It’s been a while since I’ve reported on my pregnancy.
News #1 – It’s a girl!
That will be our 3rd girl in this family! My poor husband is outnumbered. No, we haven’t picked out a name. We’ve been throwing around a few names but nothing that we can agree on. Perhaps it’ll happen on the way to the hospital, like the last one.
News #2 – I’m 33 weeks along, 6 more weeks until “full term”
I asked my husband if I was “waddling” yet and he said, “no.” I guess that’s a good thing—or that he’s just avoiding a trick question. I’ve been able to use my regular clothes throughout this pregnancy with the help of a belly band, long shirts and loose dresses. For the first half of my pregnancy I only gained 1 pound and was ordered to gain more weight.
My pleasure.
Throw in a cruise plus some extra snacks during the day, I’m glad to say I’m where I should be, weight-wise. I’m still thinking that I only gained a pound during that time due to the combination of eating and muscle atrophy from not running on a near-daily basis.
This 3rd pregnancy is a doozy. I’m still mobile but I do notice more pelvic and back pain. I’ve had to invest in a maternity support belt
News #3 – No running until after the baby’s born
The nurse practitioner that I’ve been seeing highly encouraged that I walk instead of run. Her concern was that I’d fall and hurt myself. Which is fine with me… because I can’t get through a run without having to find a bathroom. But I do have to say, speed-walking works different muscles than running. Aside from walking to daily Mass every now and then, I haven’t walked for pure exercise—but I sure need to.
News #4 – I’m going for a medication-free birth
I immediately went for the epidural with my last labor. By the time the contractions started to get closer together the anesthesia ran out, the anesthesiologist wasn’t available to give me another dose… and it was time to push. I have to say, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing I’ve ever done, but being without medication allowed me to be in tune with my body and what it wants to do. I knew when and how to push and was able to mentally prepare myself between contractions.
I’ve talked to a few friends who have gone through medication-free births (one had all 5 of her kids without medication). A few did hypnobirthing, some had their own techniques to keep themselves relaxed either through praying or visualization. All said not to fight the contractions and BREATHE!
A few friends lent me some books to read on natural childbirth. One is really for my husband. Perhaps he should have read it before our first child was born. I’m sure he would have thought twice about playing “Push-It” by Salt-n-Pepa while I was in labor. He joked that he would do it again this time around.
We’ll see about that…
All in all…
It doesn’t seem like I’m starting over again since we’ve kept a lot of baby items. Yes, for almost 10 years I’ve been storing this stuff (my youngest will be 6, so it has been used for some of that time). I sold a few things but people started giving us more items once they found out I was pregnant.
The challenge is accommodating 3 kids between 2 bedrooms with a 4 and 6 year age gap. The two younger ones will share a room. Our youngest is already giving hugs to my belly and talking to her sister in the womb. She’ll be a great big sister. The oldest is dreading chores.
We’ll get this down, I’m sure. I’m already antsy. I think I need to clean some more.
Did you go “natural” when birthing your child? What was your experience? Comment below!
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