No More Birth Center...

It was about this time when I was 35 weeks pregnant when my blood pressure suddenly shot up very high. It started at around 120-94 and eventually got as high as 115/106. Everything happened very fast and it was decided by my new midwives that my birth was no longer considered low-risk.

Since birth centers are only designed for low-risk patients (and are very very safe in such instances), I was now out of their realm of expertise and needed to be referred to their ob/gyn partners. I was very lucky and was given to the doctor with a lot of experience with birth center transfers. Her practice supervises the center and at the time of my transfer, she was their communicating doctor. She was extremely understanding about my desire for a birth as natural as possible and I felt comfortable with her.

I was very crushed, of course. I felt like my body had failed me. I was unhappy that my body had turned my birth into a medical event, something I never considered birth to be. I needed some time to digest and accept what was happening and I was able to come to terms with how things would progress.

In hindsight, if I had known this would happen, I might have stayed with my original ob/gyn since I liked her so much. But I'm glad I took the chance. My pregnancy had been going so well that there was no way to know I would develop Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. It's just something that happens to a lot moms and nothing you do, eat, or think about causes it. It did end up working out as best as it could have. My original hospital wouldn't have even been able to deliver my baby as early as the new one could have. The resources were much greater staying on the North Shore. And after needing a blood pressure check and being visited by one of the ob/gyns from my earlier practice, I was convinced that I made the right decision to stay with the new doc when she said "Why on earth did you transfer, there is no difference between an ob/gyn and a midwife." That was the cincher for me.

We did try to ride it out for a week when it seemed my blood pressure was dropping but it shot back up again a few days later and I ended up being hospitalized overnight for one night when I was 36 weeks along. I was already on bedrest and at this point, I was pulled out of work for the remainder of my pregnancy. For the overnight stay, I was kept in a room with no stimulation for about 30 hours. No TV or calls and for the first 12 of those hours I was on BP meds. They stopped those when it was determined that it wasn't really going to help me much in the long run.

My blood pressure stabilized and I was sent home with instructions for twice a week visits.

Happy Mother's Day

We had a nice dinner for Mother's Day at Cafe L'Escadrille in Burlington. We've been doing this the past few years and it's always a very nice day. We really enjoy spending time with my family.

Arthur did well and bounced around from lap to lap, mostly spending time with Grammy, who is his favorite. I wore a dress that I knew would especially show off my belly. We got some really nice pictures of everyone (but I try not to post too many pictures on our blog of people I'm not sure would want them online).

Happy Birthday Arthur! 2 Years Old

Arthur turned two on May 2nd. His new big thing is Mickey Mouse or "Muh Muh" as he calls him. It's adorable and I wanted to do something small along that theme.

I found a silicone Mickey Mouse cake pan at the Christmas Tree Shop and while I have no experience with that fancy decorating, I just frosted it plain and it looked just fine. I found an organic, trans-fat free cake at Whole Foods and made a buttercream frosting from a recipe a friend online sent me. I knew it was a hit when one of Janet's girls said "This is actually good, Mom".

Arthur got lots of sand toys for his birthday and some other cute outdoor things as well. He was outfitted for the entire summer by my aunts and my parents and we had taken him to build-a-bear a few days earlier. I sent him to school with special nut-free but healthy cookies and he had a good day.

32 Week Appointment/Hypnobirthing Class

We left at about 2PM to make the drive to the North Shore for my appointment. We had about a half hour to stop at my parent's house and pick up my mom. It gave me a chance to use the restroom, of course, and show her my son's 2-year DVD that we made.

The appointment went well....it was fast. While she had me all worried about my "normal" reading last week of 120/80, it was a nice 124/72 today (which made her and I both happy). I was afraid that my fear of it "jumping" would actually cause it to do so. While I waited for my appointment, my mom did some Reiki on me and that eased me right down. I was still apprehensive when she took the reading but I just focused on breathing and it all worked out.

I'm measuring right where I should, 32 weeks and my weight is up .5 lbs since two weeks ago, bringing my total to a modest 13lbs. I'm certainly eating like a cow...but I'm glad that I'm not ballooning up. I don't want any blood pressure concerns and I'd really like to not have a huge baby growing in there. I'm visualizing a comfortable 6 1/2 - 7 1/2 lbs. That's where I'd like to be so that's what I'm picturing for the baby.

The hypnobirthing class was very nice again. It's such a mix of parents in the room! Some, I do question how they ended up in this class but I give them kudos for trying. We have one who has never seen a birth video and was going "oh!", "Are they really blue like that?" and was kind of clutching her mouth when we watched them (and these were CALM hypnobirth videos). Then we've got the other mom who comes in with her latte and hasn't yet been able to experience any of the visualizations. I really do give her a lot of credit for being there though because it must be harder for her. Only two of us are going to the birth center and the rest have chosen hospital births.

There's another mom who like me, wanted a homebirth, but also had a spouse who wasn't 100% on the same page so we've chosen the birth center as a compromise. The mom next to me is fun to sit next too. Like me, she has no qualms about making herself comfortable on the beanbags on the floor and she's a snacker. I like her and can relate.

Then it was back to my parent's house to rescue my dad from babysitting. My grandmother and cousin happened to stop by and were there when we arrived. So my son was awake 2 hours past his normal bedtime and we had to leave at 9:15 because we had a nearly two hour drive. I felt bad leaving but we really couldn't stick around.

I'm off to bed soon after my son's cake has cooled a little (he turns two tomorrow). And we're both working in the morning so sleep is looking really good!