The VBAC Blog

We had our weekly doctor appointment today. We gave the nurse/midwife at the office our birth plan for me and post natal plan for Mason. We’re requesting minimal intervention and she didn’t see any problems with our requests.

I’m still only 1 cm dilated (looooong sigh), but my fundal height is measuring 43 centimenters, which is up from 40 last week. They think my amniotic fluid level is just growing and growing (along with Mason, of course). I’m scheduled for another sonogram next Tuesday so they can measure the fluid again and also try to guess how big Mason is. However, sonograms can be off by 20%-30% so we don’t have much faith in those when determining a baby’s size.

They examined me and they don’t think his head is too big for my pelvis. That’s a relief! He is still head-down, thank heaven. However, they wanted to send me for another blood sugar test, a 2-hour one this time, and I wasn’t interested in doing that. I said, “Just tell me what you want me to stop eating and I’ll do it.”

I’d rather do that for a couple of weeks than sit around for two hours in a lab waiting to get my blood tested again. So, she told me to cut back on carbs and cut out sugar. The baby is big enough and he doesn’t need to be bombarded with sugar from my Peanut M&M cravings.

We left there and got to tour the labor and delivery wing of the hospital. It is REALLY nice. Two women were there having babies today (June 6th – 6-6-6) and I jokingly asked the nurse if they were going to be called Lucifer and Damien. All the nurses at the desk turned to stare at me. I think Richard was the only one laughing at my joke.

Anyway, they never take your baby away from you, even for its bath! That’s exactly what we wanted!!!

I’m feeling good tonight. Richard bought me a bag of Peanut M&Ms yesterday so I guess I have to wait a couple of weeks to eat them. I made a list of no-carb foods I like (I cut back on carbs whenever I want to lose weight and there are plenty of foods I like from that eating regimen) and Richard (who is the best husband in the entire world!) drove to the store and bought them for me. Ali, God bless her, made me some homemade fish chowder tonight so that’s what I’ll be having for lunch for the next few days. I LOVE fish chowder.

I’m working evenings now to keep caught up on my work just in case. It’s actually much less stressful to work this way. I wake up in the morning with nothing to do!

No, Mason hasn’t arrived quite yet, but…

We’re receiving numerous inquiries from readers who want to send Mason a gift. While we are so happy that so many people want to welcome Mason into the world, please know that this kiddo has everything he needs, and then some!

If you want to send something to celebrate Mason’s arrival, please send a monetary donation or book(s) in his name to one of the following. Your gift will truly make someone smile!

LIBRARIES DAMAGED BY HURRICANE KATRINA NEED DONATIONS OF BOOKS AND MONEY

New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70112
http://www.nutrias.org/
They have several locations that lost books due to flooding during Hurricana Katrina. Donate funds, or send them some books!

Louisiana Library Association
421 South 4th St.
Eunice, LA 70535
Please make checks payable to the LLA Disaster Relief Fund.
http://www.llaonline.org

Mississippi Library Commission
3881 Eastwood Drive
Jackson, MS 39211
800-647-7542
http://www.mlc.lib.ms.us/
Click on the link that says: Hurricane Katrina Damage to Mississippi Libraries

Accepting monetary donations:
ALA Hurricane Katrina Library Relief Fund
Make checks payable to ‘ALA’ and marking the funds for the ‘ALA Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund’.
Send to: ALA Chapter Relations Office
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
800-545-243
http://ala.org/ala/cro/katrina/katrina.htm

MORE ORGANIZATIONS AND SPECIFIC LIBRARIES SEEKING HELP ARE LISTED HERE:
http://ala.org/ala/cro/katrina/katrinafinancialdonation.htm

NOT KATRINA-RELATED, BUT THIS IS ONE OF OUR FAVORITE CHARITIES (and the website is a bit addictive!):

AnySoldier.com
http://www.anysoldier.com/WhereToSend/

Read specifically what certain soldiers need in the field right now, along with their address. From freeze pops to Ramen Noodles to feminine products, phone cards and more unusual requests, our soldiers could use your help in a big way!

Mason thanks you!!

I relaxed all weekend and thought nice, positive thoughts about childbirth, and, while I think Mason turned to a backward-facing position (the RIGHT position), that’s all that’s happened. I’ve lost a few pounds (despite the fact that I absolutely HAD to have a buffalo chicken sandwich and peanut M&Ms last night), which means he’ll be here soon. But, soon could mean two weeks from now.

I’ll make a list of symptoms that mean he’s coming soon…but none of them mean he’s coming TODAY, darn-it-all:

I am having lots of contractions, strong ones, though not painful. And I’m feeling lots of pressure, meaning it feels like Max keeps hitting me in the butt with his head, so I’m calling him my little butt-head.

My hemorrhoids had disappeared (thank you, God!) but he has not turned back to breech, so I think that’s just because his head turned backwards, not sideways.

I had horrible insomnia last night. Just couldn’t sleep at all. However, I did NOT feel like cleaning during that time. Ha ha. I had my day of nesting about three weeks ago. Other than that, I’m just sitting here feeling huge and very impatient.

Oh, I had three near-fainting episodes over the weekend, once at the store and two at our friends’ house. So, I’m going to stay home for the duration. I am terrified of fainting in public. How humiliating!! And, they’d probably put me in the hospital and want to take him out immediately via c-section. No thank you! My near-fainting spells begin with my heart suddenly beating a million beats a minute (that’s what it feels like anyway) and I get instantly dizzy and have to sit down. If it happens when I’m already sitting, I just concentrate on slowing my heart down and it seems to just click back to its regular beat. Weird, I know, and pretty scary.

Ali has ordered me not to have the baby this week because she has finals. If she misses a final, she has to make it up this summer. To heck with summer testing…just get this baby out of me NOW!!!

The children have forbidden me to go into labor today. Ali is on a field trip down near the beautiful Maine coast. And, today is Frank’s field day.

Tuesday is June 6th. If the baby is born then, his birthday would be 6-6-6. There are numerous stories online about other women trying to avoid giving birth on that day. Here’s ONE.

We’re not superstitious, but I don’t want the baby to have to listen to jeers about that for the rest of his life and perhaps even start to believe people who might voice their opinions about the significance of his birth date.

Maybe this weekend, Richard and I will conjure up some ways to go into labor. I know one thing that’s supposed to work very well. Now, where did I put that box of candles? Heh…

Too bad the only nighties I can fit into now are mumu’s!

My lower back is really bothering me today. Can’t tell if I just slept funny of if the baby is giving me grief.

First of all, if you missed yesterday’s post, read the one below this. Mason has turned and is no longer breech!

Yesterday morning, I was working on my laptop and crying at the same time. I thought it was because I was still so upset about another possible c-section. The more I cried while working, the more I realized it was hormones. I also had a subtle ache in my lower back but didn’t give it much thought. I did have a fleeting thought that the hormones might mean Mason was getting close to launch-time.

This morning, at 2:30 a.m., I woke up with a backache. It didn’t hurt much, but enough to wake me up. I then noticed a contraction starting. It was a pretty good one, much stronger than the Braxton Hicks ones and uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t say it was very painful, just very uncomfortable.

It subsided and I got up to go to the bathroom. When I lay back down, I had another one. And then another, and another, and another. I was very excited and wished I could see the numbers on the digital clock. The clock was hiding behind the gizmo that we use to charge our cell phones but I didn’t want to get up. I was enjoying lying there and talking to Mason in my head, asking him, “Is this it, Baby Boy?”

Still in a state of denial, I was telling myself they were no big deal and that it wasn’t labor. Then I realized I usually only have 2-4 Braxton Hicks per hour and these were coming every 5-10 minutes or so, though not very regular. I got up and went to the bathroom about a dozen more times over the next hour (the contractions were wreaking havoc on my bladder) and an hour and a half after they started, I decided I’d feel better if the suitcase was packed. (We’d planned to do it last night but I got busy on email, and Richard cooked dinner, and it never got done.) So, I went downstairs and packed a suitcase with my and Mason’s hospital clothes. While I was downstairs, I only had one contraction, meaning they were slowing down when I was moving around. That means FALSE LABOR. Bummer.

I was still very excited because this means the real thing is just around the corner. Could be today or it could be two weeks from now, but my body is working and practicing and Mason’s arrival is imminent and no longer seems like something far, far into the future. I also had the funny thought that I’m 39 years old, this is our fifth child, and it still works!

I came back upstairs and crawled back into bed again. Richard had slept through everything, including my dozen trips to the bathroom. Ha ha. I’m glad because if he thought I was in real labor, he’d have dragged me by my protruding belly button to the van and raced to the hospital.

As soon as I laid back down the contractions started a regular pattern again. I got a notebook and started writing them down. They were only two minutes apart. I wrote down the time for five of them and then stopped, knowing there was a definite pattern and also knowing it was false labor. Mason was moving around throughout the two hours, even during contractions, and I knew he was handling it all just fine. I did have a tiny bit of tenderness around the left side of my c-section scar for the last few contractions and that was a bit of a worry for me. I’ll have to mention that to the doc. About an hour later, I woke up, realizing I’d fallen asleep and that the contractions had stopped. That was okay, too, because I still have so much to do!

When Richard woke up this morning, I excitedly told him he’d missed all the fun. He got very excited, too. He’s packing the cameras, my ipod, etc. this morning just in case. Once we have everything ready, maybe the real thing will begin.