35 Week Midwife Appointment

I'm exhausted today.  This past weekend, we had our 35 week appointment with Dr. C's partner midwife on Friday and a wedding reception to go to that night.  We made it an overnight trip and I'm so glad I only have to do that drive one more time and it will be one way until after the baby comes.  It's just plain hard to sit in a car for 6 hours at this point!

Anyway, Daddy B, Baby C and I left Louisiana about 7:30am on Friday and made our way to Texas.  We actually arrived ahead of schedule and got to the birth center to see Dr. C's partner midwife at 2pm instead of our scheduled 3pm appointment.  I was really looking forward to seeing the birth center she practices at, as I've heard so many good things about it.  It truly did not disappoint!  On the outside it looks like an old house but the inside is completely remodeled.  The birthing suite is spectacular and made me wish in some ways I was going to birth there instead of the hospital.  I'd give anything to have that tub in the suite in my room at the hospital!  haha

Everything went well at the appointment.  Baby is still about 2 weeks ahead of schedule and the midwife guessed it weighs around 7 lbs right now.  She agrees with my prediction that this baby will be over 9 lbs at delivery.  My blood pressure was a little bit up, reading 126/85 (it's usually in the 110-120/60-70).  She said it was still in a great range and was probably due to the long drive and the VERY full bladder I arrived with when we got there!  Baby's heart rate was a strong 148-152 and the midwife had fun using the doppler chasing baby around.  Baby kept moving right as she'd get a good reading!  They had a little difficulty last appointment getting a good spot for the heartbeat too, but she didn't realize I have an anterior placenta and said that only adds to this baby seeming a little "fiesty," in her words. :)

Afterwards we headed to Daddy B's stepsister's house.  We couldn't stay with Aunt K and my brother because the wedding reception was for Aunt K's stepsister and her house was FULL.  I'll tell ya what, Daddy B and I definitely do not miss DFW traffic.  It took over two hours to get from the birth center to his stepsister's.  It should have taken an hour, tops!

The reception was fun and Baby C made it until about 9:30pm (he usually goes to bed at 8pm!).  It was definitely different being 35 weeks pregnant at an event like that.  I sat a lot and got second helpings of the awesome macaroni and cheese being served with dinner. :)  I sent Aunt K a text earlier in the week saying too bad I had to bring this with me and couldn't enjoy the open bar! ;)

We left the next morning around 11am and took our time getting home, arriving close to 6pm.  We stopped in Shreveport to check out the Toys R Us/Babies R Us there since our area doesn't have one.  We were really disappointed and will definitely be making the trip to Lafayette in a couple weeks to complete our registry.  Baby C was worn out from so much over two days and spent the last couple of the hours of the drive like this:

(notice the lollipop still in his hand haha!)

Next time I make that trip, it will be baby time!  Can't wait!  The reality of baby's arrival is making it's appearance around here.  Just today Daddy B put up the swing we are borrowing from Aunt K and my brother this time around.  It's all very surreal!

Tribulations

I've been talking to ICAN Baton Rouge and Birth Rite Louisiana, which is a natural birthing group in the area we are moving to that I was referred to by the ICAN ladies.  I've called all references I've received and every single one has said "No" to VBAC.  There are not many birthing centers in the state and the one I was referred to said they love to do VBAC's, but there is a law in LA that a VBAC patient has to live within 50 miles of their midwife or OB in order to be accepted as a patient.  No VBAC supportive doctor in the state lives close enough and we don't know anyone we could stay with around my due date to make that work.  Then the ladies told me that they thought that law only applied to midwives, so I called a doctor I've heard good things about in Baton Rouge.  Left a message for his nurse, but haven't heard back.

I was really discouraged last night.  I think I cried from about 2pm-10pm.  I hadn't eaten, my head hurt and I was so sick of all of this.  It shouldn't be this hard!  Daddy B has been so encouraging.  He always says things like "What WE want,"  "OUR birth,"  etc.  It makes me feel so comforted to know he wants this as bad as I do and he is committed.  I prayed and prayed last night asking God to give me peace if He wants me to have another c-section.  It sure would make everything easier.  But He didn't grant me that peace and instead I feel more determined.  I tried to visualize walking in to a hospital for a c-section without having a trial of labor and the thought literally made me sick.  I just feel convicted that God wants me to TRY.

After talking to Daddy B about all of this, he recommended I call his mom.  His mom is retired and lives in Arkansas, but her husband (Daddy B's stepdad) is actually from the area in LA we are moving to.  So I called her and asked her if she would be willing to come down for longer than planned around my due date so that I could go stay close to the birth center that supports VBAC to enable me to have the baby there.  She didn't hesitate.  I've shared with her some about why this birth experience means so much to me, so it didn't come out of left field when her only daughter-in-law called her bawling her eyes out about everything.  I'm just so thankful to her and her support.  I don't know if she'll ever fully understand how much it means to me.

This afternoon I called the birth center back and they said they'd be happy to take me as a patient, as long as I can guarantee I will be in the area from 38 weeks on and that their backup OB approves my post-op report from my c-section for a VBAC.  Shouldn't be a problem, as I am almost a perfect candidate.

I still have the back up plan to come back to Texas, but there are a lot of things about that plan that scare me.  I would prefer to birth in Louisiana, but if that means I have to get cut, I'll gladly make my way back to DFW to have this baby.

One thing is for sure, after all this is over, I plan to do what I can to help educate people about a woman's rights when it comes to birth.  It is utterly ridiculous that this is so hard.