Breech Update

Today we had our ECV to try to flip Matilda into a heads down position.  Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.  We could get her almost half way there, but there just wasn't enough room in my tummy to get her all the way over.  As a result, we've scheduled a C-section for April 9th... 13 days away! 

I'm a bit bummed.  I've spent the past 8 months preparing for a natural birth.  My prenatal care has been with a group of midwives that promote natural births.  I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, researched the Bradley method, and took natural childbirth classes with a doula.  I've continued exercising and eating healthy.  I've been sitting in the tailor position and doing pelvic tilts.  Ha.  I don't know what else we could be doing to prepare for a natural birth. 

But, the universe (and this silly baby) had other plans for us.  Now we'll just make the best out of the situation and try to go into the C-section with good attitudes.  I guess either way we get to meet our daughter, so in the end that's what counts. 

Jason's been a super duper wonderful husband and was a huge help through today's procedure.  It was a bit rougher than I had imagined, so it was great having him by my side (or rather behind my head) reminding me to breathe.  He's already done a ton of research about C-section recoveries, and he's taking extra time off when the baby comes to help with things around the house.  He's the best.

Now we'll just be counting down the days until we get to meet sweet Matilda.

36 Weeks

 

How far along: 36 weeks today.  One more month to go.  28 more days until Matilda's estimated due date.

 

Symptoms: Ummm... I don't think there's anything new to report.  Still having achy hips, especially while sleeping.  I'm looking forward to not flipping from side to side every couple hours when I wake up from achy hips. 

 

Weight gain: 3.5 pounds during the last four weeks and 21 pounds overall. 

 

Fetal Movement: So, after my 34 week appointment, Matilda learned to flip.  And flip and flip and flip.  Too bad she won't stay in a head down position.  As of our appointment this morning, she was still breech.  :(

 

Prenatal care: I'm kinda tired of going to doctor's visits.  My prenatal appointments are every week from here on out.  Plus, I've been seeing a chiropractor once or twice a week to help flip the baby.  On top of that, my allergies and asthma have flared up in the past couple of weeks (dang tree pollen), so I had to go see an allergist last week.  Also, I've had to go get my blood work done a few times to make sure my thyroid levels are in check.  Ugh.  So needless to say, I'm exhausted from all of these appointments.  I can't imagine how women with high risk pregnancies feel with more frequent visits and monitoring. 

 

Nesting: After our shower a few weeks ago, we washed all of Matilda's goodies and Jason put together the stroller.  Her room is pretty much set up and ready to go. 

 

Worries: This whole breech thing is stressing me out.  I feel like we've been doing as much as we can to turn her ourselves, and nothing is working.  I'm seeing a chiropractor that specializes in the Webster Technique.  I'm doing the inversion, breech tilt, and rebozo techniques from Spinning Babies.  The only thing we haven't tried is moxibustion, because honestly, burning an herb that smells like pot at your toes sounds a bit wacky to me. 

 

We have an appointment for a doctor to perform an External Cephalic Version ("ECV" or "version" for short) next week.  The procedure freaks me out a bit.  They prepare you for a C-section just incase anything goes wrong.  Also, I'm not looking forward to the drugs they give you to relax your uterus during the procedure.  They can make your heart race, and usually I'm pretty sensitive to medications, so it just scares me a bit.  But, our other options at this point are to hope Matilda turns on her own or schedule a C-section for 39-40 weeks, so I guess attempting an ECV will be worth it.  Let's just pray she turns on her own before the procedure so we can cancel it.

 

Looking forward to: I'm looking forward to Matilda turning on her own so we can have a natural, worry-free delivery.  Ha.  Well, either way, no matter what the labor/ C-section outcome is, I'm looking forward to meeting Matilda.  We're getting so close!  Down to the final stretch!  Let's hope for the best outcome!

Baby Shower

I'm a few weeks late posting this, but better late than never, right?  A few weeks ago we had our baby shower with friends and family.  Ferryn and Steve hosted it at their house and it turned out really nice.  We had delicious food and drinks.

 

Nicole and Sal brought the cakes and they were so beautiful!

We played a couple of games.  This one involved the boys racing to drink 2 ounces of beer out of baby bottles.  Who knew that it could be such a feat?

 

And we opened presents.  Jason was especially excited to see onesies representing his favorite soccer team.

 

 

We feel so blessed to have had the chance to celebrate our upcoming arrival with friends and family.  Matilda is already so loved.

Camping at 8 Months Pregnant

Jason's on spring break this week, so we spent the first few days camping at Village Creek State Park.  Last year we went to Village Creek State Park for New Years, and it was freezing!  This time, it rained the first 24 hours and then there were high winds for the rest of our time there.  So, needless to say, not the best weather either trip.  We tried to make the best of it anyways.  We had a few good meals over the campfire and went on a couple of hikes.   

 

Oh, we did figure that I'd be the only pregnant woman camping, but we did happen to run into another couple where the wife was 8 months pregnant as well.  So we're not the only crazy ones for attempting a weekend in the wild this late!

 

Anyways, here's a couple of pictures.  My baby belly is barely noticeable, huh?  Ha.  

 

32 Weeks

How far along: 32 weeks this past Tuesday.  I can practically start counting down the days instead of months or weeks.

Symptoms: Same ole, same ole.  Nothing new to report here. 

 

Weight gain: 4 pounds during the last four weeks and 17.5 pounds overall. 

 

Fetal Movement: Still rocking and rolling. 

 

Prenatal care: Everything is going well.  Passed my glucose test with flying colors, but I'm a bit anemic so I've starting taking iron supplements.  Seems to be a pretty common issue in the third trimester, so I'm not that concerned. 

 

We finished our childbirth classes last week, so we are officially experts on labor and childcare.  Ha.  Yea right.  Let's just hope we don't forget what we've learned by the time Matilda makes her appearance.

 

Nesting: We've installed the car seat and set up the Pack 'N Play in the bedroom.  I've started some deep cleaning of the house.  Blinds and baseboards are dusted.  Curtains and the inside of the windows are washed.  I still want to wash the outside of the windows and entrances to the house.  They all got plenty dusty the past season or so. 

 

Worries: Baby girl is still breech, so I'm hoping she'll flip soon so I can stop worrying about that.  Our childbirth class teacher said not to worry until about week 36 and even then there are plenty of things you can do to get the baby to turn, but it would make me feel a lot better if she's flipped by then.  I'm going to see a chiropractor next week, so hopefully that will help with both my hip/ sciatic nerve pain and flipping the baby.

 

Looking forward to: Baby showers and celebrating our little one with friends and family.  :)

2014 Houston Marathon

This morning Jason ran his second marathon.  Unlike last year when it was cold and wet, the weather was wonderful this morning.  Our friend, Zach, watched the marathon with me since Jason's mom got the flu and couldn't make it into town. 

 

Our first stop was around mile 2.5 at the corner of Washington and Heights Blvd.  Jason ran with his two running buddies, and their matching orange shirts made them much easier to spot this year.

 

 

Our second stop was mile 19.  This is the area right before a lot of runners hit "the wall."  Jason was still going strong though.  

He could even muster a smile!

 

Our last stop was the finish line.  Just on schedule, Jason made the turn to the last stretch at around 2 hours 54 minutes.

Just a bit further!

 

He did it!  He met his goal of a 2 hour 55 minute time, which is about a 6 minute 40 second per mile pace.  He was 87th place overall and definitely qualified for next year's Boston marathon.  (He had to run it in less than 3 hours and 5 minutes to qualify.)

 

 

So proud of him!

28 Weeks

Why, hello there third trimester.  Two down, one to go...

 

How far along: 28 weeks next Tuesday.  I officially entered the third trimester this past week. 

Symptoms: Still having pretty bad sciatic nerve/ hip pain.  I think it's being triggered when I go on walks.  Our childbirth classes have taught us some stretching/ massage techniques that I've been trying to do to help.  I might eventually go get a prenatal massage to help as well.

 

I've also had a harder time sleeping lately.  It seems like I'm up every hour.  I either have to go to the bathroom, wake up to change sleeping positions, or wake up due to weird dreams.  I guess I better get used to operating on lack of sleep considering we'll have a newborn to keep us up in a few months. 

 

I also have a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions.  I especially notice them more when I'm working out.  I think I might have been a bit dehydrated last week which I've heard can contribute to them.

 

Weight gain: 3.5 pounds during the last four weeks and 13.5 pounds overall. 

 

Fetal Movement: Always.  She's so big now that the movement is really noticeable from the outside.  Jason finally felt her move which was neat.  She's also getting hiccups on a daily basis.  Sometimes she gets them so much (up to 3 times a day) I was concerned and asked my midwife if it was normal.  She said it's a sign of growth and not to worry. 

 

Prenatal care: I had my 28 week appointment today and everything still looks good.  I had to do the glucose test and get a Rhogam shot.  Neither were that pleasant, but they weren't terrible either.  Hopefully I'll pass the glucose test so I won't have to do the 3 hour test.  I've heard it's pretty miserable. 

 

We started taking childbirth classes a few weeks ago with a local doula.  They've been pretty fun so far.  There's 7 couples in the class and so far we have learned about diet and exercise, how to diaper and swaddle a baby, basic female anatomy stuff and about the pregnant body, and massage techniques to help with prenatal discomforts.  This week we'll start getting into the nitty gritty about labor itself. 

 

Nesting: Lots!  Jason painted the baseboards (gotta love him!), we installed a new light fixture, bought and assembled the bed, installed book shelves below the alphabet poster and baskets above the changing table/ desk, hung additional curtains, and I crafted an "M" with Matilda's name on it.  I'll probably follow up with an additional post about all of our projects.

 

Worries: I'm starting to get more worried about labor itself.  Since the midwives want us to spend most of the early labor at home, I worry about when/ if I'll be able to tell when I'm actually going into labor, how I'll manage the pain, how I'll be able to tell what's normal and what could be a cause for concern, etc.  I'm hoping our next 4 childbirth classes will help alleviate some of these fears.  We're just trying to educate ourselves enough to know what to expect.

 

I also worry about the first few days back at home and immediate postpartum period.  Jason will still be teaching, so he won't be able to take much time off to spend with me.  I worry about the recovery from labor, lack of sleep, etc. 

 

Looking forward to: As much as I worry about labor and postpartum, I look forward to it as well.  It's hard to explain, but I look forward to it because it will take the mystique out of the process and it will no longer be just this unknown scary sounding event.  Does that make sense? 

 

I especially look forward to meeting our little Matilda.  She is already so "real" to me and I feel like I'm already getting to know her, but it will be interesting to get to meet her and get to know her once she's born. 

 

Well, I'll leave you with this little pic.  After my weekly belly pic, I grabbed Jason and Radar for a nice family shot in the nursery.  Too bad Radar just wanted to run around and be crazy (like always).  Ha.