Tarraguña's Blog

One year ago today, I went home for lunch from work and took a pregnancy test. It was positive. Today we have a 4 month old beautiful healthy daughter.

At around 1 am March 2nd Tuesday morning we had our baby. She was a girl we named Fiona Olivia and she weighed exactly 7 pounds. We are exstatic to say the least. She is healthy and beautiful.

I will be recouperating and I expect to not be able to update this blog during the next 2 weeks or so. I will be posting a long detailed account of our wonderful birthing experience, but it will probably take me to mid April to complete.

This morning as I layed in bed, I thought I felt almost as if I were going to pee my pants.  I got up and looked at the bed to make sure I had not broken my water yet.  Nope, no dampness. But then when I went to use the bathroom, I heard and felt a small thud. No, it was not a bowel movement. I had just lost my mucus plug or had my bloody show as some people say. I wish this meant labor was immenent but it still could be 3 more weeks or so. I still feel excited as loosing the mucus plug means labor is coming, I just still don’t have any better idea as to when. I would like to think it will happen today as my whole lower half of my body is acheing as we are shopping for some last minute baby prep items like diapers. It would also work out great as my husband is off work for the next 3 days. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

This week marks my 36th week of pregnancy.  This is probaby the first week that I have felt uncomfortable, well aside from the 6 weeks of nausea during the first trimester but that was different.

Sunday night I was unable to sleep at all.  I had a sore throat and a congested head.  This was either caused by a head cold contracted while going out to the movies the day before to see ‘The Wolfman’ or it was just due to my sinuses being aggrevated by the low humidity caused by unseasonable low temperatures over the past weekend here in southern Florida.  Either way not sleeping Sunday night left Monday a long tireing day of a sore throat and congestion that also prevented naps.

Tuesday I awoke to my aching pelvic bone.  I felt as if I could barely walk.  It was quite odd to go from walking 3 miles a day and doing pre natal yoga to feeling like I could barely walk.  Oh and when the baby’s head would move and accidently get too close to my pelvis, it felt like it’s head bones were knocking into my pelvic bone and the pain would just echo through my already achey bone.

I of course had to google pelvic pain during the third trimester and found some scary posts.  Some people and posted on forums that they began having pelvic pain at 30 weeks of pregnancy and that it did not end until they delivered.  The pain was bearable and I knew that it was a result of hormones being released that were softening my pelvis so that it could streatch and open up to allow the baby out.  I am a big fan of the pelvis softening for passage of the baby as opposed to the alternative.  Not being able to walk and to feel immobile was much more freightening.

Luckily the pelvic pain subsided the next day.

The Gregorys came down for a visit

This week marks my 35th week being pregnant.  I have really started to notice that the baby is getting a lot bigger.  I really feel like I am busting out.  Up until last week I was quite comfortable.  I can’t at all say that I am miserable and hopefully we won’t get there.  It is getting harder to find a comfortable position to sit in.  I also know need to sleep on my side laying into 2 pillows with the lower half between my legs.  Before I was quite comfortable with just one pillow.

Preparing for Labor

I find myself now quite occupied with preparing myself for labor.  I am trying to do this physically and mentaly. Physically I am keeping up with my PreNatal activities; those being pre natal yoga, swimming and walking 3 miles.  I try to do all three of these daily.  This is not always possible, but I always do atleast 2 activites.

Preparing mentaly is challenging as I have no idea what I am in for as this is our first child.  For women who had a natural/ unmedicated childbirth experience their description of the pain varies greatly.  Some women have reported it feeling orgasmic while others report it being the worst pain in their life.  Other things that I have read imply that the woman’s attitude shapes her pain experience.  It is extremely painful because she expects it to be.  What I am trying to determine is how you can expect it to be orgasmic and still prepare for it to be quite painful so that if you do feel some pain you don’t loose your head and get swallowed up by the pain.

Instead of deciding on the best way to prepare for the pain, I have decided it would be better to focus on the point of labor; the baby.  I am going to try to see the pain as secondary and just something necessary to the process of birthing my baby.  My idea is to follow the flow of my body and feel it out and try to relax and work with my animalistic instincts.  Giving birth is not something you need to think your way through but you do want to try to keep high stress and anxiety away.  Those 2 are never a good thing to have.  I have been trying to visualize the baby inside of my uterus and then I try to visual the path it will take to be born.  Hopefully if I focus on the baby and the amazing process of giving birth, the pain, if any, will be very tolerable.

Atrophy

At some point during recent history it was decided that pregnant women were fragile, well at least in North America and other “industrialized” countries.  This lead to women not exerting themselves the entire 9 -10 months of pregnancy.  Then after all the atrophy labor began and kicked their asses.  I imagine it is like not running for 9-10 months and then going out and running a marathon.

Preparation For Labor

Later some people made the realization that since labor and giving birth were very physically strenuous activities, maybe it was good for pregnant women to get some activity.  Scientific studies were done and now it is widely accepted that some exercise is good for pregnant women.  Those that actually follow/ study or have experienced childbirth believe that exercise prepared them for labor and made their labor shorter.  Looking at nature, animal giving birth, human anatomy and physiology it all makes common sense.  In order to prepare for my labor I have made it a very important point to keep exercising.

Exercising

Luckily we live in Southern Florida so we are able to go for a walk most everyday.  6 days of each week we have beenwalking 3 miles.  Strangely walking feels very comfortable while I have a hard time finding a comfortable sitting position on the couch.

I have also been doing pre natal yoga most days.  It takes some effort most days.  Poses are geared towards working the back and legs while involving various labor poses while mixing in some kegels.  For a few weeks it was quite hard to do the pre natal yoga because I always felt so full.  I had been advised to eat more and get more protein which was difficult with the baby higher in my abdomen and feeling like the head was resting on my stomach.  About a week ago the baby turned and is now head down.  This makes eating a lot easier.  Especially during the downward facing dog pose I no longer feel as if my last snack is trying to come up the back of my throat.

We have also done some swimming during this pregnancy.  Since I was a competitive swimmer in junior high and high school I never feel like swimming for half an hour is a workout since I used to be in the pool 3-4 hours a day.  It doesn’t matter that for me it may not be the best aerobic activity because after swimming I feel so great.  I feel so light and like I have so much more room in my abdomen.

Doing activities where you don’t notice the bowling ball in your abdomen, I would highly recommend.

This last week marked 33 weeks pregnant for me.  Sadly it also marked a frustrating week with my ISP who happens to be Comcast.  Magically or suspiciously the internet would go down between 10 am and noon and come back up sometime after 5 pm every single day this last week.  I suspected that in the process of remodeling an apartment in our building it got shut off each day but when I asked some of the remodelers they claimed that they did not shut off anything during a remodel.  Maybe they meant to say that their official stance is no but they do it anyway.  So the last week was spent trying to figure out what was interrupting our service.  A Comcast technician is coming on Monday between 2-5 pm and hopefully he/she will be able to solve the problem.  If not maybe we will only pay half of our bill when it comes.  Thus this is why I am writing about the 33rd week of pregnancy on Saturday the end of the week.  Apparently you need an internet connection to post.

Ultrasound

In the midst of my ISP issue we had an ultrasound done.  Our first ultrasound was done at 14 weeks and we could not see any anatomy so we opted to have another ultrasound done.  We did not want to find out the gender of the baby, we wanted to see the anatomy like the heart and the kidneys.  It was so amazing.  The technician was very nice and personable.  He would tell us when he was getting close to showing the gender so we could turn our heads away.

33 weeks pregnant

Good Anatomy

The kidneys were so neat to see and the four chambers of the heart as they pumped blood.  A week before at an appointment with our midwife the baby was not turned head down yet, but on the ultrasound the baby’s head was way down.  This is probably the reason I was able to eat a bit more this last week. I had a lot more space for it as the baby’s head was down and lower allowing some room for my stomach to expand.  We were given a DVD of the ultrasound but the technician advised us that the video does show the gender so we have chosen to wait until after the baby is born to view the DVD.

Gestational Diabetes Test

I also had to partake in the 3 hour gestational diabetes test.  I don’t recommend it at all.  I had to fast the night before and then skip breakfast.  I arrived at the lab at about 8:40 am.  They drew my blood when I first arrived, then at 9:40, 10:40 and 11:40.  That makes FOUR times total.  The first drawing resulted in a nice hematoma so on my left arm I could be mistaken for an intravenous drug user.  GREAT.  It did give me a lot of time to sit and read ‘Husband-Coached Childbirth’ by Dr. Bradley since I was there for about 3 hours.

Natural Childbirth Preparation

I have been consuming myself with ways to prepare for natural childbirth.  I will be writing and posting a rather long post later as to what I have been investigating and then I hope to post after giving birth providing some evidence as to what worked and what didn’t.

This week marks my 32nd week of pregnancy.  Today I was paging through the notebook where I had taken notes about my symptoms and feelings during the first trimester.  As I stared at my own handwriting, it sort of transported my back to that time period and I could have never imagined myself this far into the pregnancy.

Looking back it does not seem like I have been pregnant that long.  But while I remember the first trimester, it does seem like a lot of time has passed.  It may seem like a lot of time has passed because a lot of things have changed in my life since I found out we were pregnant in July 2009.

• I gave notice at my full time profesional position
• My husband and I packed everything we owned into a U Haul and moved down to the south eastern coast of Florida
• We replaced the transmission on our vehicle
• I started a new part time very un glamorous job
• My husband started a new full time good money job
• We drove the second vehicle down after a visit at Thanksgiving
• We changed the direction of our pre natal care from OB to Midwife

As I am in the third (last trimester) protein intake is very important.  The baby is building its brain.  I am supposed to eating 60-90 grams of protein everyday.  I have never eaten so much meat and high protein items in my life.  I think I have eaten eggs and sausage everyday for that meal in between breakfast and lunch.  That is another thing, I feel like I am eating all of the time.  Since there is not much room for my stomach to expand, I have to eat smaller more frequent meals.  Some days I feel like all I do is; prepare food, eat food, clean up and then repeat.  I guess this is preparing me for when the baby comes only it will be the baby breast feeding all of the time instead of me.  At least with breast feeding there are not any dishes to clean up.

I am now in week 31 of being pregnant and that translates to “Oh Sh#$% that means only 9 weeks left, If I in fact make it the entire 40 weeks!”  Next Monday I will enter the EIGHTH month of pregnancy.  When I look at the numbers, I think I should be more anxious and freaked out.  I am very surprised that I feel really calm about it all.

Anxious?

It is my husband and I’s first child so we have no idea as to what is in store for us when the baby comes nor do I have a clue as to what labor and delivery will be like.  Yet I find myself feeling quite calm.  Why am I so calm?  Why do I not feel anxious?  I am actaully rather enjoying this moment in my life.

Why Not

I think I am not anxious because I physically feel quite well.  Being almost 8 months pregnant isn’t what I imagined or read about.  By now I thought I would be uncomfortable all of the time. Nor have I suffered all the little things I read about in “What to Expect When you are Expecting” book.

The reasons that I don’t feel uncomfortable all of the time; I have a very supportive and knowledgeable husband, I am not working full time, and I have not gained a lot of extra weight.  It is amazing how much of a burden it takes off of your shoulders to have a competent, helpful, supportive partner.  I hear other people talk about their unsuppportive partners and I appreciate my husband even more.  If you want to make your life a whole lot simpler, don’t get financially entangeld or have children with someone who does not help you out.  Not working full time and being able to sleep in when I have been awakened every 2 hours to urinate, or being able to eat small meals all day and being able to lay down and put my feet up whenever I want really helps create an environment of very little discomfort.  Up until now I have only gained maybe 25 pounds, and compared to the 60 or so pounds that other women talk about gaining, it feels very managable.   Don’t get me wrong, it is still uncomfortable to get up from laying down or bend over and tie my shoes.  But my husband and I go walking for 3 miles each day and that surprisingly feels great.

Third Trimester Protein Intake Increase

One big change in this third trimester is eating more protein.  During my last visit with my midwife, she advised me that I need to be eating 60-90 grams of protein everyday.  Protein? I asked her, why?  She advised it is because so much of the baby’s brain is being developed during the last trimester and nuerons need protein.  The next day I kept track of everything I ate and by the end of the day I had eaten 107 grams of protein.  Not to say that I didn’t change my diet and just kept track of everything I ate, I purposely added protein heavy items to my diet.  The first day I may have gone a little overboard.  Since then I have kept my protein intake between 80 and 90 grams.  It is necessary to eat fiber like apples as you increase protein intake, otherwise those bowel movements will not remain regular.  Being regular is great.

Cakewalk

All in all this pregnancy is not what I expected after doing research before I got pregnant.  Aside from the nausea during the first trimester, it has been pretty much a cakewalk.  We will see what the end has in store for me.  I will continue to expect the worst pain imaginable during labor.  Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.

For Thanksgiving my husband and I flew to Indianapolis to stay with my parents for the holidays. I had just entered my sixth month of pregnancy. A few months ago when we bought the plane tickets I was worried I would be quite large and uncomfortable on a plane at 6 months pregnant. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was not any more uncomfortable flying at 6 months pregnant versus just flying in general. We arrived the Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. The next morning after breakfast my mom surprised us with the idea of taking us maternity cloths shopping.

We had previously stopped by Babies R Us and priced some maternity cloths and as a pair jeans were about 50 dollars we talked ourselves out of buying them. I had one pair of pants that still fit and a friend had given me another pair so I delayed buying the cloths.

My mom took us to a store called Motherhood Maternity on the north side of Indianapolis. I was surprised to find the cloths all reasonably priced. I started looking around at the cloths and I was surprised at how much I liked them. A friend of mine had gone on and on about how ugly pregnancy cloths are so I was not as excited as I should have been to go maternity cloths shopping. I should have reminded myself that she had a baby about 8 years ago so what she states may no longer be accurate. That is probably a good thing to remember from here on out as I will be encountering many “experts”.

So after about twenty minutes I had a nice pile of cloths to try on; some that I picked out, some my mom picked out and some that my husband picked out. The sales woman had started a dressing room for me. My husband and my mom sat down in front of the dressing room and I proceeded to try everything on and model it for them. It turned out to be quite fun. My husband and my mom seemed to be enjoying watching me try everything on. In dressing room they also had a pillow that you could strap on to your stomach and use to see how big you could get and if the cloths you were trying on would still fit. A lot of the outfits fit really well and were really cute. I ended up getting two bags full of cloths. I should be set for this pregnancy and the next one. The best part was my mom bought it all for us and that was really nice of her.

I was really surprised at how into buying maternity cloths I got and how fun it was. I normally don’t do a lot of cloths shopping but it was nice to buy some new cloths for the reason of being pregnant. I am enjoying being pregnant a lot more than I thought I would. Aside from the inital nasea, the symptoms have been quite mild. We will see what the third trimester brings.

Towards the end of September and beginning of October I was starting to wonder when I would start showing and be obviously pregnant. This would have been around my fourth month of pregnancy. At this time I noticed something more around my mid section and at this time I could feel around my abdomen for the hard section that was my uterus. I could tell it was getting bigger but I wondered when I would look more pregnant.

The image above was taken in the bathroom of our new apartment when I was about 22 weeks pregnant. About two weeks before this picture was taken we started feeling the baby move and kick. The husband is really excited to see these changes. He was not that big a fan of my first trimester nausea diet of bread and pizza. He gets really excited to feel the baby kick and see my abdomen increase in size.

The first trimester I only gained 3 pounds. This sort of made we worry as the beginning of the second trimester I did not seem to be gaining very well and I knew that I needed to gain about 10 pounds during the second trimester and another 10 pounds during the third trimester. I weighed myself today and I have gained 13 pounds overall and I am now at 23 weeks so that sounds good according to what my doctor has told me and compared to all of the literature from the experts.

There was a time when I felt almost anxious about not gaining enough weight. I almost felt panicky about the question of what if I don’t gain enough weight and then what if the baby doesn’t gain enough weight and it is too little when its born. The what if questions started to spin in my head. I did manage to talk myself down with the assurance that the baby will take what it needs and the only one left without enough would be me. At the very beginning of my pregnancy I remember worrying if I would gain 60 pounds like a friend of mine and how uncomfortable that would be. Luckily I don’t foresee that happening.

With all of the media attention that H1N1 has received, I find it hard to determine if getting the vaccine is necessary. Normally I would not concern myself with this as I do not get a flu shot every year. I don’t get the flu shot because I don’t get the flu every season like some people do.

With me being 21 weeks pregnant, I find myself in part of the “high risk category” group according to the CDC and other experts. Originally I had thought that I would not get the vaccine as I thought it was a brand new vaccine that had never been given before. I of course was not going to let them try it on me and my baby. I also was not sure if they had not rushed the vaccine into production to sell as much as they can during this pandemic.

Increase the demand artificially, keep the supply low and simple economics means that equals money, money, money.

My husband, who is an RN, received the vaccine at work and then did some investigating. He advised me that I should go a head and get it. He advised that the shot is the dead virus and advised me not to get the option that contains perservatives. He explained that H1N1 is a strain of a flu that made its fame previously. This explains why experts now are theorizing that the reason that less older people are getting H1N1 is because they have previously been exposed to a similar strain.

I think if I remember correctly my HR Director told me about having the option to be vaccinated at work, so I guess I will be looking into this.

According to OB and midwives it is common to start feeling your baby kick any time between 18 and 25 weeks or so. They say it feels like fluttering or like butterflies. After having nausea for the first 3 months, I was looking forward to feeling something positive from the baby.

On Friday October 23rd after my shower I was sure I felt the baby kick. I had been feeling some fluttering during the week but it had been so light that I had confused it with gas. These kicks were big. I am guessing the baby’s position was just perfect so that I could feel the kicks just under my belly button. I called my husband to come over quickly. He assumed I was going to tell him to feel how big my uterus had gotten. I placed his hand over my abdomen just below my belly button. The baby kicked him and his eyes got really big.

It is absolutely amazing to feel your baby kick for the first time. Words can not describe how neat it is.

Since that last Friday the kicking has subsided some. I can still feel the baby move but it is no longer possible to feel the kicks just by putting a hand on the abdomen. I know soon the baby will be bigger and bigger and kicking me in the ribs and waking me up at night. Hopefully I will still be able to enjoy feeling the baby in the moment.

Ultrasound of our baby at 14 weeks

We set up the crib for the baby today. Every time we walk by the bedroom I imagine the baby there reaching its arms out as if to say “come pick me up”. It is becoming very real that the next few months will be the last months where it is just us as a couple.

Last night I could not decide what to have for dinner. As I am pregnant I have allowed my diet to vary more than I normally would. I am hoping this will expose the baby to more tastes and then they won’t be picky about what they eat. It is for their benefit as my husband and I won’t be making separate meals at the whim of our kids. Right, so every once and a while I allow myself to eat what is everywhere and advertised on TV; Fast Food. Last night I thought curly fries would be a great thing to have. I remember having them every once and a while when I was a kid and I remember them tasting really good. So my husband drove us to Arby’s. I ordered curly fries and a crispy chicken sandwich. The total came to a surprising 6 dollars and some odd change. I thought it was cheap to eat fast food but I guess I was wrong. Maybe it is cheap when you buy the featured item on the menu. So then we got home and I began to eat those wonderful curly fries and the crispy chicken sandwich. The taste was…well..it was edible but it was not the great indulgent taste I had imagined. I ended up eating it all with the help of my husband but I had to force myself. I was disappointed. I could make better food at home for cheap in the same amount of time that it took us to drive there and wait and then drive home to eat it. So to all you healthy eaters out there, let me just tell you that you are not missing anything. Those Fast Food cravings are probably perpetrated by the advertising and marketing of Fast Food. The cravings don’t come because the food is good.