28 week OB appointment and thoughts

Yesterday I had my 28 week appointment with the OB. Yay for the 3rd Trimester! I'm still feeling better than I expected. I have occasional aches and pains and overall fatigue, but nothing too bad. I don't think I got really uncomfortable with Morgan until about 32 weeks...so we'll see what happens when we get there this time around.

The appointment went fine. As I mentioned in my last appointment post at 24 weeks, I did do my glucose test this time. As soon as I got there they gave me the "orange soda" to drink. I had 5 minutes to drink it (i.e. force it down)...it really wasn't that bad. It was cold and they gave me a straw, so I just sucked it down as quickly as I could. Then I met with the Dr. He said everything looked good. Heart rate was at 150, my blood pressure was 120 over something...good too. I'm measuring right where he said I should be.

This was interesting...we had a short discussion about what can be done to try to make sure this one is not "sunny side up" at delivery, like Morgan was. Of course, we only have so much control, but there are a few things we can do if she ends up in that position. One definite thing is that I'm definitely going to push for less meds and/or intervention early on in labor. With Morgan I really felt pressured by the nurses into getting an epidural very early ("no need to be a hero")...I think I was only 2 cm dilated. Overall the nurses are amazing there...they really support you and encourage you, but this is one area I will push back on. As much as I don't like the idea of the pain, there are things that need to be determined before I request any medication. The problem with getting an epidural early is that you are really fairly immobile in the bed. You can turn on either side, but that's about it. If the baby ends up being face up again, I would have limited ability to move my body around to help her to turn. If I can wait longer I can move into better positions (hands and knees, walking, etc.) to facilitate this.

This may be shocking to some readers, but ideally I'd love to be able to get through it without any pain meds, pitocin, etc. I know the epidural helped in some ways, but I had such awful back labor and pain in my hips because of Morgan's position. To my surprise this persisted even with the epidural. They kept "topping me off" with other meds, but I just ended up not being able to feel my legs at all. What a mess.

The worst part was that I was so drugged up that I could barely function after Morgan was here. It was bizarre. I was exhausted, but the adrenaline was also pumping, so I really was not able to rest. Then, of course I had the terrible 4th degree tear/episiotomy, so I was stuck in the bed longer than usual. I couldn't help care for Morgan like I wanted to and we got a terrible start on nursing. I just want it to be different this time. I don't expect a perfect experience this time, but odds are it will be better in many ways because my body has done it before.

As for actually having a natural childbirth, I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to handle. So you know, I haven't taken any prep classes for natural childbirth. I've done quite a bit of reading and I know several people who have done great with only that. I'm not going in completely decided on this, I have to have an open mind depending on circumstances. To be able to do it naturally the labor with have to progress well, meaning labor starts on it's own (no pitocin). Last time my water broke and nothing happened. So, you can see that there are a lot of things we can't control. I was glad that the Dr. was into discussing options. I could tell he didn't want to have to put me through that again and he will do all he can to avoid it. We like him!

There is still time to research and prepare for all this. I'm definitely better informed this time and have the experience of Morgan's birth...good and bad. We're getting more and more excited as the time gets closer and it is coming up fast. Now this baby just needs a name...hmmm. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.