26 Weeks

So the most exciting thing that has happened recently is that I have officially reserved a spot at The Midwife Group and Birth Center in Savannah. After doing some research and watching many birth videos on YouTube, I have come to the conclusion that delivering my baby in a birthing center is definitely my preference. Basically this means that I will deliver my baby naturally in the birthing center with the help of certified Nurse Midwives as an alternative to high tech and interventive birth practices that could occur in a hospital. After talking to a midwife on the phone and reading the information on the website, I have learned that I relate to all of the philosophies about pregnancy and birth that the Birth Center follows: (I copied the ones about birth from the website)

* Labor should begin on its own.
* Laboring women should be free to move throughout labor.
* Laboring women should have continuous support from others throughout labor.
* There should be no routine interventions during labor and birth.
* Women should not give birth on their backs.
* Mothers and babies should not be separated after birth and should have unlimited opportunity for breast feeding.

The midwife told me that at 36 weeks I will write a “birth plan”. In the birth plan I will specify what I want to happen during my labor and birth. I have been researching water births and I think it’s the option I am leaning most towards at the moment. Birthing in water seems so natural, soothing, and comforting. In the videos I have watched, the water births seem to be an almost completely different experience then birthing laying down in a hospital bed. In the birth plan I will also indicate things like who I want supporting me during labor and what role they will play, music I want playing and even the scent of candles I want burning. The entire birth experience is made completely personal and I will have so much freedom to make the experience whatever I want it to be. I am so thrilled that I am going to be able to deliver at the center and am very anxious to become a patient there and get things moving! Oh and in case you were wondering, in the chance of an emergency, the center has everything set in place in case something was to happen.

I have one last appointment at the OB/GYN that I have been seeing up here and then I will be transferring all of my records to the birthing center. I am going to attend an open house on Sunday May 17th and I have my first appointment on June 2nd. Yesterday I had to go to a lab to complete my 1 hour gestational diabetes test. I had to drink this sugary orange drink in 5 minutes and then had to wait an hour for them to test my blood sugar level. Hopefully the test will come back negative!!

I hope everyone is doing well and getting excited about the approaching summer!! Love you guys! ☺

24 weeks tomorrow! 3rd trimester!!

Ok so let me start this blog off by saying that I am pretty sure I have a future soccer player growing in my belly. Everyday I become more amazed at the new sensations and movements my baby is creating in my body. I have felt kicks, punches, and what feels like summersaults going on. I’ve been telling people that if movement in the womb dictates what type of personality the baby will have, this is going to be one hyper child! The baby seems to become most active at night when I am sleeping or laying down and when either Kyle or I have a hand on my stomach. The most uncomfortable feeling has been when the baby has put pressure on my bladder and caused a sudden and strong urge for me to pee. I don’t know if I just haven’t talked to many pregnant woman or if its just something you have to experience yourself until you can fully understand it, but I never imagined it would feel like this. I never imagined how frequently or how strong the movements the baby created in my belly would be. I love when I am reminded of my baby’s presence throughout the day and it never ceases to bring a smile to my face. It’s a special bond that I know I will miss once the baby is born!

Has anyone ever noticed a lack of cute and affordable maternity clothes?? I have yet to purchase any new maternity items (well, excluding two new sports bras) and it is starting to become a problem. You would think that with the MANY added expenses of a new baby the last thing a pregnant woman would have to worry about spending money on would be maternity clothes right??? WRONG! Motherhood Maternity did not have a single pair of cute pants or shorts for less then 40 dollars!! That may not seem like a lot to some, but I am really cheap and have always been an extreme bargain shopper. I just cannot justify spending hundreds of dollars on clothes I am going to wear for 3 months and I am really disheartened by the fact that there seems to be no available maternity clothes for a person on a budget. I figured Target would have some cute clothes for sure, but all of their maternity clothes were either ugly, too Grandma (no offense Mom ☺), or seemingly not even made for a woman’s body. Sorry if I am ranting and raving, it just makes me angry and it is becoming very annoying unbuttoning my pants every time I sit down. I may be going to the outlets on Hilton Head this weekend and my Mom says they have awesome deals at a maternity store up there so hopefully I will have some luck!

So we finally did our registry at Babies R Us this past Friday. We were there for 3 ½ hours and didn’t even finish everything! It was funny because when we started we gave serious thought about each item we scanned but by the end we were scanning everything and anything that seemed useful or appealing. I have started to realize how much stuff a little 7-pound baby needs!! I never realized how many types of bottles, pacifiers, strollers, cribs, breast pumps, monitors, etc. there are!!! Everything requires a decision because there are 100 brands out there that are all offering you the exact same thing. It was both fun and difficult but definitely a memorable experience. My baby shower up here in Kennesaw that Ashley G., Jessie, and Ashley C. are planning for me is going to be Sunday May 3rd. Its going to include people from up here so if you didn’t get an invite then you will get one to my shower that will be held in Savannah. If I somehow forgot you or you would rather come to this one just let me know and it won’t be a problem at all!

I am going to have Kyle put up my recent pictures today. I have really grown the last few weeks and I cannot believe how big my belly is!! People in public are starting to ask me questions like “Is this your first baby?” or “Is it a boy or a girl?” and I love it. I’ve known I was pregnant for 5 months and its nice now that the rest of the world can tell too. ☺