The first thing my midwife asked when she saw me this morning was, "When are you due again?" I told her on the 13th of March and that I'm ready for her to come out. She motioned for me to lie on the bed so she could check my belly, listen to B's heartbeat and feel if she's positioned well. She poked and felt around and said, "You're having a big baby!"
I laughed at her exclamation and thought nothing about it. In fact, I was happy B is a big healthy baby. But I felt a foreboding after she said that because her face turned serious and concentrated on feeling around my belly some more. Apparently, even though B is in a good position for a natural delivery, she's still sort of bouncing up and down. Her head should be more down to the mouth of the uterus but that is not the case; so she worried about it. She also worried that since I'm small and I'm having a big baby, I'll have a difficult delivery. If B doesn't cooperate by sticking her head where it should be when I'm about ready to deliver her, my midwife has half an hour to help me push her out and, if that doesn't work, the gynecologist will take over. If it takes too long and B doesn't come out, they'll use a vacuum pump as the next option. And if that doesn't work either, that's when they do a Caesarian. And, of course, that got me worried. I want to do it the natural way. I don't even want any shots.
Then came the stories of what to do when my water breaks and what to expect during labor. I'll spare you the details because there's too much organization going on about that here. You can't just go directly to the hospital and wait. That's not standard procedure here in NL unless you're a special case. This I knew before and was fine with it. But then she told us about an incident with a friend of hers who had her baby pumped out 11 times which resulted in a broken spine. That scared the hell out of me! It was enough to make me want to go to the Philippines and give birth there. I don't want them to pump her out if it could break her bones. It took a minute for me to distract myself from the mental image her story procured before I freaked out in her office. Good thing Mike and my mother-in-law were there. If I was alone, which was supposed to be the plan, I don't know what I would have felt and done. I'm appeasing myself now by thinking that maybe B isn't really ready to come out yet that's why her head isn't as low as expected but, when she is, she'll be the good little girl that she is and come out the natural way. Just no vacuum-pumping!
To top it off, my blood pressure was higher than normal and there's protein in my urine. I was sent to the hospital this afternoon for a blood sample, 4th blood pressure check, urine check and an ultrasound. The only thing they found was the protein in my urine which could be normal for many pregnancies. My blood is clear and my blood pressure is back to normal. There really wasn't much to tell about the ultrasound. They only wanted to see if she's growing good and if she's really as big as she is. We confirmed that she is, indeed, a girl. The gynecologist estimated her weight to be around 3500 to 4000 grams, but you never really know for sure until she comes out. It's a pretty heavy baby and I'm happy to know that all this baby bump weight is mostly her. I don't know how much I weighed when I was born but Mike was a 7 pounder. It wouldn't surprise me if B is on the heavy side, too.
The trip to the hospital was another story, though. The gynecologist didn't share the concerns my midwife had about B being big so that was a relief. I will have to go back there on Monday, just to be on the safe side, to have the same tests done. It was at least a positive end to a worrisome afternoon. But, even so, I'm still reeling from today's events and news which is normal, I guess. Writing about it helped and lifted some weight off my shoulders. I'm really hoping and praying that everything will be alright.
Posted in Baby Talk | Comments (3)
Ian at February 25 2010 | 21:47 |
Don't worry much about it. Everything will be fine. Pamilya gyud ya kay I'm such an awful hypochondriac. I think I have meningitis when I only suffer from muscle pain!   It's hard not to worry about it but I'm doing my best not to dwell on those thoughts. I'm feeling much better now though. :) |
odette at February 26 2010 | 12:31 |
| aww, poor thing. don't worry too much, you'll be fine. let's pray lots for you and B. i can imagine the fright, i would not be good company on a medical visit like that either. stay strong! {love and hugs from dublin} |
virginia at February 26 2010 | 16:57 |
| oh!don't worry Grace she might be big and not in right position yet but things change over nigth or even minutes or seconds! Do you know that you can watch an actual birth in you tube?I'm just saying....:) I learn a lot from there and it makes even easier for me to think fast and do what necessarily :)It's going to be a bit scary or gross but it's amazing how some of the woman gives birth pretty easily,there's even a woman did it all by herself I'm sure Mike will learn alot from it too .... |
