Time is flying by and now that I am in the third and final trimester, I’m realizing just how close we are to meeting our precious little girl. Words cannot describe how excited and thankful I am.
A lot has happened in the past few weeks. I decided to shop around for a different doctor/midwife and realized that the doctor I have now is really the best choice. Dominick was finally able to feel Adriana bouncing around. I have done as much research on labor and how to take care of a newborn as possible. And now we feel truly ready for this new and exciting chapter in our life.
I think my favorite accomplishment was making this super cute baby mobile out of construction paper, cotton balls, hemp string and a wooden embroidery ring. I love arts and crafts and cannot wait for Adrianna to be my craft buddy!
The Doctor & The Midwife
Before I even got pregnant I knew I wanted a natural birth in a natural setting. I really didn’t like the idea of being in a hospital strapped down by an IV, persuaded to use drugs, not able to walk freely or have fresh air, and everything else hospitals are known for. I really wanted to deliver at this free standing birth center, but with a price tag of $5,000 and no help from our insurance, I just couldn’t justify the price.
The free standing birth center recommended my current doctor, and since I really haven’t had experience with doctors in my adult life, I had no idea what I was looking for or what was considered a good doctor. In my last post I mentioned I was going to visit with another midwife that was affiliated with a hospital so our insurance would cover it. However, my experience was not great.
Let me first explain my midwife experience. They were recommended by a friend, they only accept healthy low risk pregnancies, and they usually have a pretty long waiting list. I was worried I wouldn’t make the cut and that they wouldn’t have a spot for me, but they did. There is about 8 midwives, so you never know who you’ll get when the time comes, and they recommend you meet with all of them before you give birth. The office was also literally a building away from Dominick’s work, so it was extremely convenient.
We waited in the waiting area for an hour before being seen, which was the first strike. We gave all our information to the nurse and waited for the midwife which took another 30 minutes. When we finally saw the midwife, she got out the doppler and detected an irregular heartbeat, she then recommended we see a fetal monitoring specialist. I also had a resting heart rate of 108 bpm, which is very normal for me, I explained that when I was younger I used to see a cardiologist for SVT, basically a fast heart rate, but they never found anything and just put me on medicine, which did nothing. I also had just walked a mile in the heat to get there, but she continued to say that I should go see a specialist because “I could die from childbirth”. This is a very abbreviated story of the visit, but I basically left there scared that my baby had an irregular heartbeat and that my heart wasn’t strong enough to handle childbirth.
Deep down I know that I will be just fine, I workout and get my heart rate up constantly and haven’t had a scary episode of SVT, a heart rate over 120, since I was a child. Plus my doctors back then couldn’t find a problem, and said I would probably outgrow it once I hit puberty, but she said you should be safe rather than sorry. After the midwife left, I was told to wait for the appointment lady, which we waited another 15 minutes for and she still hadn’t come, we decided to leave and sleep on it. We were there for a total of 2 hours and the whole week I felt uneasy, worried and overwhelmed with the thought of having to go to all these doctors appointments, knowing that everything was probably fine and I was overly fearful.
Thankfully I still had an appointment scheduled for that next week with my original doctor. So with this doctor, I sign in, and within minutes I do my tests with the nurse, go to the room, and seconds later the doctor is there. He gets out the doppler and baby girl’s heart is a perfect 150 bpm. I told him all about my last visit with the midwife and asked him if I should go to all these specialists. He said that heart irregularities are usually spontaneous and never happen again, and since everything was fine this time he said not to worry and we’ll check again in 2 weeks. Then I told him about my heart problems of the past and my high resting heart rate now, he said that if I feel like my heart is pounding out of my chest or if I feel like I’m going to pass out then you can go to a specialist, but if you feel normal than the only reason you should go is to be extra extra safe.
I then asked about labor, since he works out of a hospital and I wasn’t to keen on the idea, but my worries were faded. I don’t have to be hooked up to an IV, I can be in whatever position I want, I can walk around and eat what I please, and they have private rooms. We were in and out within 20 minutes and I left with a huge smile on my face and all my worries went away. Baby girl is doing fine and he always assures me of that, that’s really all I need.
It was such a different experience, I know the midwife was just trying to be extra careful and was a really nice lady but she scared the shit out of me for no reason. I really don’t like people inducing their fear on to me, and I really appreciate my doctor’s calm attitude, especially since he deals with a lot of high risk pregnancies. Overall I need someone who is calm, dependable and on top of their practice. I don’t need to be scared shitless, not knowing who will be delivering my baby, and waiting for hours.
So now I am 100% confident that my doctor is right for me.
Food
If you read my previous posts, you know that I have been eating extremely well. Not much has changed since. I still eat as much farmer produce as possible, mixed in with organic nuts, seeds, whole grains, and occasional meat.
I’m eating a ton of fruit, now that it’s in season. Cherries, blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, and peaches are my farmer favorites. I’m also eating a lot of tropical fruit too like mangosteen, mangos, rambutan, pineapple, bananas, kiwi and jackfruit. What can I say, baby girl loves her fruit and so does mama ;).
I made these amazing cinnamon rolls that I ate every morning until they were gone. Coconut is filled with omega 3 fatty acids and other nutrients great for growing a baby. 🙂
I also made a bunch of delicious fruit popsicles that are the perfect treat in the summer heat.
Thankfully heartburn and indigestion have literally vanished and I couldn’t be more thankful. I’m pretty sure it has to do with all the fresh vegetables and greens I eat. The only time I experience problems is when I don’t eat dinner early enough, before 6, I start to get pretty bad stomach pains, but as soon as I eat I feel relief.
The garden is also taking off, I’ve been eating fresh snap peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers straight off the vine. Nothing beats fresh veggies off the vine.
Exercise
Since I hit 28 weeks my level of exercise has definitely dropped from advanced to intermediate. I still practice pole, lyra, and flexibility but I have decided to stop inverting and climbing from here on out. This is mainly due to the fact of my abs feel super funny anytime I try to use them and I really don’t want to get diastatis recti, ab separation, because it’s harder to recover from.
I still try to walk or hike at least 2 miles a day to keep my energy levels up, which also keeps Chico-dog happy. If I sloth around all day, I get even more tired. My big workout days are Mondays and weekends. Monday’s I still teach hours of classes and try to get in an hour of practice time before. On the weekends I run a lot of errands and do house chores, so I’m pretty much on my feet all day. Dominick has been helping out a lot but I really want to keep my stamina. They say the stronger your endurance, the easier labor will be, so we shall see.
I’m really hoping to keep my strength up for the next 3 months, my routine will definitely have to be tweaked, but I was needing to do that anyways for after the baby comes. I’m sure it will be hard making time to workout, but I’m ready to take on the scheduling challenge.
Rest
Sleeping when I feel tired has been a top priority. I used to push myself to the max and get by with just enough sleep, now I make sure to get extra sleep when I feel I need it. My body is doing a lot of work and I don’t want to overly stress my systems, so going to bed at 9pm and sleeping in until 8 or 9am has helped me keep my energy levels up through the day. I used to never take naps, but I have more hip to the idea lately, sometimes I’ll nap for 2-3 hours, and I don’t even feel guilty about it anymore.
Getting to know my ever changing body has really helped me overcome all the common problems associated with pregnancy. I feel great and I really can’t complain. I wish all you pregnant ladies a happy healthy pregnancy and delivery.
So much love to you all! <3