34 Week Midwife Appointment
Christine and I at our last visit...I didn't get any pics this visit
The night before our visit, I was up all night with bad stomach pains and nausea. We were afraid it was contagious and we'd have to reschedule..but I had no fever, so she said we were good to go with our visit!
I was just 33 weeks in these two above pics, but close enough to 34, right? haha
This was the night before our visit...Antonio and I had gone out on our Date Night and I this was right after we got home. I was soooo tired. Can you tell? hahaha
I'm not going to waste your time by saying that I cannot believe we are at the 34-week mark already.
(see what I did there? haha)
But it's true!! Baby will be considered "full term" in just 3 weeks! That means that I will be clear to birth at home and baby will not be considered premature. However, this will be my fifth baby and I have never gone early with any of them, so I'm assuming I'll make it to the 40 week mark with this little bunny, too.
Christine came to visit me this past Friday. It was technically the day before my 34 week mark, but we're counting it as 34 weeks.
For those of you who are new to the Naptime party, Christine is my private duty midwife. She is a CNM which means she is a Certified Nurse Midwife. She will be assisting me in bringing this baby earthside in my very first home birth & she comes to my house for ALL of my prenatal and postnatal/postpartum visits, including the ones that involve lab work (blood draws, for instance). And, not for nothin', she is AMAZING! Like, seriously. I've heard women rave about how much they love their midwives but never really got it. But now that our family considers Christine to be an honorary family member, I totally get the bond that occurs between a mother and her midwife. And I'm already dreading our last postpartum visit.
We discussed where the birthing tub is going to go and realized that we're going to have to scoot our bed over against the far wall, in order to make room for the tub. Which means that we won't be able to have the crib (which we are safely sidecarring to our bed) set up before the baby is born.
She also explained that because her home birth midwifery practice is growing, she has had another CNM (who happens to be a good friend of hers) join the team and this new midwife (who has been delivering babies in Chicago for many years and is moving down here to Atlanta to join Christine) may be at my birth instead of a typical midwife assistant. I trust Christine implicitly, so I'm excited either way.
She explained how the labor is really just mainly going to be us hanging out. The action doesn't really start until the end. I told her that I had heard that home birth labors are generally pretty boring and she just laughed and said that we're going to have fun. Because this will be my fifth labor and we're not sure how quickly it will go, she said that as soon as my labor starts, she is coming over and camping out, just in case it progresses fast.
The kids had a lot of questions for her during this visit. Christine was thrilled when she saw how excited everyone was to learn about the placenta. She showed them a picture of a placenta she had recently delivered where the baby was over 10 lbs! The boys (ages 4 & 6) were eager to show her how fast they could spot the "Tree of Life" running through the placenta. They asked if she would be willing to show them our baby's placenta once it is delivered (and after cord is cut...we are doing Delayed Cord Clamping again) and go over the parts/functions of it with them. She said Of Course! Homeschooled kids are awesome and love learning!
Baby's heartbeat was up in the 150s and strong.
My blood pressure was healthy and low....I want to say 110/60 but don't quote me on that!
My urinalysis was great, too. No signs of infection or anything bad in my urine. No protein, leukocytes...or whatever else she's looking for. No instructions to drink more water like I was told to last time because it was so concentrated.
Baby is still head down and REALLY low!! Christine was laughing and said that Baby Bunny is getting into perfect position.
My weight was once again shocking: I've lost another pound since our last visit!
(My last visit almost a month ago revealed that I had lost 2 pounds)
She isn't concerned because she knows that I am eating a mostly low-fat, plant-based diet. (I'm not a total vegetarian...but I'd say that 80-90% of my diet is plant-based...maybe more, depending on the week) I also don't eat a lot of bread products or white rice...not on the daily, anyways.
And that about sums up our visit!! She's going to be back in just 2 weeks!!
Is there anything I left out that you're wondering about, guys?? Let me know in the comments! I'm also thinking of filming part of our next prenatal visit, if she's down for it. Let you guys see what prenatal visits are like when they're done at your home and not in an office.
For those of you who are following along with this pregnancy...thank you!!! I can feel your love and support, truly. I am so excited to introduce our new baby to you all here soon!!
xoxo
She also explained that because her home birth midwifery practice is growing, she has had another CNM (who happens to be a good friend of hers) join the team and this new midwife (who has been delivering babies in Chicago for many years and is moving down here to Atlanta to join Christine) may be at my birth instead of a typical midwife assistant. I trust Christine implicitly, so I'm excited either way.
She explained how the labor is really just mainly going to be us hanging out. The action doesn't really start until the end. I told her that I had heard that home birth labors are generally pretty boring and she just laughed and said that we're going to have fun. Because this will be my fifth labor and we're not sure how quickly it will go, she said that as soon as my labor starts, she is coming over and camping out, just in case it progresses fast.
The kids had a lot of questions for her during this visit. Christine was thrilled when she saw how excited everyone was to learn about the placenta. She showed them a picture of a placenta she had recently delivered where the baby was over 10 lbs! The boys (ages 4 & 6) were eager to show her how fast they could spot the "Tree of Life" running through the placenta. They asked if she would be willing to show them our baby's placenta once it is delivered (and after cord is cut...we are doing Delayed Cord Clamping again) and go over the parts/functions of it with them. She said Of Course! Homeschooled kids are awesome and love learning!
Baby's heartbeat was up in the 150s and strong.
My blood pressure was healthy and low....I want to say 110/60 but don't quote me on that!
My urinalysis was great, too. No signs of infection or anything bad in my urine. No protein, leukocytes...or whatever else she's looking for. No instructions to drink more water like I was told to last time because it was so concentrated.
Baby is still head down and REALLY low!! Christine was laughing and said that Baby Bunny is getting into perfect position.
My weight was once again shocking: I've lost another pound since our last visit!
(My last visit almost a month ago revealed that I had lost 2 pounds)
She isn't concerned because she knows that I am eating a mostly low-fat, plant-based diet. (I'm not a total vegetarian...but I'd say that 80-90% of my diet is plant-based...maybe more, depending on the week) I also don't eat a lot of bread products or white rice...not on the daily, anyways.
And that about sums up our visit!! She's going to be back in just 2 weeks!!
Is there anything I left out that you're wondering about, guys?? Let me know in the comments! I'm also thinking of filming part of our next prenatal visit, if she's down for it. Let you guys see what prenatal visits are like when they're done at your home and not in an office.
For those of you who are following along with this pregnancy...thank you!!! I can feel your love and support, truly. I am so excited to introduce our new baby to you all here soon!!
xoxo
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