No at home + exhaustion = not blogging for 2 weeks.
We had a really positive 13 week check-up. Our midwife soothed some of our concerns about what might happen if complications arose. All my vitals look good (yay!) and the baby feels fine.
Wow … so amazing to now be in the 2nd trimester and much, much calmer and happier. We’re almost at week 15 now and the tiredness is fading, as is the nausea. Today I feel quite great! Just a few tweaks here and there in my abdomen which I do get concerned about but then let go because they are just growing pains and muscles stretching.
Just heard about the Webster Technique of chiro for pregnant women (http://icpa4kids.com/about/webster_technique.htm) which I want to look into more. Apparently it helps the baby get into a good position for birth. Must explore further …
Have been reading some good books – Birth Without Violence (Leboyer) which encourages you to imagine what the child is going through in the birth process and how to make birth the least traumatic you can. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, which I recommend also for everyone – she writes a lot about the huge role the mind-body connection plays in the birth process and things you can do to get the mind in the best state, and relax the body so it can do what it needs to do. Also Your Best Birth, from the people who did the movie The Business of Being Born. After reading it, all I can say is that I’m glad I’m not giving birth in the States! Though I found it left me overly fearful of hospitals, especially given good reports I’ve heard of experiences in our town, it does lay out the role and responsibilities of the choices you make about your birth plan and the care you receive leading up to the birth to maximize the type of birth experience you envision.
With that – I have more to do on this busy, busy day! We’re going away for 2 weeks and still want/need to book our ground transportation for the trip. And a hotel for one of the cities. Yay for a final big trip without children and time to talk and prepare for changes!