Pink or blue? Pink or blue? The closer I get the more I want to know!
I was hoping that appointment 9 would be my last, but I’m leaving for appointment 10 in two hours with no signs that labor is starting anytime soon, so 10 appointments it is. Things are still looking great, my blood pressure went up a tiny bit to 108/72, but that still isn’t a level to be stressed about, so still no peeing in a jug and induction worries. Fetal heart rate has been steady at 140 bpm, which according to this site means that we have pretty much equal chances of having a boy or girl. Bad news from this visit? 8 lbs gained in 8 days, which I’m hoping I can attribute to swelling and having my appointment really late in the afternoon, when usually I have it in the morning. As of last week I weighed in on their scale at 220 at my 38 week appointment, with my phone showing that according to their scale I’ve gained 38 lbs since my 21 week appointment. I’m really hoping the next pregnancy goes a bit differently in regards to weight gain…
Sarah gave me the results from my last blood draw and all is well. Even better, I got my Group B Strep test results, and I tested negative! This is fantastic news because if you have Group B Strep it’s treated by running a course of antibiotic treatments through an IV line during labor, and IVs are something I would really like to avoid at all costs (one of the biggest reasons I’m not setting foot in a hospital actually).
My feet were swollen, of course, so Sarah recommended I start soaking in Epsom salt baths. I also switched to sitting on the birthing ball when I’m at my desk, which has made a really big difference.
Sarah was also a bit worried about baby’s position, as the little one has been camped out on my right side for the past 3 appointments, which could be no big deal at all, but could also mean that I’ll be dealing with some unfavorable positioning during labor. She told me to start walking “exaggerated stairs”, skipping a stair or two at a time and working to move my hips vigorously from side to side. Bending over at the waist and rocking my hips from side to side, rocking on the birth ball, getting into a deep kneeling position and swaying back and forth. All are meant to encourage baby to be a little adventurous and try something new. At this point it looks like Sarah is going to feel baby on my right side once again, but maybe I have no idea what I’m feeling and all of my birth ball swaying has made a difference.
Let’s hope the 10 week appointment will be my last!
April 8th, 2010 on 1:39 pm
I hope it’s your last too, and I’m still hoping for an April 10th baby! And I hope that your feet stop swelling immediately and you just feel much more comfortable all around. And please tweet when labour starts so we know!
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April 8th, 2010 on 2:07 pm
I’ve never heard about heart rate corelation with gender. Insteresting!
I thought you were due this summer? I guess I read something wrong. How exciting though! Thanks for sharing all of this with us – your blog is always so insightful and honestly, I really love reading it.
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Regina Lynn Reply:
April 8th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Oh yes, the heartbeat, while probably mostly an old wives tale, is a favorite “gender predictor.” A fetal heartbeat above 140 indicates a girl, below 140 means a boy. Of course, most of the time it really has no bearing, but who knows?
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Jessica Reply:
April 8th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I’m really surprised you guys are waiting to find out the gender. I know most people would be chomping at the bit to now ASAP. I had considered also waiting – but my mama is pretty… insistent. I guess she could take your Mom’s route… and buy for both! You family is so cute!
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Kelli Nicole Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Out of my 9 nieces and nephews two of them were a surprise (from 2 different sisters) and I happened to be at both births. It definitely convinced me to not find out when I have my own children someday (something I never considered)! Of course, I still love it when other people find out and I don’t care either way how people do it.
Cannot WAIT to meet that little one
.
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April 8th, 2010 on 2:24 pm
Jenna – I’m so jealous! I know you probably feel miserable that your due date is so close and baby doesn’t seem to be co-operating, but I have 8 weeks to go and can’t hardly stand it! I thought this pregnancy was going so great but lately I’ve been getting the swelling feet (need to go to the shoe store TODAY as flip flops aren’t really acceptable at work).
Interesting about baby on your right side. I always feel like my right side sticks out more, and I can sometimes feel the baby over on that side. Guess I better increase my time on the ball and take the stairs two at a time!
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April 8th, 2010 on 2:29 pm
I admit, I’ve been logging in to Twitter a lot more recently to see if you’ve tweeted that your labour has started. It feels like we’ve been on this journey with you in some very small way and can’t wait to encourage you with good thoughts during your labour.
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April 8th, 2010 on 3:16 pm
I am so excited for you. I admit that I check your blog WAY more often than usual just to see if That Baby in on the way!
Thinking good thoughts for all of you!!
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Erin Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 1:17 am
I’ve been doing the same thing! I keep checking twitter too. Soon, soon!
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April 8th, 2010 on 4:39 pm
Ah, Jenna, I hope this is your last appointment too- I have felt your pain! And please don’t stress over your weight too much. I too hope and wish that I only gain an “average” amount of weight (instead of 65 lbs.) with my next pregnancy, but I’ve come to realize that, if I do my best to eat healthy and exercise regularly, there’s really nothing I can do about it. It IS the way God made me and I need to learn to be satisfied with that. I’m hoping that made some kind of sense and didn’t sound like a lousy excuse.
You’re beautiful, momma!
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April 8th, 2010 on 5:39 pm
Hi. I didn’t feel like emailing you, but I just wanted to tell you that over the past months that I have been reading this blog I have been very put off by some of your posts…especially the ones which marginalize mothers who decide to give birth in hospitals or making it seem that the only good and viable option is having a child at home. The one sided posts have gradually grated on my nerves. While I encourage all women to make their own decisions and paths in life, I see what you do as less of an encouragement to empower women and more as setting yourself on a pedestal of being the source of all knowledge for things pertaining to birth.
I especially did not enjoy your blog about taking risks while pregnant that could seriously harm a child. Someone like me who was told they could once not have children is disappointed in your “it’s my body, my decision” when thousands of mothers who cannot have children would do *everything* in their power to have a happy healthy baby, you are scrubbing your tub with bleach, inhaling paint fumes, eating whatever you want whenever (raw cookie dough?) and somehow still putting yourself out there as someone who is the poster mama of home birth and healthy living.
I wish you the best of luck, I really do. God’s blessings to you and your growing family…but I couldn’t sit by and read the comments condoning your actions, and I know that this “snarky” and “trolling” comment will probably rub you the wrong way, but I figured someone should say something.
And with that, you have lost a reader. I know it probably doesn’t mean much because I am just one person…but I wanted you to know why I (among others most likely) won’t be visiting your blog anymore. Your condescending tone and self-righteous manner in writing and responding to comments is just evolving into something I don’t like. So, instead of barraging you with comments about what I don’t like I am simply writing one, in hopes you will do some self introspection (though with your tone in posts I highly doubt that will occur), and cut my ties with you. Because I don’t like to read/watch/surround myself with negative or condescending individuals, and unfortunately you have joined that group in the past few months slowly but surely.
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Evelyn Reply:
April 8th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
I’m not exactly sure how you got condescension out of this post. Perhaps you are seeking to find it regardless of Jenna’s true intent. Seek and ye shall find… even when something’s not really there.
“If you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will.”–attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but as I understand he didn’t really say it
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Regina Lynn Reply:
April 8th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
BTW, I wasn’t talking about your comment, Evelyn.
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Sophia Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 12:07 am
Huh. I guess I just don’t see where Jenna has ever set herself up as the posterchild of homebirth, or healthy living, or being the perfect mom. In fact, I remember a lot of times when she’s actually said the opposite.
I’m not trying to denigrate your opinion- God knows I love some people my other friends don’t like, and vice versa- but I’ve just never experienced that on this blog. Jenna can be blunt, honest, and unflinching in her beliefs, but I can be too- and most of them are polar opposite of hers!- and I’ve just never gotten the condescension out of her, or the “I’m perfect” theme that you’re describing.
At the risk of speaking of Jenna as though she is a concept, I guess I just find it fascinating how two people can have such totally different experiences of the same person. It just goes to show that you should always just be whoever the hell you are, because whatever you do, some people are gonna love you, some people are gonna hate you, and some people aren’t even gonna think about you
I think this comment is a helpful reminder that since you can’t please everyone, you may as well not try to and just focus on being comfortable in your own skin, which it seems like Jenna is.
Sorry you had such a bad experience, I don’t like feeling condescended to either, so I have to admit if I got that vibe from a blog I’d probably leave too.
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Erin Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 1:24 am
As always, Sophia took my words write off my computer screen!
Like Sophia, I disagree with Jenna on lots of things. But, I like Jenna and her posts because she is humble, self-deprecating, introspective, shows growth, is honest, and is also very kind. I also appreciate that she fosters great discussions in her comments section as she has a diverse readership.
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Sophia Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Hear hear on the great discussions and diverse readership! It’s why I keep coming back
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April 8th, 2010 on 9:06 pm
Regarding ^the above^, wow. Just wow. Apparently some people just don’t know how to disagree and quit following a blog quietly. Jenna, please don’t take this personally. I, for one, very much disagree with the above commenter regarding you and your tone. I know you’ve worked hard to avoid coming across in the kind of way this person is accusing you of. And I think most of your blog followers know that as well.
Please don’t cry- I know I would!
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April 8th, 2010 on 11:39 pm
Hey – is this the right twitter account? When I tried to go look at it, there were no tweets…
JNicholeA was the name listed on your contact info.
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Jessica Reply:
April 8th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Just saw the side bar… but maybe you could still change the one on your contact page.
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April 9th, 2010 on 4:02 am
Lots of luck for the final appointment (fingers crossed!)
I haven’t been around for a while but am really pleased for you!
x
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April 9th, 2010 on 12:32 pm
I tend to agree with Geez. Here is what I see. I see Jenna talking about her birth plan and all of the things she wants to do that make it the safest possible delivery for her and her baby. Those are great things. Making sure the baby is healthy and happy and she is healthy and happy during and after delivery is great.
But, then she posts that she takes risks that may harm the baby which makes me raise an eyebrow. You only have so much control of your delivery and how that happens but you have complete control over how you treat your body during pregnancy. Taking those risks that are completely unnecessary just seem selfish.
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April 9th, 2010 on 12:52 pm
Hey Jenna – if you haven’t already, check out the Spinning Babies website – lots of really great info on fetal positioning. I loved it.
http://www.spinningbabies.com/
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April 9th, 2010 on 3:03 pm
Hey Jenna! I hope TO is making his or her way into this world soon! Can’t wait to see photos!!
I also wanted to address the negative comments on this post. You are very open about those who are critical of you (seemed to peak with formspring) and reading about your experience blogging what you feel, not sugar-coating, being honest and open has made me very scared to write my truth on my blog. So far, I’ve only written about happy things or silly things and have not gone into some of my deeper thoughts and feelings on issues that I am so passionate about (religion, birth, politics, etc). I am going to write a post on this very soon because I can’t stop thinking about it. Do I just need more guts? I don’t think I could handle the day-in and day-out negativity that you seem to face, but I have so much I want to say.
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Jenna Reply:
April 19th, 2010 at 7:15 am
I think the only advice I can give is that it gets better with time. You need a few different things. 1-Someone to vent and cry to when things get hard, 2-The ability to remind yourself that there is much more positivity than negativity (there always is!), 3-Constantly remind yourself that you can never please everyone, and that is okay.
I’ve learned a lot and hopefully become a better person from the attacks. I’ve learned I don’t need to be cruel to get my point across, that a logical rational reply to things can be much more powerful than a hateful one, and that if something on the internet is making me angry to the point where I can’t control myself it would be best to just walk away.
Even with all the negativity, I get so much more happiness and love from people in return! That makes it worth it for me.
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April 9th, 2010 on 4:08 pm
I can see the point of *geez* but I can also see the other side. Birthing/breastfeeding/parenting all those topics are so sensitive. It can be hard to have an open mind when someone goes about something differently than you would. But we all are coming from different places so I think we’re all right* in our own way. Or at least *right* to ourselves and I think that’s what important.
Jenna, you are so close to the end!!!
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November 18th, 2011 on 11:47 pm
I know this comment is coming in a year and a half after you wrote this post but I’ve been browsing the archives since running across your blog and wanted to comment on the weight gain during pregnancy. When I was pregnant with my first, born July 2005, I gained like crazy. Over fifty pounds (and I had extra to begin with so I really didn’t need/want all that extra weight). I had a really great OB who told me that my diet was healthy so for whatever reason, my baby needed me to gain some extra weight :p When I was pregnant with my second, I was resigned to the fact that I would again gain a ton……and then struggled to gain any at all LOL I gained about twelve pounds by the time he was born in May 2009 and that was pretty much all gained in the last two months because I either lost or maintained the first seven months. My third pregnancy, I didn’t know what to expect
For this baby (born just a few months ago in September), I lost about twenty pounds over the course of the pregnancy.
Everyone is different, I know, but sometimes its nice to hear that someone else went through something similar with their first and didn’t have to repeat that the next time :p So even though growing T1 packed on the pounds, hopefully growing T2 someday will be a bit easier on the scale
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Jenna Reply:
November 20th, 2011 at 9:50 am
Oh this comment was so helpful. So so so so helpful. I of course know ways I want to improve (more exercise throughout pregnancy would mean a better delivery) but now I dont have to look toward the next pregnancy with the idea in my head that I’m going to gain tons of weight for sure. Hopefully I’m like you!
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