39 weeks

This pregnancy has flown by! At least the first 38 weeks. Now, time has seemed to slow down and I am anticipating with every minute that passes when I will be able to hold my little goose. Eventually, she will come out and we will bond and nurse and just enjoy our time together. I just can't help but wonder when and how. Will my water break, will I get contractions, will I need to be induced? This is all foreign to me. When we moved out to Atlanta, I knew that I wanted to be pregnant again and have another baby while here for the two year stay. For some reason, I had felt sad to leave my obgyn after I learned I was pregnant. He was a good doctor and very helpful but the end result of a csection was not what I wanted. 

I met a girl from my ward and who lived in my complex who used a doctor here who is very pro natural birth-  vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean) family centered deliveries. It was like everything was falling into place. The first time I met him I was seriously blown away. I almost cried in the room with him because everything he said just resonated with me and he had the utmost confidence that I could give birth the natural way. Never once did he mention a csection. I brought it up that word in one of our conversations and he said to never use that word again when speaking about my birth experience. I had hit the jackpot. 

My basketball, watermelon, cantaloupe. Really any ball shaped object- is under my shirt. 

These last few weeks have been a rollercoaster for me. Baby Goose was head down from week 33-37. At my 37 week appointment- she decides to turn transverse and I just flashed back to when I was pregnant with Arizona. I thought- my worst fear has come true again. I was going to need a csection. I spoke with Dr. Bootstaylor and he suggested an ECV- an external cephalon version( turning a breech fetus head down). I was always fearful of these because I have heard that it is very painful and sometimes the baby just doesn't take. We agreed that waiting an extra week to see if she would flip on her own was the best decision. I am so glad we did because the morning of my 38 week appointment- I felt a flip. She was head down but not fully engaged. It was good news. No ECV but I did need to modify some things in my everyday life so she wouldn't flip again. My doctor suggested I sleep upright. Well the first night was torture. I tried and gave up around 1 am. If you know me well enough-  I do not sleep well sitting up- I must be lying down and on my side. I bawled my eyes out knowing that if I lay down she might flip and everything was for naught. Thankfully, it's been two weeks and she is still head down and the possibility of her flipping now is really minuscule. I've been sitting on a medicine ball, walking about one mile a day, drinking raspberry leaf tea, and applying pressure points to induce labor. So far, nothing. This little girl loves being in my uterus. My due date is July 20th- so we will shall see if she makes her debut then or if I go past that date. It's a waiting game- and it's no fun. 

In the meantime- my mom, Arizona and I have enjoyed the last two weeks walking around our neighborhood, running errands, and just enjoying the sunshine.