Posts
Well it sure has been a while. What have I been up to you ask? Those few of you not in my real life may not know this but I've been a bit busy lately. Adjusting to married life, being a nanny, growing a baby. Yes, folks, that's right. I'm preggers. Our daughter is due in March and we couldn't be more thrilled. She's very active and likes to try to find the "corners" of my belly. When she was small enough, she wedged herself way down low and hid there. Now that she's quite a bit bigger (the size of a butternut squash this week), she tries to hide under my ribs. Which, as you can imagine, isn't very comfortable for the mama!
We've been taking Bradley Method classes for a few weeks now and after my initial reluctance, they're not horrible. Bradley is very naturally based. They're pro-breastfeeding, anti-medications, and anti-circumcision. They advocate the Brewer diet, which is heavy on the protein and vegetables. The method is also called "Husband Coached Birth" and there was my problem with it. My beliefs about birth are about following your instincts. Yes there are times medical intervention is necessary but if everything is going as it was designed, I believe that the mother should be free to move as she wishes, be in whatever position she wishes, and make whatever noises she wishes. As wonderful as my husband is, he can't know what my body is telling me to do and my initial reaction to "husband coached" was a belief that they were going to advocate HE tell ME what to do to cope with what was going on in my body. And that just wasn't going to fly.
Luckily, so far, everything we've learned has been about him supporting me, encouraging me, being by my side. Yes, some of the things they recommend he say are ridiculous and cheesy. But Wes knows me well enough to know what will and won't work. He knows the things that would irritate me and the things that would help. We've had conversations after we leave class about how we think that information will play into our little girl's birth and what we envision. During classes, we've learned things about nutrition and about pregnancy. We talked about how our support person (they call them a coach but that still bothers me a bit) can help during labor and some of the things they can say.
Every week, we have homework. There are certain exercises we're supposed to do. Kegels, squatting, tailor sitting, pelvic rocking, practicing your relaxation, butterflies. This week, I've finally started making an effort to do them. I had hoped pelvic rocking would get this baby off my sciatic nerve and make me a bit more comfortable. It doesn't really seem to have worked. However, it does seem to have made her flip. So I'm now getting kicked in the ribs and have someone's little head pressing into my bladder. This has the side effect of increasing my waddle, especially when I really have to pee! Yes, she was already on her way to being head down before I started doing this but it definitely helped speed things up and keep her there. (She kept going back and forth!)
Though I'm not sure this class is actually going to help me based on what we've learned so far on the actual day this child makes her arrival, I do think it's been helpful. While I knew a lot of this information beforehand (Hi, I'm a voracious reader and probably read three books cover to cover before I was out of the first trimester), a lot of it is new to my dear husband. And even if it's not brand new, hearing it from a different source helps reinforce it. It's also given us the openings to talk about things we want and don't want. Questions like whether I want him in the tub with me or whether I'd prefer him close but not in, what it is I find helpful to relax (because pretending I'm asleep isn't gonna do it).
Overall, this pregnancy has been pretty easy. I'm starting to reach the uncomfortable stage though and sometimes pregnancy really kicks my ass. During the first trimester, I only had a little morning sickness. I was nauseous most mornings but rarely vomitted. I was absolutely exhausted which made me super grateful for my job. Being able to nap when the kids napped was huge. I haven't had too many cravings and the ones I do have are mostly fleeting. I crave it, I get it, I'm good. I don't often crave it again. And it's a lot of the power of suggestion too. Someone mentions chocolate donuts and then I want one. I do like spicy food a lot though. Lots of Indian and Thai in my diet lately.
Now that I'm towards the end of the second trimester, things like heartburn are starting to become an issue. She's about two pounds now and I can only imagine how bad it's going to get when she gains another seven inches and another five pounds! (So far today I've taken 150 mg of zantac and 1 Tums. And all I had for breakfast was some oatmeal and water!) Like I said, I'm starting to waddle which makes me feel oh so attractive. But I love seeing my little girl grow and Wes tells me all the time how beautiful I am. Even if my belly is starting to stretch beyond the limits I thought possible. Every time we go to see the midwife (Rachel), the baby tries to hide from the doppler so they can't get a good read on her heartbeat. I don't think a student has gotten it yet. She's too active!
Well, I think that's about it for now. Before my blogspot app tries to delete this again, I'm gonna go ahead and publish it. My goal is to pop in at least once a week to update you all about whatever's going through my head and to work on my writing skills some more. (My dear sweet husband is on me about that book I'm supposed to be writing and at least this gets me in that sort of headspace!) Lastly, those of you who know me in person may have noticed I didn't mention my daughter's name. I've decided, at least for the time being, to keep that private. I use it on my private social media accounts but I'm not comfortable with the idea of having it out there for the entire world to see at this time. I ask that you please respect my decision in the comments or I'll have to delete them and I'd really rather not!
0 comments:
Post a Comment