36 Years & 28 Weeks Along

Usually we celebrate my birthday in a big way, with past trips to Las Vegas, Yosemite, and Napa to name a few. This year, we did almost nothing, and yet it was one of the best birthdays I've ever had. Who is this person who likes NOT being able to drink champagne or go on 10 mile hikes?!

It was definitely special though despite no firework style celebration. I treated myself to a french mani/pedi and did lunch with the hubs at one of our favorite spots. Also got surprised with some pretty flowers and a card that had me laughing and crying simultaneously. Nothing like fresh flowers to brighten a girl's day. :)

So creative, my man made this funny photo montage that he put inside with birthday wishes from the whole family. We have an unfortunate inside joke in our household about the cat in the bottom right corner named Jazzy, but whom we lovingly refer to as Stinkerbell...She has a very unladylike habit of "leaving presents" and opting not to cover them up with litter properly. There is absolutely nothing we can do about it either! Instead, we just accept it as good diaper training and plug our noses for clean up duty. Still makes me laugh every time I look at this...

It's been an extra special week as well, since we are now 28 weeks along and officially in the 3rd trimester. Someone pinch me please!

Part of me wanted to whine a little since my glucose test was this morning (the day after my birthday) and I would have liked to have something naughty, like a slice of birthday cake, last night.  However, I knew I'd be paranoid about passing that test first thing this morning if I ate poorly so soon before, so I opted to eat clean all day yesterday. Besides, when I really thought about it, how could I possibly complain too loudly about "having to eat healthy on my birthday" or "having to take a glucose test?"

Perhaps my experience was different than some, but I thought the glucose test was a breeze. I haven't gotten my results back yet (fingers crossed I'll pass!), but the actual process of downing the drink was not bad at all! It looked and tasted exactly like the Orange Hi C drink you probably had as a kid from MacD's...

I've been blessed with no food aversions though and haven't had heartburn once, so maybe that's why it was easy for me. My OB did not require fasting for the 1 hour test either, so I had a healthy breakfast an hour before drinking the magic potion, which helped I'm sure.

Today's OB apt. went smoothly, and I had an opportunity to ask my OB some long overdue ?'s about the actual delivery process. It's better to do this before you even choose the OB to begin with, but in our case better late than never. We're not taking birthing classes, and I wanted to know exactly where my OB stood on some important aspects of the delivery. I took a page out of Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth and highlighted the ?'s I wanted answered.  Here is the list I used if anyone else can use a guide...

I was very content with the responses I got from my OB. Most important to me, he...

-Delivers about 80% of his patients' babies
-Visits patients 4-5 times throughout labor if possible
-Avoids episiotomy unless tearing looks to be occurring in an upwards direction
-Allows light eating and drinking in early labor
-Allows walking around, sitting on balls, changing positions when necessary (before epidural)
-Has 20% cesarean rate (although I'd like this lower, it's not so bad compared to some)
*National C section average is 33% and up to 70% at some hospitals!
-Does not use forceps. Uses vacuum only if baby is in distress and woman can't push any more (roughly 10% of deliveries...most first time moms).
-Waits to cut umbilical cord until after it quits pulsating.

Ina May's book also contains ?'s you can use to interview midwives and doulas. Although I'm not set on a natural childbirth and am trying to keep a go-with-the-flow mentality, I do want the least amount of medical intervention necessary if possible (ie. no induction or C section hopefully).

The rest of the apt. went well. No u/s today, but Preston's heartbeat was strong @153 bpm. My blood pressure was great @104/62. I've gained a total of 20 lbs. thus far (up to 150 lbs. now), which is healthy for 28w4d. No swelling, no heartburn, no cramping, no issues (other than minor stuff like insomnia, pregnancy rhinitis, and peeing my pants a couple times randomly when sneezing...shhhh don't tell!) haha! I'm instructed to just keep on keeping on...light exercise 7 days a week, swimming/sunbathing, and all other normal activities are still fine.

To know that we only have 12 weeks left is mind boggling. It's going to be here before we know it, and while I don't feel 100% prepared yet, we've done a lot to get ready as new parents. Next up...a book the size of a dictionary on the topic of breastfeeding! Oh, how times have changed, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.