Cramp-Free This Weekend

Fun news! My good friend Melissa who lives in Arizona and is due in September found out that she's having a girl! She has a boy who was born a year after Logan (April 2009) so if only she still lived in Omaha our sons and daughters would probably be best friends! :-) Our other friends, the Grife's (Joe went to HS with the husband/father), who are due the end of August, found out they are having a boy! So they broke "the girl streak," lol! There are only two other people who I know who are pregnant right now, my old college friend who I mentioned recently who is due in October and then I forgot to mention the daughter of one of my mom's friends is due in September so she'll find out soon, too!

I had my doctor's appt. on Friday so I told her about the period-like cramps last weekend (Yawning On This Wednesday) and she said that for some women activity does activate these, which are contractions. The whole contraction thing confused me when I was pregnant with Logan because I never had the standard ones during labor (or any other time of my pregnancy) -- there was no stopping and starting to "time" them, or the tightening and releasing that I've heard about -- it was just like having a constant bad period. She said that's all some women get, so chances are that's how it'll be this time, too.

More than likely my walking last Saturday caused them to occur, which is why women who are at high-risk for pre-term labor go on bedrest or, at the same time, women who are full-term are often encouraged to walk to induce labor. For many, activity does nothing -- they can do everything under the sun and still not go into labor even two weeks after their due date, but I may be in the other category that is sensitive to activity. I DO believe the long walk that I took two days before I went into labor with Logan did have something to do with it since I hadn't taken a walk since my first trimester.

Thankfully, she said there is nothing in my history to indicate that I need to stop walks/activity at this time or change anything that I'm doing. Having these does not mean that I'm going to go into pre-term labor. She didn't check me for dilation since the cramps had stopped on Monday. She just told me that if I get them again, to drink A LOT of water (so that I keep having to pee) and to stop whatever I am doing and rest completely. If they don't go away or they get stronger, then I need to call them and she will have me come in to make sure I'm not in labor. If I am before 34 weeks, I am to go to Bergan (the hospital where I delivered Logan) rather than Lakeside (where I plan to go this time). They would give me something to hopefully stop the labor and monitor me.

But since I have been okay since last weekend, chances are I will be fine for the next three months! Although, actually, this makes me think that once I get to 36 weeks all I need to do is just go for a super long walk and that might do it, lol.

Speaking of which, she changed the computer to put me back at the July 24th due date! I measured for the July 28th one (which is good because it means I'm not too big) but she said that just as a default they always go by the woman's last period so therefore mine SHOULD be July 24th even though both my ultrasounds made the computer say July 28th. So now it's been re-set. . .I said that was fine with me, haha! So now I'm back to Sundays being the first day of my weeks which means tomorrow starts 25! That is good because I already gained another pound this week, I'm up to 22. :(

So, the only reason I'll have this baby after July 24th is if she is smaller than 7 lbs, 13 oz. (Sorry Sarah!!! My bff is hoping my daughter comes on her birthday, July 25th. Although you did put her at 6 lbs, 15 oz so it's still possible!) But if by July 18 (the week before) she is "big" then I will be induced due to my pelvis issue with Logan. I don't want to be induced any more than when I was pregnant with Logan, not only because I don't think it'd be very likely for me to go epidural-free if I'm induced (from what I've heard from women who have had both experiences, pitocin makes labor hurt MUCH more than natural), but I also don't want pitocin because it is not as good for the mom or the baby. With 81% of women in US hospitals receiving pitocin during their labors most people aren't aware of the dangers.

All doctors will admit that the increased pressure of the contractions compress your baby's umbilical cord and as a result cuts down his/her oxygen supply. For the mother, the blood supply to her uterus is cut off. This can rupture her uterus and usually makes the baby's heart rate go down. If the baby's heart rate drops too low then it can cause neurological problems or even death. That is why more c-sections are performed after the use of pitocin -- because that is the best way to save the baby at that point.

Therefore, since the only thing I'm putting down for my birth plan this time is to avoid a c-section, pitocin doesn't seem like the best option for me.

The reason why I'm not putting "no induction or pitocin" on my birth plan like I did last time is because I'd rather be induced than have a c-section, if I have to pick the lesser of the two evils (I wrote about the c-section dangers in my post One Born Every Minute). If I get to where my baby is big and I'm not going into labor naturally, then my only options due to my pelvis issue are induction or c-section. So if I end up having a c-section due to being induced, it would have been something that would have happened anyway and I'll have known that I tried a vaginal birth first.

Same thing goes for the epidural. Last time it was "no way" (I wrote about the dangers of the epidural on my other blog, the post Hypnobirthing) but if that's what needs to be done to get my baby out since that's how it was done with Logan (if she's having trouble passing through my pelvis, too), then I will get it again. If it leads to a c-section, once again I'll know that it would have happened without it as well.

Even though I've also accepted the idea of a c-section (as written in February), my ideal is still to go into labor on my own before July 24th and that I will have an easy time pushing her out. So obviously I'll be taking LOTS of walks come June 26th (that's the start of my 36th week)! :p Oh, by the way, I was wrong about July 1st being a full moon (as I wrote in my post Baby Rodgers Challenge The First Edition). It's a new moon, which is different. The full moon is actually two weeks later, July 15th. (In June it's on the 15th as well.)

Baby Girl has been sooooo active lately, her kicks are almost violent, lol. I read that weeks 24-28 ARE the most active. It was cute, the other night I felt her have hiccups for the first time. On a scary note, I also felt her shaking and thought it's like she's having a seizure -- and then I remembered my friend Chris who used to live here blogged about the same thing when she was pregnant with her son! Apparently it is completely normal and nothing to be concerned about, but now I can understand why she was worried -- I never had that feeling with Logan, it was weird!

In other news. . .after my post last Wednesday, I picked Logan up from preschool at 4:15 - ha. Liz was leaving so I didn't talk to her, but I just wanted her to see that I AM going to continue to pick up Logan when it's convenient for me, since he is my son after all.

Michelle clearly has no problem with it (I would think she'd prefer it that way since she's alone once Liz leaves), she was super friendly and cheerful when I arrived to his room and gave me a verbal report of his day. Logan, meanwhile, excitedly showed me all of the things he'd been doing and was super talkative and energetic (this was the morning he'd gotten up at 4:45 am)!

But on Friday Joe picked him up (he got off work early so it was 4:30) and he said there were other parents picking up their kids and Michelle was preoccupied so he didn't get any info on Logan's day. That was my concern as far as not getting the daily sheets. Seems easier to fill them out than talk individually to each parent if most pick their children up at the same time. :( So, if the majority of the days are like that then I am going to mention wanting the daily sheets.

We didn't do anything on Thursday; we had planned to go to the zoo with Brooke & Kaelyn but it rained and Logan & I were both getting back on our normal schedule after our crazy Wednesday so we just stayed inside at home by ourselves. Thankfully, Logan's been going to bed, waking up, and taking naps at his old times again so we've since been back to our normal selves.

Today (Saturday), my dad came over because he can't make Logan's birthday party next weekend. He's asphaulting his driveway. My stepmom lives in Michigan so he brought two presents from them which Logan really enjoyed: a t-ball stand complete with a bat and two balls, and a dump truck with pretend boulders and a driver. He arrived at 11:15 so we went out to lunch at Summer Kitchen Cafe and then he headed back to Iowa at 1:45 pm. Even though it'd been since Christmas since Logan had seen him, there was no warming up needed -- he was just as outgoing as he'd been with Elaine on Tuesday!

Some cute things he's said lately. . .he's been using the word "ridiculous" which is funny. The other night I was annoyed because the computer wasn't working and he said, "That's ridiculous!" LOL. He's also been saying "awful" to describe things -- like one day Cosmo almost escaped out our garage door and he said, "That would have been awful!"

On another day I was emptying the dishwasher and he said, "Thank you, Mommy, for washing my dishes and putting them away." I think I about cried. He's not even three, what a sweetheart! Joe told Logan he's making him look bad, lol.

I'll end with a link to the post that I wrote at this point of my pregnancy with Logan: How Long Did It Take You To Get Pregnant? It's nice to see that this trimester has been going easier than it did with Logan. (The third was actually my best with him.) I hope it continues. . .!