Birth Theory Info II: The Sequel

Jeni says:

So as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. Birth.  Meds.  That kind of thing.

Andrew and I have talked to a handful of recent moms and done some Internet detectiveing on our own.  There are a couple reasons I’m really interested in trying to go with as few meds as possible.

The biggest deal is mobility.  An epidural paralyzes you from the waist down.  Keeps you numb and on your back.  I want to be able to move around and be actively helping with the process.  The idea of being immobilized during this is all kinds of discomforting.  Plus I  hate the idea of “Here, have some drugs that’ll keep you from knowing when to push.  Oh and here are some drugs to make your body push.”

Besides that, though, there’s also the point that this is birth.  As that earlier video we posted said, this is the hardest-core thing I will ever do. Why would I want to numb myself to something so intense and rare?  Plus, women have been doing this naturally for as long as we’ve been around.  This isn’t impossible, and I think it’d be empowering as all get out to be able to get through.

Now I’m not delusional.  I fully realize that, despite these wonderful and lofty aspirations, it can get to be too much and I’ll cry uncle.  Bre’s advice was to tell them right up front that I’ll want an epidural, so that the anesthesiologist (I spelled that right on the first try, go me) knows to be ready and waiting.  She apparently told them that she might want one, and they didn’t hang around, so she got to wait hours until she got hers.  Hell with that noise.  I’m an American, I want my needs served in under five minutes with a side of fries.

Birth Theory Info

Jeni says:

This has nothing to do with the subject at hand, but it’s awesome.

I'd honestly be fine with a similar outcome.

Our fantastic doula clarified three different birth methods for us: Bradley Method, Hypnobirthing,  and Birthing From Within.

They all have similarities.  Notably, all of them are versions of natural birth.  That’d be birthing without pain meds, or with as few of them as possible.  I liked my mom’s reaction when I told her that we were thinking of going sans-meds.  If I recall correctly it was along the lines of, “You do know this hurts right?  Like.  Really hurts.“

Yeahhhh.  I’m aware that this is gonna be a bit painful.  saaw22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

EDIT: Our kitty Sky was trying to cuddle and decided instead to add her two cents and publish early.  Why don’t I just continue this in a moment.

Baby Room – In Progress

Jeni says:

Very much without my realization, we seem to have sprouted the beginnings of a proper baby room.

After adorable bedding. DINOCRIB!

Mama Balch got us the wonderful recliner that feels like sitting on a puff of cotton candy, and Mom got us the crib!  Now, assembled and bare?  I made the disconcerting observation that there was a baby cage in our home.  Mom showed up the next day with the mattress and we pseudo-assembled the bedding into place.

It’ll need to be redone after we get the protectant pad and cushioning pad.  But it makes a huge difference.  The baby room feels like a room for an actual baby.  This is mind-boggling and awesome.

It’s the fi-nal count-down (doot dodooo doooo)

Jeni says:

I came across this image years ago, and I hope it serves you as it has served me.

Starting tomorrow, I am at 99 days until due date.  Do you know what that means?  That means I am in the double digits now. No, this is not anything significant to the pregnancy.  But double digits. Before tomorrow?  I had triple digits to go.  Do you know how much more time triple digits are than double digits?!

At some point there will be single digits.  God help us all.

Ever so tiny update~

Jeni says:

I cannot see my toes when I look down.  That is all.

“Downward-Facing Dog” – Actually not an innuendo

Jeni says:

Yoga: Easily amongst the things I would never have done without the impetus of labor and childbirth coming up.  And I would’ve been missing out. I just got home from my third prenatal yoga class, and it’s spectacular.  Relaxing and a little bit of a strain, but in all the right ways.  And it’s prenatal, so I’m not like.  Twisting myself into a pretzel or anything.

Not this.

More this.

The group of women I’m yoga-ing with is definitely not my typical social circle.  There’s a couple very typical yoga-type chicks, but it’s all over a very diverse crowd.  And they’re ALL big preggos like me, so it’s way more comfortable than I was expecting.  The woman leading is even a doula herself.  It’s just wonderfully relaxing and stimulating.  Plus Westley kicks like no one’s business right after the “hard” part’s done and we’re relaxing.  Clearly he really likes me wiggling all around.

Zoom zoom

Jeni says:

One more step towards being the quintessential suburban couple!  Andrew and I are now two-thirds of a two-car household.  Two-fifths if you count Alfador and Sky, who I’m pretty sure would insist that they run this show anyway.

Mom’s wonderful friend Viki helped us come away from the lot with a 2007 Caliber with less than 9K miles.  I kid you not, it belonged to a little old lady who lived in a golf community and just preferred to drive her golf cart around.

Car > Golf Cart, you'd think

This is all manner of wonderful, because:

• I don’t have to get up at a time that only exists in fairytales to carpool with Andrew anymore
• This is a four-door vehicle with storage, in which to transport a tiny newborn person and all the claptrap he requires

Also?  It has a cooled compartment for bottled water.  GLEE.  We’ve dubbed this vehicle Appa, and christened it accordingly.

Yip yip!

/kick

Jeni says:

I felt the baby kick my hand for the first time today.  Lemme repeat that.  A baby.  In my abdomen. Kicked my hand.

This is what Wikipedia says is happening to my internal organs.

Wes has been just a little bit wiggly, but before this, he’d never kicked hard enough for me to actually feel it.  And to be fair, I guess there’s no way I can be absolutely positive that it was kicking.  He could have been punching or kneeing or headbutting me for all I know.  It was still so terribly bizarre.  I mean, there was a being, a live thing, inside of me.  Not just inside of me, but uppity enough to attack his biological prison.

This is equal parts brilliant and perturbing.

Loading status: >50%

Jeni says:

I tried to get a screencap of my phone’s pregnancy app to post, but my phone isn’t rooted so it didn’t have access to the — regardless, I couldn’t get a picture of it.  But I have this little application on my phone that tells me how far along we are, what the baby’s forming that week, and basic little tidbits of information about the fine practice of being knocked up.   (Isn’t that a terrible term?  It’s so absurd that I can’t help but giggle at it.)

I’m at 22 weeks today.  22 out of 40.  According to my app, I’ve been pregnant 21 weeks and 4 days, with 18 weeks and 3 days to go.  Second trimester, 22nd week of pregnancy, estimated DOB Dec 01 2010.

I’m past the halfway mark in pregnancy.

Wow.

I’d seriously expected by now for things to be a little more, I don’t know.  Real?  Stressful?  Pressing?  I can kind of feel Wes moving reeeeally faintly every now and then, but the most severe “Wow, you’re really pregnant” thing that’s happened is the way my mood swings violently and with no provocation whatsoever.  Weep for my poor, wonderful man.  Seriously.  I may go momentarily insane, but he’s the one that has to put up with it.

Other than that, though?  I mean, besides being moody and gradually realizing that I’m getting bigger and bigger, it’s sometimes hard to remember that I’m pregnant.  Wait: besides moody, abdomen size, and fatigue.  Wait wait.  Moody, abdomen size, and fatigue, and really random cravings; I went to Walgreens at 10:00 last night because I needed white chocolate.

Maybe I’m feeling it more than I recognize sometimes.  I guess I figured that after halfway, my entire consciousness would be preoccupied with “Baby baby baby baby baby baby.”  It’s not, not yet.  I suppose I should enjoy that while it lasts.

“Hey, congrats on the boy, but…

…did you realize there was part of a Rick Astley song in the middle of your sonogram?”

Jeni says:

Yeeeeah, about that.

Allow me to explain, for some of the family who may be more than a bit befuddled.  That was an internet joke called Rickrolling, which is explained in some depth here.  It’s basically a joke where you say “Hey, check out this interesting thing,” and it turns out to be Never Gonna Give You Up.

Hey, I never claimed it was a good joke.  Or even a remotely comprehensible one.  It did, however, lead to this being created.  Anything that makes muppets dance is fine by me.