pregnancy journal entry 6

This is day number 203 and you're 29 weeks pregnant!
You have 77 days or 11 weeks left, and are 72.5% of the way there.
Baby's age since conception is 189 days or 27 weeks.
Your baby is now about 16.7 inches from head to toe, and weighs about 2.7 pounds. He or she continues to be active and grow; however, you may be feeling fewer kicks and punches. This is because even though your baby is getting larger and stronger, he or she also has less space in which to gain momentum for these movements. Your baby's blood is now being produced from the stem cells in its bone marrow.

this baby has spent the past few weeks trying to shimmy herself into a head-down position. i thought for sure she was there about a week or 2 ago, but it looks like she still moves around quite a bit. a lot of the time i can tell that she is lying transverse, then i feel her head on my hip bone and get my hopes up, then she is sideways again. anyways, i am so proud of myself that i can tell how she is positioned and what she is up to this time. with sparrow i don't think i had any idea. but it's cool cause i can tell the difference between her hand and her feet movements, therefore getting a good idea of how to baby-map her. (it gives me hours of entertainment!) this is reassuring because i am pretty sure that she won't be breech--one of my biggest "birth fears," being as it guarantees you a c-section in this state. there are, however, some good things you can do to encourage the baby to turn if they haven't done so by week 32 or around there:
-knee-chest position: involves getting on your knees and then resting your shoulders/ head on the bed or ground. basically you are turning the baby "upside down" from what he or she normally experiences, and if you do this for 15 mins. several times a day for a week or so, the baby should turn.
-breech tilts: you can lie on your back with your hips up on pillows about 12 inches. then roll from side to side. keep relaxed.
-lying on a slope: use a board of some kind, prop it up on a couch, and lie on it with your head downward about 8-10 mins a day.

oh and check out this one:(this and above suggestions from http://www.beautiful-births.com/content/resources/breech.html)
-"Cat Stretch with Light & Music Stimulation:
First, get in a "cat-stretch" position: on all fours, head lower than rear end. You can use pillows to kneel on. Take a flashlight, turn it on, and put the light against your lower abdomen directly the skin - the lower, the better. At the same time, use a walkman or portable CD player's headset against the lowest part of your belly, with music turned on (but not blasting-loud). The fetus will hear the music and see the light, both encouraging him/her to turn toward it, i.e., your pelvis. Try for 30-45 minutes. You may need to do deep breathing - the baby will be MOVING!"

here is another opinion from spinningbabies.com:
http://spinningbabies.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=32
"Use of maternal positions that put the mother up-side down can help a baby use gravity to flip. The breech tilt, inversion on the stairs, off the couch or use of an inversion table are all possible options. The Open-Knee chest extends the mother's chin and I've changed my mind about that position. I like inversion positions that allow the mother to tuck her own chin. Myofascial workers tell me this relaxes her pelvis whereas extending the chin tightens the pelvis. This matches what we know about open throated vowels sounds in labor (sounding or moaning in labor).

There is often enough amniotic fluid for an easy flip before 35 weeks. Gentle methods used in alternative maternity care will not force the baby."

one lady on a discussion forum said her midwife told her to eat lots of chocolate! if this is effective, then my baby has NO CHANCE of being breech. choc. is one of my staples right now. i need no further encouragement. oh, and apparently 5 or more servings of choc. per week reduces the risk of the preeclampsia, a pregnancy disorder having to do with low oxygenation of the placenta. it can be life threatening. so eat chocolate! i recommend trader joe's 72% dark choc. bar. mmmmmmm. ps- milk chocolate isn't chocolate. according to rod (my boss), "people who eat milk chocolate can't be trusted. ...bush probably eats milk chocolate.")

also, you can put an ice pack on the top of your uterus (up nearest your boobs) for 20 mins or so. babies will usu. turn their heads away from the cold.

hoo! segunda is really kicking right now, and i am definitely feeling strong kicks up toward the top. yessss!

for anyone interested in reading an in-depth article about baby mapping, follow this link:
http://spinningbabies.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=28
a little difficult to read, as there are a few typos, and it is quite confusing once they get into naming all the various possible fetal positions, but in general it is really cool; i could spend an hour right now trying to baby map. fun. (by the way, if the link doesn't work, i think they are currently having server problems. but it should be corrected soon.)

at my last clinic appointment a week ago, i was seen by a super cool midwife named anna bunting. at the clinic you get seen by nurses instead of doctors. the doctor is supposed to review your charts and then come in and "save the day" when the baby is born. anyways, the nurses they have there are all midwives, for some reason, as in they also do home births as their own private practice besides working for the county. this midwife was my favorite so far. she was sooo mellow, and super super nice to sparrow, who was with me for the appointment. she said sparrow could sit up on the examining table with me, and when we heard the heartbeat, she really took her time and even asked us if we wanted to listen longer. she spent so much time talking to me and answering my questions about birth plans, rights in the hospital, etc. etc. and didn't obnoxiously ask me if i was taking the synthetic iron pill. in fact, i confided to her that i was only taking my prenatal with iron and also drinking the special iron herb tea every day, and she said i would be fine on those 2 things. she told me that the important thing in a birth plan for cottage hospital is to focus on the baby's aftercare, as they will want to take the baby right away and whisk her off to the nursery, etc. as a hospital patient, she told me, i have the right to refuse ANY procedure on myself. hah! this means i will be a lot stronger this time on not having a hep lock poked into me just for the hellofit. if they really do end up needing to give me an IV at any point, i am sure they will be able to find the vein. that hep lock during sparrow's labor was so annoying, and it took hours and hours afterward before i could get anyone to take it off. geez. also, this midwife's questions to me seemed really genuine and personal instead of feeling like she was trying to gather more information about me to report to the state. and she didn't pry me about my husband or my financial situation. she treated me as if i knew something about my baby and what was going on in my life, body, and pregnancy. it was great. can i schedule a home birth with you, please?

she also gave me a list of free doulas that are currently training here in SB and to my surprise, our friend Cybil was on that list! i had no idea she was going to try to do that! really cool. cybil dances with thomas and they have known each other for yeeeeeeeeaaaaars. however, i have a few friends in mind that i feel strongly about being there, so i am not sure if i will be able to give her the job. i also feel really strongly about having someone that aligns with our belief in the Lord and all that goes with that! so we will see. the doula decision is not finalized yet.

oh and i was so excited because i got to opt out of the obnoxious glucose test! during pregnancy they do a test on you to see if you have gestational diabetes. well they make you drink this 12-oz. horrible bright green sugary viscosity of a drink that i'm sure will GIVE you gestational diabetes if you don't already have it. you have to drink it in like 10 minutes or something and then they take your blood after an hour and check your insulin levels. i HATE it! why can't they let you at least consume something good, like a piece of cake, instead of neon frog syrup. so sick. who knows what's in there. anyways, i was kind of dreading having to take that again, and apparently now was the time; when the worker weighed me she mentioned it, and i took the op and cut in, "um--can i opt out of that?" she was a bit baffled. "but...well, have you ever had gestational diabetes?" "no, i passed the test with flying colors last time, and i also know how to prevent it." (trick: eat protein all the time.) so--she crossed it off my chart! woohoo! that was easy!! i hope i don't have some social worker knocking on my door in the future because of it.

holly and i have been talking a lot about attempting to start a childbirth education class. this sounds like it would be soooo fun! i would get to do all this birth and baby research and share the knowledge! tracy's class helped me SO much in giving me birthing confidence that i am super passionate about every pregnant woman i see being able to have the same gift.

as for baby names for little segunda, we still seem to be sort of stumped. my top fave is still golden and always has been (since high school--my friend jerusha gittlen has that for a middle name, and i have loved it ever since!) but i bet you this one will pop out with raven black hair, and then my 2 daughters will seem to have been misnamed. ah well. we'll keep you posted.