In my efforts to meet all the midwives (since Stacy is gone on maternity leave) I met with Vicki for my appointment this week. I had met Vicki a couple times with my pregnancy with Kye and she’s actually the one who put me into labor with him! She didn’t mean to, but during my weekly check to see how far along I was I guess it gave me that extra push to start labor because my water broke soon after I got home! I went solo to this appointment as it wasn’t anything major and Kye had school and Zach was out of town.
I brought along my birth plan but didn’t have any questions this week, so I knew it’d be a quick visit. Vicki came in and introduced herself and I told her I was making the rounds to meet everyone since Stacy is gone. We chatted a bit and I told her I didn’t have any questions but that I’m still having a lot of lower back pain which I know is normal. She said that strong Braxton Hicks are often common with second pregnancies (check!). I told her I was nervous about going into labor since my water broke last time and if it doesn’t break this time I don’t know how I’ll know it’s time…she said I’ll def KNOW. Guess we’ll see!
I mentioned my birth plan and she said she remembered Stacy bringing it up at the meeting and that everything had sounded good to her. She asked if I followed the same plan when I delivered last time and I told her that I tried to but that I did end up with an episiotomy and didn’t get out of the bed during labor. She said it’s true that second babies usually come a lot quicker than first ones and since my first labor was so short (I was only 8 hours total rather than the average 18) that I should expect it all to go quick, even the pushing. That was music to my ears! It especially made me feel good that she told me to stay at home as long as possible. So far all three midwives I’ve seen have said that so it’s great that they are all on board with what I want to do and are giving me advice to help my success rate with the natural childbirth!
We listened to the baby and the heart rate was the highest I think it’s been the whole pregnancy – 156! Blitzen is head down still which is great and she said “baby sounds great!” Always a good thing to hear 🙂
Vicki was super nice but I didn’t feel like she was as supportive as Teresa. Teresa told me to bring a birthing ball to the hospital and that she’d be willing to come in when I go into labor even if she’s not the one on call. While if I happen to have Vicki I think she’ll do wonderful with me, I will probably not see her again for another visit. The best news of the morning was that STACY will be on call Thanksgiving weekend!!!! I’ll be 38 weeks pregnant then! Depending on how much we have left to get done by that time around here (I’m HOPING we knock everything out by the time I’m full term so we can just REST and enjoy family time!) I plan to try to induce labor naturally during that time so maybe I can actually have Stacy deliver! Wouldn’t that be awesome!?!?!
I’ll be 36 weeks at my next appointment…that’s when I start going weekly and they start checking me to see how far dialated and effaced I am. I’m seeing Marie for the first time and after that visit I’ll decide which midwife to see for my remaining visits. It’s not really enough time to form a solid bond with someone but I feel like if I see everyone and they all at least meet me then whoever I get will be great! I filled Stacy in on my visit and she said to get primrose oil and start taking it at 36 weeks so I can hopefully go into labor over Thanksgiving when she’s on call 😉 I ordered some from GNC and also went ahead and ordered probiotics to take when I start nursing. I took them with Kye and it helped us not to get thrush (since I get yeast infections so easily I also had yeast issues with my breasts…which makes sense) and it gave Kye a big extra boost for his immune system.
Now that I have a “dream delivery date” in mind (ideal world would be to go into labor on Sunday Nov. 27th so we could get all our Christmas decorations up over Thanksgiving and I’d get to have Stacy deliver since that’d be her last day on call)!!! I feel more motivated to get my body in delivery-shape and to get all this junk on the “to do” lists DONE! Of course, I know my dream date probably won’t be happening…especially since last pregnancy I had only one week when I didn’t want to have Kye (Stacy was out of town) and, of course, that’s the week I went into labor! But it’s okay to dream right? 😉