I reached 36 weeks today, officially making me 9 months pregnant and having less than a month to my due date!
I ran 4.5 miles this morning. I felt pretty decent, and I think I probably could've kept going to reach 5 since I wasn't having that many Braxton Hicks. However, my hips were starting to feel a little sore so that's why I stopped when I did. I have read to be careful about looser joints, etc in the third trimester, and have counted myself fairly lucky that I haven't really had issues up to this point.
We started our weekly midwife appointments on Thursday. To clarify - we're still going through Mayo, but we had a choice of seeing an OB or the midwives. The Engineer is pretty insistent that any and all of our kids be born in the hospital, just in case. We started out with the OB but I was never really happy with that decision and we switched to the midwives back in December. There are 5 midwives in the practice, and they have you rotate through so that you're familiar with all them since they can't guarantee who you'll have at delivery. Since they are more hands-on with their laboring patients (as opposed to the OB who pretty much just comes in to deliver the baby), it's pretty important to be comfortable with all of them. We met our 3rd one this time, and will meet a 4th next week. We talked about my birth preferences this week, and I am feeling so much better about things. I am hoping for an unmedicated birth, and I was assured that my preference for not being offered drugs will be honored (the midwife suggested I have a code word for the Engineer so if I change my mind he knows I'm serious) and that I will be able to decline the IV hep lock (IV catheter in your hand/arm but with nothing attached to it). I want to avoid either of those things because I think they allow doubt to enter your mind, and it seems that a lot of this is going to be a mental thing.
I do have some other concerns about the labor/delivery, and they are kind of tied into running. Rationally, I know and belief that the most important thing at the end of the day is that both the baby and I are healthy/safe. But I kind of worry that if things don't go as I'd like (such as not being able to cope and accepting some form of pain relief or needing a c-section), that I am going to be really unhappy and have a hard time accepting and moving on from it. It might be sound kind of dumb, but I've seen how I've reacted to my marathons going awry. Take my last marathon - the end goal was qualifying for Boston, but I've yet to be able to really enjoy that success because I failed at my other goals for the day. And similarly, I am trying not to think about it, but I am worried that my body is going to fail me. I know that I have the ability to have an unmedicated birth, but I also knew that I had the ability to run a 3:25 marathon and my body didn't cooperate (nor did it cooperate in 2004 when I knew I could run sub-4 or in 2005 when I knew I could run a BQ).
Anyway, our appointment was good except that my weight gain seems to be stalling and I measured a few days behind this time. I had been measuring either right on or a few days ahead. The midwife didn't seem concerned, so those probably aren't things to worry about unless the trend continues. I don't think I'll be having the 9+ pound baby that I've always pictured having - it looks like the running is going to trump family history (supposedly runners have smaller babies; JC and I were both 9lb 4oz, JR was 10lbs, the Engineer was 8lb 11oz and his brother was 7lb 9oz). I wonder if that means I'll have the baby early instead of following the family tendency to be late (I was 2 weeks late, JR was either 2 or 3 weeks late, and BIL was 3 weeks late. JC showed up on time and the Engineer was an induced labor).
We're about as ready as we're going to be. The crib and changing table are set up, the car seat and stroller came this week, I have all the baby clothes and bedding washed, my hospital bag is packed. The only thing I really need to do is wash the diapers (we're going to start out with cloth):
I've been meaning to post this picture for awhile, since I call my husband the Engineer here:
Molly commandeered one of our big floor pillows awhile ago, and we've talked about buying something that would actually be hers. Today at Target we found one and brought it home for her. So far she likes to rub her face on the soft fleece part, but she's overall kind of confused because it's a softer pillow than the one she'd claimed.
To introduce it to her, I sat on the floor and patted it. I haven't sat on the floor much with her lately, so she was really excited about having a chance to crawl all over me. We've been trying to get her switch from me being her favorite to liking the Engineer best, but I'm not sure if we've succeeded yet.
I ran just more than 1/2 way through both of my pregnancies. DD#1 was born at 36w0d due to premature rupture of membranes - she was a quick med free labour & delivery (4 hrs). She was 5lbs. DD#2 was born at 38w5d also no meds and a quicker labour 3 hours. As a runner I know you'll have a quick labour and going med free will be no problem, those last few miles of a marathon are far more painful! Good luck with everything!
Congrads! It's so exciting to see how close you're getting to your due date. Keep us posted!
My first labor was supposed to be in a free-standing birth center. No drugs, and all that. 24 hours after my membrane ruptures and my cervix remained at 8 cm (many hours stalled there), I transferred to the hospital. I was ready for a little rest from the pain by that point and then things got pretty invasive. Conor was born after 47 hours of hard labor. Afterwards, I was disappointed with how things went but I was not disappointed that I opted for an epidural at that point. I'd given it a good go.
My 2nd labor was an induction and after thick meconium was discovered my OB wanted to crank up the pitocin aggressively to get him out sooner. I chose the epidural but felt better about keeping it very light so that I could still feel the contractions and stay in control.
Your labor will be fine. I hope that it turns out exactly as planned.
One of my friends had to have emergency c-section (baby was in distress and he came 5 weeks early) but her 2 after were unmedicated VBACs and she said while it hurt, it really wasn't that bad. She's one to read up on all the stuff around it all and the potential side effects from epiderahl and all that made her opt for the unmedicated. She has me convinced if I ever were to have one that that's what I'd do. Also, be careful that they don't push something on you. She's pretty sure based on some things that went on with her last one that they put some PIT into her IV which she did not want and she thinks it messed things up a bit.
I have a feeling based on your running and all that and how well you've been that you will be just fine and go exactly how you want. And hey, smaller than 9 pound should make you happy. I've heard if you continue exercise all throughout that it makes labor easier too! (of course this is all hearsay for me, but I like to pass on what I've heard!!). Can't wait to hear all about it and see pics!! Wish you could consider Twin Cities this year...who knows, maybe you will know even before it registration that you want to do it!!
Thanks for sharing your story. You will do great.