I'm ready for time to slow down now.
I'm feeling pretty good most of the time, and I'm past the point where I'm praying for time to move faster so that I can feel better... I can feel baby move now... Life is good. I'm ready for time to stop moving so I can take some time to enjoy this baby! But of course, now that I want it to slow down, things seem to be speeding up. I can't believe we've already hit 19 weeks!
We saw our wonderful midwife team last night and had a total blast. We got to meet the practice's newest apprentice, Jennifer, whom we like very much, and just spent an hour chatting and asking questions.
I got all of my ultrasound questions answered, which was nice.... But I'm no closer to making a decision. Unfortunately, it's crunch time! We have two weeks in this particular window left, so I'll have to be snappy about it. Will post whenever I finally do make up my mind... (Probably about a week after baby is born...)
I have also decided that I need to start interviewing student (i.e. "free") doulas. After talking to our midwives, I realized that much as I would love to have my two professional doula friends at our birth, I probably don't really need them, much as I want them - we're having a homebirth and it's a second baby, so (1) I know what to expect, and (2) I don't need that extra protection that hospital mums need in what is usually an intervention-heavy atmosphere. I'm kind of bummed, but the truth is that we simply can't afford them - and I don't know them well enough to ask them to attend as friends. So we'll probably save our money for pregnancy photography and just go with a student doula.
And now we have to wait a whole five more weeks before we get to go in again! (should have been four, but we can't make it that week) Bummer!!! I can't wait till we get to the every 2 weeks point. Honestly, half of wanting another baby has been wanting to see our midwives! People think we're crazy until they have a midwife-attended birth, and then they get it. So we're really not that nuts... just enthusiastic! But I got a whole armful of books and videos, so at least I can keep busy. I got one I've been meaning to read for years, Goer's "Obstetric Myths vs. Research Realities" that I'm really looking forward to.
We're having a busy week with work, seeing our midwives, and our MOMS club events, plus all of usual life things. We're going to go to Good Friday service tomorrow and then do Easter at our church, and we're going to add an egg hunt for DS this year, which should be fun (candy! mmmm!!!!). We're also going to try to dye eggs if we can figure it out. DH and I have been really weak on setting up family and/or holiday traditions, but we know that they're important for our family and our son, so we're trying to work on doing more in that line.
Oh, and since this IS a hyperemesis blog, I should mention that my NVP is doing just fine. I'm only throwing up once or twice a week, and most of the time I feel..... decent, I guess... it really depends on the time of day and the day itself. I'm still dependent on Zofran/Unisom, but on the whole life is good.
Speaking of NVP, has anyone else experienced this? That is, a sharp increase in nausea while laying on one's back. I hadn't mentioned this, but I haven't been able to lay on my back since conception because it causes my nausea to skyrocket. Probably for the same reason one's not supposed to lay on one's back during pregnancy and/or labor - impaired blood flow. But it's interesting! So I stick a pillow under half of my back when I'm sleeping, so that I'm tilted one way or the other, and that seems to help.
Hope everyone is having a lovely week!
I would be open with your friends about why you're not going to have them doula for you -- they may sort of expect you to have them, and then be hurt if you don't, at least if you don't tell them why. Not that your conversation should be any big deal -- just be honest and say that you were contemplating having them as doulas, because you'd really like for them to be there, but your finances are such that you simply cannot afford to pay them. Then at that point, if they offer to be there as friends, you can accept, or if they don't, that's fine too.
ReplyDelete-Kathy
I went to help a lady out yesterday (Aletha) who is a student doula. She's looking for births to attend to for practice. She said she knew you peripherally--thought you could get in touch with her if you were interested. She's 2 weeks away from giving birth to her 4th--all home birthed.
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