Med-Free Check-In 8/25

slartybartfast

1 - How far along are you?
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?

Last week's thread

Bonus: I found this TEDtalk to be really good. Do you have any easily linkable media (article, video, whatever) that inspires you in your med-free birth prep?

slartybartfast

1 - How far along are you? 24 weeks tomorrow
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? Meh. It's been a rough week. New schedule for the family and it's been hard to shift gears for me. And I've been eating like crap. I feel the need to straighten up and fly right but keep struggling to muster up the strength
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? DH and the doula. And then of course the midwife but where I'm at (Lots of women having babies, making care fairly impersonal no matter where you go), the midwives and OBs pretty much just check in a few times during labor to make sure things are going okay and then pop in to catch the baby. The nurses will be there too. Last time I learned it REALLY is luck of the draw with them and one with a bad attitude (or different birth philosophy) can really gum things up. I'm hoping having the doula will help buffer that for me unless I actually need medical attention (which, this doula is very educated on too and will not at all interfere with).

l9i

1 - How far along are you? 22 weeks tomorrow
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? It's going pretty good.  I'm starting to feel big even though someone at work told me yesterday I wasn't showing at all.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? Just DH and the medical staff.  We're leaning toward not telling parents until after the baby is born so everyone isn't waiting and we get to spend bonding time without people wanting to barge in immediately.

karmba

1 - How far along are you?  25 weeks today

2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?  Not too bad.  Sleeping has been getting more difficult due to sciatic pain and I don't feel rested when I wake up.  Other than that, I've been trying to swim more, with minor success.

3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?  We live 8 & 12 hour drives away from family so I'm planning on just having DH.  However I'm not convinced that my mom won't just come out before he's born and stay with us.  She says she won't because he could be late/early etc - but I'm hoping she changes her mind.

H4aPartyof5

1 - How far along are you?  26 +4

2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?  Just really tired.  I'm anemic per my last bloodwork, so I'm hoping that the iron supplement they prescribed this week will help with the fatigue I've been experiencing.

3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?  Just my DH and the medical staff, which is what I prefer.  

mysteryship

1 - How far along are you? 25 weeks, 1 day.
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? Mostly ok. I feel huge, and some days it feels like everything hurts. I'm on my feet most of the day for work and I'm really ready for that to be over. But I'm enjoying all the kicking for sure.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? DH and hopefully a doula, I just have to figure out how to afford her. I know DH would prefer not to be the only one coaching me. I'm switching to a new midwife practice because we're moving in October, so I'll meet them soon and learn about how personal they are during labor.

tinattt23

1 - How far along are you?
23+1

2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?
Pretty good. Nothing really new. Struggling to get back to sleep after I pee some nights, but that's pretty minor in grand scheme of things. 

3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?
Besides medical staff, just FI and the doula. Still haven't told my family they won't be there yet. It's typical in my family for lots of people to show up during in labor and come in an out as they please. I'll have to tell someone we're in labor so they can wash his our dog. And once one person knows, they all will. So we'll just have to make it clear to them we'll call when we a ready for them to come. My hospital has a "golden hour" policy where no extra visitors are allowed that first hour after birth, which is nice. 

PensiveCrayon

1 - How far along are you? 22 weeks today.
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? Good! I think I've started to experience sciatic nerve pain in my left buttcheek though. And I'm definitely slowing down. But overall, no complaints.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? Midwife, mom (also a midwife, but will act as an assistant/doula), husband. I'm really, really hoping my in-laws aren't in town for the birth, because I'm afraid that worrying about them knowing I'm in labor will be a mental block for me. We'll see how things work out timewise though.

fauxpa-2

1 - How far along are you?  22 + 6
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? This week has been pretty good. I've felt more human and normal. 
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?  My husband and my mom.  I feel like between the two of them I should have a pretty good support system going into it. 

@slartybartfast Thank you so much for posting that TedTalk! That is exactly what I needed to watch today.  Ina's books have been probably the best motivation for me to go med-free.

tinattt23

@fauxpa That's always my response when people ask how I'm feeling. Like a normal human. AKA I'm fine and you can stop asking me everyday. Trust me, I'll complain if/when I need to

maamawaabangi

1 - How far along are you? 22 weeks 

2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?
Better than last week. I went to a chiropractor for my headaches and haven't yet had another! Iron is fine and feeling stronger!

3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?
Husband, and two midwives. That's enough for me. 

Do you have any easily linkable media (article, video, whatever) that inspires you in your med-free birth prep?
I love this birth story... I know this lady and any time I feel bummed about birth or fearful i remember or read this and think, "for as many bad or horribly hard births there's also as many easy and wonderful ones... I'll set my sights on the wonderful." 

https://birthwithoutfearblog.com/2013/02/13/the-birth-story-of-finley-nathaniel-planned-homebirth-unplanned-unassisted/

ve304856

1 - How far along are you? 22+3
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? pretty good. I have been extra tired the past 2 days
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? DH and my sister. Also the usual medical staff OB/Midwife and nurses.

gowenc

1. How far along are you? 26 weeks today.
2. Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? I'm beat, not sleeping much - a combination of work stress and not being able to get comfortable. I keep saying I'm going to do my squats and/or get to yoga but I've worked late almost every night this week and am pretty much worthless by the end of the day.
3. Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? Just DH and my doula - I would NOT want a bunch of people around for that. It will be stressful enough as it is!

leksiL

1 - How far along are you? 24 weeks today! 
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? Good! Tired. I was practicing relaxation today and fell asleep for an hour lol.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? DH, the doula and medical staff. I'm on the don't tell anyone till baby is here train.

jandd2014

1 - How far along are you? 25+5
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? everything was going fine until my ultrasound on Tuesday... I'm now on bed rest for incompetent cervix, and waiting for a referral to a high risk OB
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? I was planning on just DH, but with the probability of complications/NICU, I will probably want my mom and MIL there too. MIL is a nursing supervisor at the hospital in town (which is a whole other issue if I end up delivering there... she's wonderful but would definitely pull rank to get me special treatment ). The more likely scenario now is that I will be delivering before 37 weeks, which would mean that my hospital would send me to the bigger hospital 30 minutes away. I would definitely want them both there with me and DH so that one could stay with me and one could go with DH with Baby, since she will most likely spend time in the NICU. I'm not sure what any of this means for my plans to try to go med free. 

slartybartfast

@jandd2014 - I'm so sorry what a crummy turn of events. It sounds like you have a lot of great resources available to you though!

maamawaabangi

@jandd2014 hugs! Sometimes you take what you can get. I'm sorry. 

jandd2014

Thanks @slartybartfast and @maamawaabangi. I'm coming to terms with things being out of my control at this point. I would still like to try to go as med-free as possible, but I will have faith in my doctors to help me have this baby as healthy as possible and will listen to them if they say I need to do things differently. 

Lisa3379

I'm gonna join this group because I'm 95% sure I'll try to go med-free. That would definitely be my preference, but I guess I won't really know until it's going down, right? 

1 - How far along are you?  25 weeks + 2 days
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week? Good! I am definitely feeling heavier in the belly area, and I'm groaning a lot more when I get up from sitting or lying down, but things are pretty easy so far. If anything, I'm feeling minor growing pains. 

3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery? Boyfriend will be there of course. I'd like to have my mom there during the whole thing too, but it's tough. She has MS, and she has some mobility issues - she'd be in the wheelchair there, but if she needs to use the restroom, my dad needs to be there to help her out of the chair and what not. I'm definitely fine with my dad being there during labor, but maybe not so much during delivery? I dunno. We'll see when we get there. I always imagined my mom would be there for me during it, and I know she will be there at the hospital - she'll do her best - but I don't know how much she'll be able to deal with. 

dmontgo

1 - How far along are you?: 23+4 
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?: Pregnancy is going good, though I'm starting to get aches and pains. Been a little bit more emotional than normal this week.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?: My DH and my doula--I have no interest in any friends or outer family being there. Wouldn't be relaxing for me!

zubenescamali

1 - How far along are you?  23 wks
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?  same as last week just symptoms are a little worse. bras are really uncomfortable at night and my reflux is out of control. I actually aspirated while sleeping and ended up with a puke-a-thon that actually got DH out of bed.  baby is kicking regularly, mostly in my pelvic floor and those important organs down there.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?  DH, doula, nurses. my mom was pretty good support last time but i doubt she'll be able to be there this go around (she'll be in month 5 of chemotherapy at that point).  MIL will be in charge of watching the kids.  my OB practice mentioned they have made some changes with the midwifes during labor, i'll have to get more details but it seems like they are moving more towards using them as primary mgmt and only calling in the OB when it gets complicated.  not sure how that will go, the midwifes are all NPs as well.

SmashJam

1 - How far along are you?: 26 weeks tomorrow!
2 - Overall, how is pregnancy going this week?: Things are going pretty good, I am a little more uncomfortable and while I haven't exactly been immobile during the summer, school starts for me on  Tuesday and I am interested to see how hours of running around on my feet affects me.
3 - Who are you planning on having around for your labor and delivery?: My DH and midwife and whatever nurse is there to assist. I was present for 3 of the 5 births a friend had, and initially she wasn't excited for the first time but warmed up to it and said ok. I understand why now completely-the idea of having my MIL in the room or anyone besides my DH and the medical staff makes me so uncomfortable-although by the time i was pushing there were like 7 people in the room and I barely even noticed so maybe I wouldn't care once birth was actually happening, lol.