quick update



one of my favourite things to do: read a book in the nursery

 Hello! I wanted to give an update after our midwife appointment for this week.

Although I've put on the recommended 25 lbs for pregnancy so far, Cashew and I still haven't done a ton of growing. Sylvia is sending us for another ultrasound this friday.

Last time (28 weeks) we were sent for an extra ultrasound due to growth concerns, I was quite distraught about the whole situation. I felt like I was doing something wrong and was of course very worried about the well-being of our son. I cried about it before the ultrasound had even been scheduled. When the results came back, they reported that "growth was as expected".

Shortly after, I discussed this second ultrasound with Emma, a holistic-based doula. She asked me what my intuition was telling me, prior to requiring the ultrasound. Did I feel like something was wrong or off? The answer was no. Deep down, I felt like everything was normal and he was always moving around a lot. Of course Sylvia is only looking out for everyone's best interest and it's her job to ensure that if there is a problem, we find out about it as soon as possible.

This time around, I am still trusting my instinct. We are going for the ultrasound just in case, but in my heart, I still feel that there is nothing to be alarmed about. I trust that our bodies know what they are doing and that everything will be fine. She doesn't expect them to find a huge baby inside of me and says that the results will show one of two things: 1) He's small in size, but still within an acceptable range, or 2) He's not within the acceptable size range and is much smaller than what is considered healthy and normal. If he shows to be the latter, induction will be discussed. And depending on the extent of induction needed, this could prevent our chances of having a home birth.

(this is becoming a much longer post than intended!)

Prior to us even measuring our growth at today's appointment, we discussed natural methods of induction (i wouldn't even necessarily categorize them as "induction" - they're things that, if my body is not yet ready for labour, nothing will happen) and when it was suggested to start such things. I'm still comfortable with the idea that I could be pregnant for another 3-4 weeks, but knowing that natural approaches generally take longer to see results, I wasn't sure when exactly some techniques could/should be used.

At last Friday's appointment, Sylvia gave me some "9-month tea" (contains different herbs such as black cohosh and raspberry leave, which are known to prime the uterus and cervix for labour) and instructions that I could drink 5 cups a day of it if I wanted. At this appointment, we discussed visualization, acupuncture, walking/doing stairs, evening primrose oil, etc. She recommended to of course continue the daily exercise, and that I could start taking 1000 mg of evening primrose oil per day, and could make an appointment for acupuncture for after 39 but before 40 weeks, if I wanted.

Since labour could be in our very near future (depending on the ultrasound results), we all decided it was certainly a good idea to do what we can naturally to encourage progression. I've already been drinking the tea, and will begin taking the evening primrose oil today.

We have our next appointment on Wednesday, and she should have our ultrasound results by then, so we'll have to wait and see what they show! Until then, Garrick and I are keeping a positive attitude and sticking with our gut feelings that everything is just fine. There is no point in stressing ourselves out when we don't know anything yet. And besides, during this entire pregnancy, there haven't been any other signs that something could be wrong or that we are high-risk.