So far not a lot to report!!! Both Steve and I managed to get some sleep through the night which was nice. I had a couple of minor contractions during the night, but nothing to write home about. This morning we went to see our midwife and have a Non-Stress Test (NST) done - basically I was just hooked up the the fetal monitor for about 20 minutes and everything looked great! The baby's heartrate had good accelerations and no major decelerations. No contractions though!
So right now the plan is for me to sleep this afternoon (we already went for a walk around "The Forbidden Place" and ran a couple of errands). If I don't go into active labour on my own, then we'll be meeting the midwife at the hospital around dinner time to get induced.
Please everyone think good contraction and non-induction thoughts for us!!!
Monday 29 August 2011
Sunday 28 August 2011
Water Broke!!!!
Here's the timeline so far...
- getting ready to leave Kent and Erin's after a delicious dinner and as I stand up to go, I feel this lovely gush and next thing I know my water is breaking all over their kitchen floor (not the couch thank goodness!)...this is at 9:50pm on August 28th/11
- we page Amanda (our second midwife) since our first midwife (Grace) is on vacation until tomorrow morning at 8am...so we almost waited long enough for her to be back! Amanda said that she'll meet us at our house at 10:30pm since I really wanted to get to my own surroundings.
- we meet with Amanda and she listens to Bean's heartbeat for a few minutes. I'm not really having contractions too much, just the odd tightening that doesn't really hurt. Feels more like a Braxton-Hicks contraction to be honest. Amanda said we have the option of going to the Montfort now and I can be induced, or to wait and let my body go into labour naturally. We've decided to wait since the chance of having more medical interventions increases with induction.
- we have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8:45am at the Midwife Office unless I go into active labour by then.
Still no contractions (true ones) and it's 11:43. Steve's right by my side and Linds is running some errands and cleaning for us. My only job right now is to not think about the fact that my water has broken and to get some sleep!
- getting ready to leave Kent and Erin's after a delicious dinner and as I stand up to go, I feel this lovely gush and next thing I know my water is breaking all over their kitchen floor (not the couch thank goodness!)...this is at 9:50pm on August 28th/11
- we page Amanda (our second midwife) since our first midwife (Grace) is on vacation until tomorrow morning at 8am...so we almost waited long enough for her to be back! Amanda said that she'll meet us at our house at 10:30pm since I really wanted to get to my own surroundings.
- we meet with Amanda and she listens to Bean's heartbeat for a few minutes. I'm not really having contractions too much, just the odd tightening that doesn't really hurt. Feels more like a Braxton-Hicks contraction to be honest. Amanda said we have the option of going to the Montfort now and I can be induced, or to wait and let my body go into labour naturally. We've decided to wait since the chance of having more medical interventions increases with induction.
- we have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8:45am at the Midwife Office unless I go into active labour by then.
Still no contractions (true ones) and it's 11:43. Steve's right by my side and Linds is running some errands and cleaning for us. My only job right now is to not think about the fact that my water has broken and to get some sleep!
Webster Attempt #1
Yesterday morning I went to see my former chiro associate to try to use Webster technique to get Bean to move into the right position. My pelvis is a mess and didn't respond that great to the adjustment, so I'm going back to see her again tomorrow. The way that you treat with Webster is to use it exclusively and aggressively at first to try to get the pelvis in better alignment so that the baby will figure out the position that he/she needs to be in on his/her own. Her practice is in Barrhaven and I'm in Orleans, so it's about 30 minutes each way, but I'll try anything at this point!
Yesterday was also Graeme and Andrea's wedding and I think I ate my weight in food...but it was too good to not eat! Didn't get to dance baby out since I was exhausted by the time dancing started as I didn't sleep well on Friday night. Last night wasn't a great night's sleep either...so here's hoping tonight goes better!
Yesterday was also Graeme and Andrea's wedding and I think I ate my weight in food...but it was too good to not eat! Didn't get to dance baby out since I was exhausted by the time dancing started as I didn't sleep well on Friday night. Last night wasn't a great night's sleep either...so here's hoping tonight goes better!
Friday 26 August 2011
Feet In the Ribs
So despite being on my hands and knees a lot yesterday doing yoga and trying to sit leaning forward, Bean hasn't changed position. It just feels really weird when I'm sitting leaning forward because I have a lot of pressure down low in my pelvis because the head has dropped down a bit and sitting this way jams his/her little feet up into my ribs even more.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to go see my former chiro associate to try Webster. Webster Technique is usually used to right babies who are in the breech position, but one of my classmates who does the technique said that it had worked on OP (occiput posterior) presentations as well. From the research that I was doing online about OP babies, the baby gets into this position usually because the mother has been sitting down a lot (which I have been due to the pelvic pain that put me off of work), but also because of how the baby is fitting into the mother's pelvis. So hopefully by getting adjusted and having some ligament work done tomorrow, the alignment in my pelvis will change enough for Bean to move to a more optimal position. I also was reading that 9/10 babies will move into an optimal birthing position during labour...I'm just trying to help the process since the little one has to rotate 180-degrees to get into the right position - to be OA (occiput anterior).
Tomorrow night is also our friends Graeme and Andrea's wedding...so maybe dancing will go better this time around!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to go see my former chiro associate to try Webster. Webster Technique is usually used to right babies who are in the breech position, but one of my classmates who does the technique said that it had worked on OP (occiput posterior) presentations as well. From the research that I was doing online about OP babies, the baby gets into this position usually because the mother has been sitting down a lot (which I have been due to the pelvic pain that put me off of work), but also because of how the baby is fitting into the mother's pelvis. So hopefully by getting adjusted and having some ligament work done tomorrow, the alignment in my pelvis will change enough for Bean to move to a more optimal position. I also was reading that 9/10 babies will move into an optimal birthing position during labour...I'm just trying to help the process since the little one has to rotate 180-degrees to get into the right position - to be OA (occiput anterior).
Tomorrow night is also our friends Graeme and Andrea's wedding...so maybe dancing will go better this time around!
Thursday 25 August 2011
How to Right a Posterior Baby...
So today was my weekly midwife appointment - I got to meet our third midwife Jasmine since I hadn't met her yet and my primary midwife (Grace) is on holidays until Monday. So here's a little bit of background info on how midwives work here - you have a primary, secondary, and a third midwife. Basically the primary midwife is the one who will be delivering your baby and who you have most of your appointments with. The second midwife is there for the birth as well, but deals mostly with the baby. If for some reason your first/second/third midwife is unavailable, then the others fill in the spots. What I really like is that you get to know who will be there when your baby is born. It's a very personal experience. The frequency of visits is the same as for an OB/GYN. So now I'm to weekly appointments until little Bean decides to arrive.
That all being said, today's appointment went quite well. Jasmine told me when to page for when I go into labour and the main difference between early and active labour for paging purposes. My blood pressure was still good and normal. Bean's heartbeat was strong as well, which is always good to hear - talk about the sweetest sound! His/her head is also getting low in my pelvis, but isn't fully engaged yet...but things are definitely on the right track!
What I did find out today is that Bean is hanging around with his/her back toward my back. Ideally we want him/her to have their back facing toward my stomach. So I was given some "homework" to do to try to encourage Bean to get into the right position. Here's my homework:
- sit backwards in a kitchen chair to lean forward
- when sitting on the couch, lean forward with my elbows on my knees
- do the cat pose from yoga as much as possible
- and the tried and true method...wash my floors on my hands and knees every day!!!
Needless to say, I'm going to try the sitting forward for most of the day with my jigsaw puzzle...and then I might scrub some floors...and also do the cat pose every 30 minutes.
That all being said, today's appointment went quite well. Jasmine told me when to page for when I go into labour and the main difference between early and active labour for paging purposes. My blood pressure was still good and normal. Bean's heartbeat was strong as well, which is always good to hear - talk about the sweetest sound! His/her head is also getting low in my pelvis, but isn't fully engaged yet...but things are definitely on the right track!
What I did find out today is that Bean is hanging around with his/her back toward my back. Ideally we want him/her to have their back facing toward my stomach. So I was given some "homework" to do to try to encourage Bean to get into the right position. Here's my homework:
- sit backwards in a kitchen chair to lean forward
- when sitting on the couch, lean forward with my elbows on my knees
- do the cat pose from yoga as much as possible
- and the tried and true method...wash my floors on my hands and knees every day!!!
Needless to say, I'm going to try the sitting forward for most of the day with my jigsaw puzzle...and then I might scrub some floors...and also do the cat pose every 30 minutes.
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Early Nesting Maybe?
So I decided this morning that maybe I would clean the whole house today...I don't know if that's too ambitious or what, but when you've been off work for almost 4 weeks you start to feel a little useless!
Things are going pretty well with the pregnancy so far! No false alarms yet or anything like that. Just starting to feel a little more uncomfortable every day. The pelvic pain is usually under control unless I've been on my feet too much - all I need to do is just take a seat and relax for a bit and it usually subsides!
I can't believe that it's already to the point where I'm 37 weeks and 5 days. I'm starting to get very anxious about Bean's arrival...but it's an excited anxious. I really just want to meet our son/daughter!
Things are going pretty well with the pregnancy so far! No false alarms yet or anything like that. Just starting to feel a little more uncomfortable every day. The pelvic pain is usually under control unless I've been on my feet too much - all I need to do is just take a seat and relax for a bit and it usually subsides!
I can't believe that it's already to the point where I'm 37 weeks and 5 days. I'm starting to get very anxious about Bean's arrival...but it's an excited anxious. I really just want to meet our son/daughter!
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