I finally was able to make it to the midwife this morning. After all of the ice and snow last week, my appointment kept getting postponed...so today was the day!
Everything looks good.
* Blood Pressure is good, as always.
* Glucose and Protein levels were normal.
* I gained a bit of weight (about 2 lbs.), so I've gained a total of 22 lbs. so far.
* It was confirmed that the baby has dropped. However, she wasn't concerned about it. She said that every pregnancy is different, and some women's babies drop earlier in subsequent pregnancies due to the body having "memory" - we'll see what happens.
* I checked out the Bradley Method book to go over as a refresher. It hasn't been that long since Balian was born, but it's always nice to be prepared.
* I bought my bottle of the "5 week formula" and I'm supposed to start taking it next week. Apparently another good thing about it is that it generally keeps women from going way over their due date. Good to know - placental breakdown was one of my concerns, since they don't induce at all...so it helps me to feel better about that one :)
* I returned the circumcision video that I checked out last time, and we talked about what I thought about it. It was definitely informative...We wish that we had all that information before Balian was born to make a more educated decision, but at the same time it brought about more questions for Neil and I. The main one being this: If circumcision causes loss of sensitivity and a lower sex-drive in men, then how much more difficult is it for an uncircumcised man to deal with sexual temptation on a daily basis - especially before marriage? If those sensitivities are heightened on a daily basis for an uncircumcised man, would we want to circumcise to "help a brotha out" (so to speak) during those years, or should we not circumcise so that he has more sensitivity and greater sex drive for the rest of his potentially married life? It's a tough decision, and although we aren't Jewish, we would be willing to circumcise based on how it may affect a son's future relationship with the Lord. On all the other aspects of circumcision - we're sold on that it isn't necessary - medically or otherwise - especially in the religious aspect. Timothy wasn't circumcised, and Paul talks so much about how it's circumcision of the heart that matters. This one's just the biggy for us. Hopefully we'll have a girl so we don't have to worry about it :)
My next appointment will be here, at the house next Friday. I have to have all of my home birth supplies together, so they know we have everything. I bought all the stuff I needed the other day. It was interesting to shop for Depends and protector pads from the adult diaper section of walmart - I got some interesting looks...
We're looking into buying a baby scale to help ease my mind a bit with breastfeeding this time around. If I know that the baby is getting enough, then I'll be less stressed out about it - which will help all-around. Has anyone used a baby scale at home before to measure how much the baby is getting? The ones I've looked at are accurate up to either .5 oz or as little as .1 oz. I know the Madela ones people rent from the hospital are accurate up to .1 oz, but I didn't know if that was REALLY necessary. If anyone has had a good outcome with a particular scale, I'd appreciate some feedback :)
I've officially stopped running. Since the baby has dropped, I'm having a lot more pressure and more Braxton-Hicks, so I figured I should stop. It's hard though...part of me is like "do you really want to stop?" The answer is no, but I know it's best for both me and the baby. I'm excited that I did my last run at 32 weeks. With Balian I was only able to run to 16 weeks, so I was able to go twice as long this time. I can't complain about that! It'll make it that much easier to get back up and going after the baby is born.
The baby room is all set-up! I made good use of our "iced-in" days last week. I'll post pictures soon...not that it's any different than it usually is...
