Re-living and sharing my VBAC experience never gets old for me. I could recount it a hundred times and so many details will be the same, but there will always be something new to add to it. Almost 2 years later and I'm still sharing it with anyone who asks.
The leader of our local ICAN chapter has asked if anyone would like to share their VBAC stories with her to include in a binder that she is putting together to keep at the midwives clinic here. I of course was happy to send my story to her.
I think one of the most important things for a woman planning a VBAC is to be able to hear from other women who have planned VBACs, even if they didn't turn out the way they had originally hoped. Because it is one thing to read all the research and facts, but it is quite another to read about how it all happened for someone in real life. Somehow the stories of other women seem much more powerful than all the medical research in the world.
I hope she will be able to include my story in her collection for other women to read, because I think it is a really positive one and hopefully will give others hope that they too can achieve their VBAC dreams.
I'm halfway through this pregnancy. Which means 20wks down and 20wks to go. It's hard to be patient sometimes. I really want to enjoy every minute of this last pregnancy because I know I'll never do it again, but at the same time I already feel like I'm tired of being pregnant. It seems like with every subsequent pregnancy my body has just given up a little bit more, and some days I feel like I'm much further along than just 20wks, which makes me scared for how I am going to feel at 25...30....35wks!
Still can't really complain though. Well, I can, but I shouldn't. I feel good, am eating well, sleeping fairly well, and managing to stay active.
Not sure how much weight I've gained at this point though, maybe around 15lbs. I'll check it out tomorrow at my midwife appointment. I feel huge sometimes, but actually when I look at pictures from my last pregnancies at this same point I look about the same, so I don't think I'm bigger than I should be for 20wks along.
We had our big anatomy scan last Thursday and it went really well. The ultrasound tech was really nice, but the scan took forever, or at least that's how long it felt as I lay on the table needing to pee so badly. It's really cruel making a pregnant woman drink so much water and then not letting her pee. I don't like scans simply for that reason. But everything looked good as far as we could tell, of course she couldn't actually tell us anything and we'll have to wait to hear if anything looks amiss from the pictures. We saw two arms and two legs, and it looked like baby had all 10 fingers and toes. I was surprised that I wasn't even tempted to find out about the sex! It's too late now, we really have to a wait until baby arrives.
I'm feeling tons of movement and have been for many weeks already, since about 14wks. I have always felt movement from 14wks on with all my pregnancies, which I know is early. Now I am feeling full out kicks and can even feel them with my hand on the outside. All of my babies have been super active in utero, and this one is no exception!
One thing I can complain about though is I am experiencing a lot of discomfort in my hips already. I have felt it before in my other pregnancies, but it occurs earlier and earlier since my body is more relaxed from having gone through this before. It's just given up! So while I stay active and I feel great when I am exercising, by midday and the evening I'm often in a bit of pain. It's affecting my legs which get tired and sore very easily. I have been seeing my chiropractor and a massage therapist which really helps, but I am pretty much always aware of the discomfort all day long, every day. It's only going to get worse I imagine! One thing that really helps is sitting on my exercise ball instead of on a chair or couch, so I try to do that every evening as well as stretching.
I'm coming to terms with the fact that this will be my last pregnancy and feeling pretty good with that decision. My hubby has made it clear that he is not interested in more children after this, and while I really did agree I also found it hard to shake the feeling of not going through it again. It was hard to close the door on pregnancy and babies for good. But as time goes by, I am actually looking forward to being done with this stage. I have always loved being pregnant so much, and so I'm sure I will always miss it, but I am very ready to move on and focus on me, and get my body back! There are things that interest me that I haven't been able to fully pursue because I've either been pregnant or breastfeeding or taking care of small children. So I look forward to the days when I will get to do more stuff for me again.
On a related pregnancy topic, I finally got my copy of More Business of Being Born! I have watched two of the four dvds so far, the one in which they visit the Farm Midwifery Centre in Tennessee and speak with Ina May Gaskin and the other midwives there, and the one about VBAC. They were interesting for sure. I look forward to watching the other two dvds as well, hopefully sometime this week.
Will try to post pics of my last ultrasound if I get around to scanning it onto the computer, and will write more after my next midwife appointment as well.
Today I left the kids with my husband and drove out to Barrie to check out the Pregnancy and Parenting Expo hosted by ICAN of Simcoe County. I am a member and volunteer with the organization so baked some cookies to bring with me for the bake sale. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was most definitely looking forward to going.
I don't think they got quite the turnout they were hoping for but I loved every minute of it. I finally got to meet some of the ladies from ICAN that I had been in contact with through message boards and email, and I got the chance to speak with some midwives from the Nottawasaga and Barrie practices. It is always great to connect with other people who I share common interests with and I am always happy to talk babies and birth with anyone else who is willing to listen.
We watched 2 movies at the event and I enjoyed both of them very much. The first was called Labouring Under an Illusion which explored the media's portrayal of labour and birth. I have to admit that parts of the narrative were rather cheesy, but the film was overall very entertaining and quite funny, and the message was very clear and powerful - that the media gives a hugely distorted portrayal of what birth is actually like.
I think about this topic a lot actually as admittedly I do tend to watch all the TLC shows on babies and birth quite often (A Baby Story, Baby's First Day, etc). I have liked these shows for as long as I can remember, but since having children and especially since planning my VBAC, I am very much aware of how unproductive they actually are, and they don't portray how the birth experience should be. Even though they are 'reality' shows, I am often quite saddened and disappointed by the practices I see on them. Still I am compelled to watch them, if only to shake my head (though I do find there are some touching moments as well).
The second movie that we watched was probably one of the most entertaining and fascinating movies I have ever seen. Babies follows the lives of 4 babies from different parts of the world - Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo, and San Francisco - from birth throughout their first year. I found it truly amazing to see these babies and the different cultures from which they come from. It was so heartwarming to watch, and to realize that babies, no matter where they are from, really do share a universal likeness as they are new to the world and learning all about it. I would recommend this movie to anyone.
I was like a kid in a candy store today at the expo, taking it all in and enjoying every moment of being around others who are so passionate about birth and babies as well.
There were also door prizes and I bought a lot of tickets thinking that with the low turnout I'd probably get a lot of stuff. I think everyone else had the same idea! I didn't get any of the things that I really wanted (mostly books on parenting and babies), but I did get a few things like wall stickers for my boys, a couple pairs of gloves, a yoga mat and travel mug, a necklace and some bath products.
The silent auction had some amazing stuff as well, I couldn't believe how great the items were and actually I could have gotten a lot of stuff for very little money (compared to what they would have costed normally), but I was trying to be good as I figured my husband wouldn't be too happy with me if I bought the place out. I wish I had bid on a few other items like a book I had my eye on, a ring sling (even though my kids are too big for it, I'd love to have one for next time), and a gift certificate for someone to come and clean my house for 3hrs (I totally should have bid on that one!). What I did bid on though and won was a photography session from a very wonderful photographer in the area. I'm really excited, because I have wanted to have pictures done of the boys for quite some time but have been putting it off due to cost. Now we can get them done!
One last exciting thing is that the leader of the ICAN chapter is going to be hosting doula training early next year! So maybe, just maybe, I will be able to get started sooner rather than later.
I had a wonderful, birth and baby filled day. I know that they did not get as many people as they hoped for this time, but I thought it was a success and look forward to more of these events in the future.
Here are the trailers for Babies and Labouring Under an Illusion. Check them out!
I'm still here! Life has been keeping me very busy, but my blog and my dreams are never far from my thoughts. I'm still reading The Baby Book almost daily, even if it's just a few pages at a time. It will take me awhile longer to get through it but that's ok. I figure as long as I keep reading it and don't let it go more than a day or two, I'm in good shape.
I have got my ICAN of Simcoe County membership up and running, at least I think I have. They have received my payment though I haven't gotten a confirmation back from them yet, which I have enquired about today. There was supposed to be an online support meeting last night but it got postponed.
But on a related note, ICAN is hosting a Parenting and Pregnancy Expo in Barrie next month. More information can be found here - Pregnancy and Parenting Expo 2011. I definitely plan on attending. They will be showing two movies, Labouring Under An Illusion and Babies, both which look very interesting and you can see trailers for on the ICAN website. I'm excited to check it out, and you should too!
Otherwise not much new is going on. I have been thinking about my training and originally I thought I wanted to complete 4 of the Childbirth International courses, but I am now thinking of doing just two - birth doula and breastfeeding counsellor. I figured those are the two which are most important to me right now, and I can always add on at a later time. Scaling down to two makes my goals more achievable I think, as I will only have to save up half the money now to get started.
Still no immediate plans to register, but that could change at any time. You never know!
