24-30 Weeks of Pregnancy and Birth Center Appointments

Here is a belly shot of me in my 24th week, a few days before Christmas.

Here I am this week in my 30th week! 

This was from yesterday. Pixie and I decided to take a trip up to see my mom and dad, while it was 60 degrees and before the thunderstorms came for a few days.

I told Mom not to laugh at my basketball, but she did, and as she did she said "it's a boy carry!"

Yes, I have the classic boy carry. I don't mind. She says I don't look pregnant from the back, which I take to be a good thing!

You can tell he was head down yesterday, from the shape. He prefers the right side of my stomach or being mid-line. It's the first time I have realized he was truly head down.

I'm  not having trouble breathing yet. I did with Pixie, I carried her right up under my ribs.
I can still palm the floor, sit straight up without assistance from my back and cross my legs. We'll see if that lasts. :)
Somewhere between 6.5-9.5 weeks to go! That is, if I don't go over 40 weeks. Maybe the professionals are right. I just might finish my babies ahead of schedule. Who knows!

I am starting two week appointments with my CNM at the birth center. I went in for my glucose test a week ago. It was SO much better than my experience at the hospital with Pixie. I got so sick immediately and for days after drinking that glucose syrup. This time I was sugar/white flour free for three days prior to my appointment, took in higher protein and only protein the day of. Then I drank ten oz. of 100% grape juice before the appointment. It was so much better and I passed the test with this pregnancy as well.

I love attending a birth center. It is way better than my experience even trying to have a CNM in the hospital. I love the one-on-one personal care I get from the same people every time. I am so impressed with the knowledge and solutions I'm given to questions and issues as soon as I ask, and the prompting of me to ask them. Not once has anything been glossed over or ignored, like it has been with multiple other caretakers, and I don't feel hesitant to ask or that I'm taking anyone's rushed time away.

Each of my appointments have been an hour long and never had any wait beforehand. Not rushed at all! There are toys for Pixie to play with and the whole family is treated with respect and inclusion. I see my CNM, Rachel, and one of her students at every appointment. The casualness of the appointment puts me at ease and makes a great atmosphere for getting to know each other and potential concerns or problems to come up and be addressed.
They check for a wide variety of things when you do the urine test at your appointments, not just the 2-3 things that the hospital does. All lab results are gone over carefully and in depth with you.
She even had me keep a three day food diary to make sure I was getting adequate nutrition. I did very well, thankfully! But I thought I would. I'm cool like that. ;)

I am very impressed with both the natural and modern medicine that is provided by the facility. Everything is well thought out and covered. There are some situations that would have happened no matter where you are, but there are many that would not have. I remember the doctor (whom I had never met and he wouldn't say a word to me) who delivered Pixie did some things that could have been bad. I tore badly probably because of pushing on my back so hard and for so long (no doctor present during pushing), then he didn't offer any support as she was coming out and did something that probably caused the tear. After I had her, he couldn't find where to fix that for a while. Then he pulled on my cord to detach the placenta before it was ready. I would have yelled at him if I was in my right mind, that can lead to excess bleeding. 

Lots of drugs have side effects, but they don't tell you about them when they give them to you. They hit me hard with pitocin for a long time. I only recently have read side effects and potential complications from that.

The birth center statistics say that most women who transfer want pain killers. So it's not an immediate emergency. They have medical supplies (have RNs) and oxygen if it's needed. Emergency is most likely bleeding after the baby is born. They obviously don't do anything to promote that because they take a natural approach, but it can still happen. They have things they can do and give you to regulate it, but they also will make the decision to transfer and that is only a few minutes.
I feel much, much safer not being in the hospital. And safer than being at home.

I'm so happy that I know who will be there when I go into labor. There won't be random nurses or doctors that change with shifts. I can eat and drink -it was almost a day before I had Pixie, how are you supposed to have energy without food? They don't normally put people completely under when having c-sections anymore. That policy is outdated and unnecessary. I can move around without being tethered to anything, which makes for a faster labor.
There will be somebody watching and helping 'me' and not a monitor or a reading in another room, along with a slew of other patients. So many things are missed because they are just stretched too thin and don't have the capacity (or enough training) to watch and help everyone every second.

This is perfect for me. I'm so excited! Okay, baby, wait until 37 weeks so Mama can get what she wants. :)