I made it through one birth without pain medication, but that doesn’t mean my next birth will be the same. Each birth is different, and we’re all better off to prepare ourselves for a variety of scenarios.

If you’re pregnant or would like to be some day, it’s a good idea to learn all you can about labor and delivery. If you know what to expect, you’ll be much more at peace with the whole thing. You’ll know what is normal and what is not.

Normal: Vomiting during active labor. Unpleasant, but your body is clearing itself out.

Abnormal: High blood pressure.

Shane and I wanted to have a natural, unmedicated childbirth. After researching birth and medications, I learned that certain interventions, such as using an epidural for pain, or Pitocin to speed along labor, could actually cause problems. The epidural might not work. In rare cases, it could cause damage to your spine or make you sick. The drugs have been shown to reach the baby, and you can see the difference in babies born with epidurals than ones born without. An epidural can lengthen your labor. It can make your pushes not as effective. It can cause distress in your baby. The epidural blocks the good hormones and chemicals your uterus is sending to your brain. After delivery, you might not be able to walk for awhile or use the bathroom on your own.

There was a point in my labor when I started talking about epidurals. I was in transition, which is intense. Asking for pain meds and wanting to give up are extremely common in this stage, which only lasts maybe 30 minutes. I didn’t really want an epi, but it certainly did hurt during the contractions! Because of our childbirth class, Shane and I knew how to get through this period.

In many cases, a woman who has an epidural might also receive Pitocin to increase her contractions, since the epi might slow her down. Pitocin is synthetic oxytocin. Your body also produces oxytocin, but the natural version has different effects than the Pit. These contractions are said to be stronger than natural ones, and can cause considerably more pain in a mom. In addition, the contractions can be too strong for your baby and can cause him distress. Long-term effects of this drug are not known.

First-time mothers who have these interventions are thought to be much more likely to have a last-minute c-section.

I knew that I absolutely didn’t want a c-section. It’s major surgery and recovering from it would be difficult. It can also cause problems down the road. But, I know there are times when c-sections are absolutely necessary, and if I was in that situation, I’d want one.

Ideally, I wanted to go into labor on my own and proceed without any intervention. I wanted to avoid c-sections and artificial complications. I also wanted my baby to be born without any drugs in his system. A dose of medicine for me, an adult, would be way too much for my little six-pounder. I didn’t want anything to get in the way of those natural hormones surging through our bodies during labor and in the time after. And, the thought of an epidural — a needle in my spine — terrified me. I didn’t want to lose the feeling in much of my body. I wanted to keep what control I could.

Shane and I prepared for our birth by taking Bradley childbirth classes, reading books, and practicing our relaxation techniques. Our class allowed us to talk about birth each week. We discussed aspects of it as a couple, and also with other expectant couples. Our trained instructor had a wealth of information to share.

We both learned about what we could expect and how to best prepare. Taking the class (ours was 10 weeks long, about 2.5 hours each meeting) was absolutely worth our time. True, we could have gotten through birth without the class. But, I think the knowledge gained made it much easier on both of us.

If you’ve read my lengthy birth story, you know that I didn’t have a totally unmedicated delivery. I had cervidil to augment my labor, and I also had an IV of magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures, as I had developed preeclampsia.

The whole preeclampsia thing makes me wary of ever having a home birth, personally.

In early labor at the hospital, I thought to myself, “I get why people want home births.” You avoid all the nurses taking blood samples from your arm, hooking you up to a (possibly unnecessary) hep lock, restricting your movement by hooking you up to fetal monitors, etc. You have to wear an uncomfortable hospital gown and do your thing in an unfamiliar environment.

I can see the appeal of being in your home, not being bothered by anyone.

However. My preeclampsia came on fast. It wasn’t confirmed until 1 a.m., and I had been in active labor since about 4 p.m. the day prior.

I can’t say for certain what would have happened if the preeclampsia went undetected, or if I didn’t have the magnesium sulfate. Maybe I would have seized. Maybe my baby would have gotten into trouble. Maybe nothing would have happened at all. My pre-e case was on the mild side, and my son was born 3.5 hours after the pre-e was discovered (delivery is the cure for pre-e), so there really is a good chance that nothing would have happened. We just can’t know, though.

I think the pre-e startled me enough to rule out any future home births. I hadn’t really considered going for it, though I hadn’t ruled it out. Now, I’m ruling it out. In the future, I want to continue to deliver at a hospital so that I can have immediate access to potentially life-saving medications. And, I can have a rapid c-section if it becomes critical. But, I do want to keep under the care of a midwife, as I had this time. I appreciate the midwifery model of care, and I know midwives are more likely to let me do things naturally.

If you’re pregnant, please prepare yourself for your delivery. Read all you can (I like the Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way, and Husband-Coached Childbirth). Scour the internet. Read birth stories. Talk to your friends. Take a childbirth class. The Bradley method is all about doing things naturally, understanding what’s going on, relaxing through the pain to let your body work, and having your husband coach you all the way through. I like it, but it might not be for everyone. Find a way to prepare that will work for you and your husband.

Just know that if you don’t actively prepare for your birth and just show up at the hospital in labor thinking, “Maybe I’ll try it without pain meds,” you’ll probably fail. Sorry. If you (and your partner!!) don’t understand what will happen and what various interventions can do, you just might be taking on more than you can handle. Maybe.

And if you know yourself and know that your pain tolerence isn’t high and you hope to have an epidural (after understanding all the benefits and risks, of course), you have to realize that hey, there is a chance that it won’t work. Maybe half of your body will be numb, but not the other side. Maybe it’ll give you a horrible spinal headache. Maybe you won’t have enough time to get one. Maybe the anesthesiologist will be MIA. It would be a reasonable idea to at least prepare for the possibility that you won’t have access to pain relief.

If you do get an epidural or some other form of meds, do not feel like a failure. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad. Your circumstances will be different from anyone else’s, and any of your previous births, likely. Your family and friends cannot understand the level of pain you’re experiencing. Maybe you’re having an exceptionally long labor, and you’re simply too exhausted to keep going. Getting an epidural to allow you some time to rest could be a great thing! Or maybe, your labor is extra short (which means it’s really intense!) and your pain is simply too much to handle. Maybe your baby is facing your front and causing you excruciating back labor.

You can’t know what will happen beforehand. Prepare for all possibilities (even a c-section), and you can’t go wrong.

After getting through one mostly natural birth, I can definitely say that it was worth it. I felt amazing immediately afterwards. My baby was alert from the get-go. My recovery was undoubtedly easier. The recovery nurses, our pediatrician, and even our midwife were impressed with how we all looked in the hours and days that followed. After achieving that, I felt as if I could do anything!

Anyway, my fluid is up to 9.4 whatever units which is awesome. I had suspected that I was dehydrated on Monday, and that can sometimes cause fluid levels to be lower. I’ve been drinking even more water lately and woke up at 6 a.m. to get plenty of fluids in me before my appointment. I think this definitely helped. If there truly was a problem, I wouldn’t have been able to drink my way out of it.

Everything else on the ultrasound looked good. Baby has been practicing his breathing muscles, which we’ve been able to observe on the past two ultrasounds. He’s getting ready!

My fundal height has decreased to 31 cm. Whaaaat? How bizarre is this? It should be 38 cm now (+ or – 2). It’s possible that it has decreased from the 33 whatever it was on Monday because maybe the baby has moved even lower down. Or maybe his position has shifted slightly and that’s affecting the count. The same midwife has measured me the past few times, so who knows what’s going on?

All I know is, fundal height is not an exact science. Since we know that the baby is in fact measuring just fine and that there is plenty of fluid, we can only assume that my guts have been smooshed into oblivion.

I had my last meeting with our Bradley childbirth teacher. She’s been absolutely fabulous. I had a one-on-one meeting since I missed a class. Shane couldn’t come — he was at work.

We talked about delivery complications, including inductions and c-sections.

She made me feel more at ease about circumstances that would warrant an induction or c-section. I really don’t want either, but if I have one or the other, I want to be absolutely certain that it was the right decision to make. I do trust in my midwives to help us make those decisions if necessary.

From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I’ve been praying for the baby’s health and for God to give me what I needed so I could have a healthy delivery and also be a good parent. I’m praying for peace during the birth — that Shane and I are at peace with whatever happens and that we feel God’s presence. I’m also going to pray for my midwives and nurses, for them to have clarity of mind. Oh, and traffic. I’m praying for good traffic and road conditions for the ride to the hospital .

I feel totally at ease about giving birth. And, I’m going to do my absolute best in giving my baby the gift of being born without medical interference. I’ll write more about my thoughts on unmedicated deliveries once he’s born. I know it’s a controversial topic, and I don’t want to debate it or talk about birthing drugs right now. *Thinking happy labor thoughts*

Here’s what’s happening according to BabyCenter:

Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he’s over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you’ll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby’s eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he’s born with brown eyes, they’ll likely stay brown. If he’s born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he’s 9 months old. That’s because a child’s irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after he’s born, but they usually won’t get “lighter” or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

See what your baby looks like this week.

Good gravy, here we go again.

At my appointment last week, I was measuring small. 33 cm at 37 weeks. I guess the ballpark figure I should have been at was somewhere around 35 to 39 cm. So, I had yet another ultrasound today (my 5th one!) so they could measure the baby’s size.

Just as I had suspected, my baby is totally fine. He’s measuring right on target and is in the 46th percentile for size. The 50th percentile is right smack in the middle, so I guess you could say he’s barely on the smaller end of that spectrum, but whatever! He’s fine.

The ultrasound tech was amazed at how he was taking up every last bit of available space. She couldn’t see my right ovary (and I definitely have one) because he smooshed it clear out of the way. Where? Idk. I hope it finds its way back.

The midwife (the same one who ordered my first growth ultrasound back at 28 or 29 weeks) consulted with one of the doctors in the practice just to confirm that my results were fine. I guess she’s just trying to be safe. The doc wanted to know how I looked.

“Very tall and slim,” the midwife said.

“Well, there ya go,” said the OB. “More room for the baby to hide.”

Only what I’ve been saying all along. Also, the baby’s head has dropped pretty low, so obviously that’s going to make me measure a tad smaller.

I had an internal exam and there’s nothing really interesting going on. That’s ok with me. I also had a non-stress test, where they hook you up to the monitors for 20 minutes and keep track of the baby’s movements and any contractions that might be going on. He had hiccups and was making quite a racket! The results of the test were good.

One super minor thing: My amniotic fluid was on the low side. Not low enough to be a problem, but on the lower end of the “good” spectrum. I’m thinking it was just because I was a bit dehydrated, what with the early appointment and not having much to drink this morning and all. So, “just to be safe,” I have my 6th ultrasound on Thursday to check my fluids again. I’ll drink lotsa water beforehand and show them that, hey, whaddya know? Things are fine!

I guess I should be thankful that the midwives just want to make sure everything is ok. And yeah, it is better to be safe than sorry. But good grief, I am so tired of all of these appointments and tests. Thankfully, I don’t have too many more to go!

I could safely have this baby anytime between now and five weeks from now. Nice range, right?

I can’t remember if the midwives start to get nervous if you hit 41 weeks, or if they’ll let you go til 42 weeks before wanting to intervene. I’ll have to ask at my next appointment, but my gut feeling is I won’t go too far past 40 weeks, if I even make it to that point. Just a guess, but what do I know?

I could totally hack being pregnant for another month. I think. I’m still not uncomfortable — in fact, I’m more comfortable now than I was a few weeks ago, since his head has dropped lower and it’s easier to breathe (and it wasn’t that difficult to breathe before that). Putting on socks and shoes is a major challenge. I either have Shane help me or I just contort myself and go for gold.

I hope he lets me get over my cold first. I’ll need to be healthy and have my energy back. Sometimes I’ll sneeze, and he’ll jump. Lol.

When I was 32 weeks, I predicted that I’d at least hit 40 inches around and gain 26-27 pounds total. Well, I measured my circumference (is that even accurate?) and I’m 40 inches around! How much bigger will I get? Who knows. Baby is gaining about an ounce per day. That’s roughly a half of a pound per week for Baby alone.

On my main blog, I mentioned that I won a baby sling — a Baby K’Tan — in a blog giveaway. It arrived yesterday and I wore a teddy bear around the house in it for awhile. I love it! It’s ridiculously simple to figure out how to use. I’m not sure how it will feel with a person vs. a bear in it, but it has great support so I feel like it’ll work out well. I’ll keep ya posted.

We’re making progress on our baby to-do list. I bought a bunch of non-perishable groceries to have around for after the baby is born. Plus, I bought an obscene amount of snacks for us to munch on in the hospital.

I have a bunch of meals in the freezer and I’m going to add a few more this week. After that, I’ll save leftovers and add some convenience freezer foods.

Baby’s room is ready to go. I want to deep-clean the kitchen and bathrooms and do a little more to organize our bedroom. If I don’t get to those things, no worries! The grandmas are coming, and they can help

We’ll probably go ahead and throw things in our hospital bag tonight.

Oh man. This is getting really real now. I’m still partly in denial about this whole thing — like really? I’m having a baby (and not a basketball?). Baby is coming, and he’s coming soon. Watchoutnow!

From BabyCenter.com:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don’t be surprised if your baby’s hair isn’t the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Here’s the view of the room from the door way. The bed in there is used as a guest bed.

We have a little cubby-style shelf in the corner. One drawer has diapers ready to go, along with some wipes and diaper cream. Another drawer has burp clothes, another has breastfeeding aids (nursing pads, lanolin) and some baby first-aid stuff. The last bin has hats and t-shirts.

You might see a cardboard box in one of the slots. That’s holding diapers from my diaper cake, and once I use those up, I’ll put something cuter in there.

The bed is on risers that we got from Ikea. The bed is high enough that a box of diapers will easily fit under it. We have several hundred diapers and wipes under the bed. The rest of our stash is under our bed in the other room.

We bought the bookshelf from Home Depot. I love the colorful covers of children’s books, so I wanted to have some facing out, rather than having their binding out. The blue thing hanging from it holds shoes and socks, bibs, and bags for diapers. The wastebasket below is for — you guessed it — icky diapers. I have an air-freshener disk for it and I have some baking soda on the bookshelf to sprinkle on top.

The closet is a bit smaller than I’d like, but it’s working for now. We have board games on the top shelf (nowhere else for them to go) and heavy baby blankets next to them, with just a little bit of space on either side for some small items.

The six-slot hanging thing came from Target. The hanging clothes are current sizes. In the slots: 1. Sleep sacks 2. Sleepers with feet 3. Clothes sizes 3-6 months 4. Towels, washcloths 5. Pants 6. Clothes sizes 6-9 months. I have them labeled with sticky notes so that when other people do the laundry, they’ll know where I want things to go.

His current clothing size will be hung up, ideally.

The wicker basket is for dirty laundry. There’s a zip mesh bag that I’ll use for socks. They are so tiny and are certain to get lost any other way. I’m storing clean socks in another zip mesh bag.

The cardboard box below is for outgrown maternity wear and baby clothes.

I have Christmas things in the bin below that. Nowhere else to put it.

I have two baskets under the crib. One basket is for receiving blankets. The other is to store mattress pads and sheets.

Our bed skirt, bumper pads and quilt (hanging on the wall behind the crib) was made by my grandma for my cousin’s daughter. She no longer needs it, so she kindly sent it to me to use.

I decided to put the bumper pads elsewhere in the room. Changing the sheets with the pads on … not easy. Not to mention, bumper pads are questionable in their safety, so I decided just not to worry about it. One pad fit perfectly along the window sill. The other is hanging over our cubby shelf to add a splash of color.

Visit The Natural Mommy for more “meet and greets!”

Our small class each had a child-sized and infant-sized manikin to rescue.

In the CPR portion of the class, we learned the technique and steps to follow. We also learned about AEDs and how they can help people over one year of age. Finally, we learned anti-choking techniques.

We took a short break for lunch and returned to learn more about first aid. Since there are so many things that can require first aid, you really can’t hope to cover all topics in the class. I don’t think I learned anything new here, but it was a good refresher.

I hope we’ll never have to use our CPR training, but it’s nice to know its there. We’ll be practicing on teddy bears periodically so we won’t forget what to do.

Next week, we’ll have a class on newborn care. I hope it’s beneficial!

You see, it’s maybe 15 minutes to the hospital on a typical weekday afternoon. In the middle of the night with no traffic, I’m guessing it would take 10 minutes without speeding.

But rush hour? Forget it. It could take 45 minutes to an hour, easily. I don’t have the patience for that. It would stress me out and maybe even slow down labor.

So I’m really hoping my labor is such that I don’t need to go anywhere during the hours of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. or 4 to 7 p.m. during the week. Please? That’s only 25 percent of each weekday.

Also, I want to avoid going to the hospital before/after the Steelers’ home games on Dec. 7 and 28, and the Pens’ home games on Dec. 8, 11, 20, 23, 27, 30 and Jan. 3 and 6. The Pens games ought to be less trouble for us, but it will be harder for us to effectively detour around Heinz Field.

Wait a minute. I think I’m asking for a bit too much.

My baby is probably like, “Geez, lady! I can’t handle this pressure! First, you want me to come on a convenient day in December. I have no calendar, so good luck with that. Second, you want me to avoid rush hours and home games, too? And probably snow and ice storms? Sorry! I have no clock, calendar or Weather Channel. Good luck to us all!”

Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be so picky. I’d just rather not have an extra-uncomfortable ride to the hospital. And I’d rather not deliver him in the car.

BP is 120/80, yay.

I had my Group B Strep test today, and the results should be in by my appointment next week.

When midwife Tina measured my belly, she was perplexed. I was 32-33cm. Two weeks ago, I was 33 cm. In theory, I should have been 34-36 cm today. Because of this, she wanted to do an internal exam to gauge the position of the baby’s head.

Just as I had suspected, he’s dropped and fully engaged in my pelvis. She said he was at “zero station.”

That just means he’s found his way to the exit. It could be weeks yet before he decides to actually move out of his little home.

A station is measured from -3 to +3, (some OBs use a -5 to +5 scale). Basically, it relates to where the baby’s head is located. A -3 means the baby is floating around still and hasn’t engaged. A +3 means the baby is crowning and is almost out. I think.

My back sort of feels like it really needs to pop. Like there’s a buildup of pressure in the lower part of my spine, ya know? Maybe it’s because of the pressure of Baby’s head on me. Yah. That could be the reason. A small person is head-butting me in the uh, butt, after all.

I know it’s going to be a lot of work to move his head three measly centimeters. Whatever. We’re up for it!

So since he’s positioned pretty low, that could affect my belly’s size. I’ve gained a few pounds in the last two weeks, so that’s a good sign. If my belly is still on the small side next week, I might get another ultrasound.

I just wish they’d stop worrying about his size. There’s a lot of room for me to “hide” a baby, that’s all. He’s fine. I know this for a fact, y’all.

She said my cervix was softening, but it was sort of situated far back and she said it would be uncomfortable for me if she tried to check possible dilation. Thanks for sparing me that, midwife Tina! I’m glad I don’t know if/how much I’m dilated. It could still be weeks before anything happens, and whatever the result, it can’t predict when true labor will begin.