blog post.
Anyway, I'm still early on in the book, but here's an excerpt that really spoke to me:
"Believe me: if you are told that some experience is going to hurt, it will hurt. Most pain is in the mind and when a woman absorbs the idea that the act of giving birth is excruciatingly painful - when she gets this information from her mother, her sisters, her married friends, and her physician - that woman has been mentally prepared to feel great agony." - Stephen King
Yes, that Stephen King! Apparently he's had several of his children born at home.
Now on to the Baby Agbai Report:
How far along: 31 weeks
How big is baby: (from 3DPregnancy.com) From this week on, your baby will continue to gain around ½ pound a week until shortly before birth (even though it may feel like a whole lot more with every step you take). Other highlights this week:
Due to increasing space constraints, your baby's arms and legs stay drawn up close to the body now, known as the fetal position (oh, so that's where that name came from!). Plus, your baby can now process information from all five senses—so she'll be all set to smell the pureed peas, taste them, feel them as she mashes them into her hair, hear you crack up and then see the flash as you grab the camera to snap picture after picture.
By now, your baby's lungs are the only system not fully mature. And by mature, we're not saying that the rest of your baby's systems are mature enough to be out past 10 PM with the neighborhood hooligan, just that her lungs need a little bit more time to bake before they can kick it in the outside world.
Your baby weighs about 3½ pounds and measures a little over 16 inches, about the same length as that miniskirt you used to wear (and will again someday!).
Due to increasing space constraints, your baby's arms and legs stay drawn up close to the body now, known as the fetal position (oh, so that's where that name came from!). Plus, your baby can now process information from all five senses—so she'll be all set to smell the pureed peas, taste them, feel them as she mashes them into her hair, hear you crack up and then see the flash as you grab the camera to snap picture after picture.
By now, your baby's lungs are the only system not fully mature. And by mature, we're not saying that the rest of your baby's systems are mature enough to be out past 10 PM with the neighborhood hooligan, just that her lungs need a little bit more time to bake before they can kick it in the outside world.
Your baby weighs about 3½ pounds and measures a little over 16 inches, about the same length as that miniskirt you used to wear (and will again someday!).
Stretch Marks: Uka noticed a tiny one on the left side of my belly (he checks me all the time!); it's just a little light line and my back has a lighter blotch on the right side. It doesn't really look like a stretch mark though so I'll have to figure out what it is if it sticks around post-pregnancy.
Sleep: Everything feels SO heavy when I'm sleeping and strains my back badly. I'm also getting Braxton Hicks contractions in the middle of the night.
Best Moment This Week: Getting a good dr.'s report!
Movement: Baby Agbai is busy most of the day and I've started seeing movements all the way across the belly. I can feel her at opposite sides at once (Uka asked if she can reach out towards my ribs with her feet at my pelvis and stand inside my womb. That made me laugh!)
Sex of the Baby: Girl, but the dr. said I can have another ultrasound towards the end to see how big she really is gonna be so I'll want to reconfirm the gender at that time understanding that it's not 100% accurate
Food Craving: I haven't had beef all week! My sweet tooth is starting to come back . . .
Belly button In or Out: Still popped at the top
What I Miss: Being able to walk quickly around NYC
What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting to see my family in Ohio next week for my brother's high school graduation and my baby shower
Milestone: Lowest weight gain yet! I'm so happy to have the dr. off my back. Gonna keep working on keeping the excess weight gain at bay!
Ah, your bump is soooo cute! It (almost) makes me miss mine, lol! It's wonderful that you got a good report from your doctor. It's very exciting to make the move from monthly to bi-weekly appts, and the time just seems to fly after that!
ReplyDeleteexciting!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the good doctor's report and slowing weight gain at the time when it gets crazy!
ReplyDeleteI read that Ina May book as well. I was all for a natural birth and definitely plan to give it a go again. I do think a lot of it is mind over matter. I was having terrible back labor but when I relaxed into contractions instead of getting scared and tight I noticed such a difference. I used HypnoBabies for labor and highly recommend it. I didn't make it all the way through (sunny side up baby = stuck = C-Section...boo) but I got to 9cm and it was totally do-able.
@keyalus thank you! yes, i'm gonna see how far i can go with the natural childbirth thing. i'll find out soon enough . . .
ReplyDelete