Couple of appointments

This week has been very busy.  Tuesday night Kelly and I went to the Birth Center orientation for people who know they plan to give birth at the birth center.  It was poorly organized and the packet of information they gave out was missing a number of pages.  Whoops.  We got to tour the full birth center (last time we only got to see 1 of the 3 birth suites since a woman was using one of the others) and to tour the hospital’s maternity ward, which made me feel much better about the possibility of transfer.  The labor & delivery rooms were very swank – much nicer than some hotels we have stayed in.  Plus, the view over Cambridge and Boston was magnificent!  We were there just as the sun was setting and the moon was rising over the skyline.  Beautiful.

Yesterday I interviewed a pediatrician.  Very, very nice guy.  Dr. Osler at Somerville Pediatrics is very nice and supportive, although of course we will only be seeing him for 2 weeks.  At least we have someone lined up to do the 24 hour baby checkup.

Then, last night we went to my weekly midwife appointment.  I will have an appointment every Wednesday between now and when I give birth.  Lots of good news: I am cleared to give birth at the birth center pending one last ultrasound tomorrow to make sure the baby is growing normally.  I weight 140 pounds, which means I have gained 23 pounds since I got pregnant – a decent number.  I am no longer anemic, I don’t have group B strep, and (surprise) I don’t have syphilis!  Even my fundal height is catching up – I am only 3 cm small now, as opposed to 4 cm last time.

I have a dentist appointment today which I am completely psyched about since my gums are totally rotting.  Stupid pregnancy gingivitis.  And I am so obsessive about the dental hygiene!  I don’t deserve to be punished like this.

I contacted the other mohel to get his information.  Now we have a list of numbers to call just in case.  We had talked about renting space in the Temple for the brit milah, but then Kelly called and found out it costs like $325.  So much for that.

Tonight we are going to Molly’s baby shower.  Much fun will be had by all.

Oh, also the car is dying.  We took it in today and the mechanic was like, your car has major issues.  I’m like, I KNOW – this is the third time I have brought it in for the same problem, so why didn’t you find these issues before?  I am going to ask for a discount if they tell me that these issues existed less than a month ago (June 24) when I brought it in.  All they found then was a baffle loose in the muffler, and the mechanic said it was not something I needed to worry about fixing.  Now they are like, OH F@*# YOUR CAR IS DYING.

Kelly’s going to a New Dad class this weekend which will teach him how to change diapers, bathe the baby, etc.  Cool beans.  He’s also preaching on Sunday.  Oh, also his name change came through and he has already submitted the papers to get a new Social Security card assigned, which should arrive in the mail in a week and a half.  Then he can get a new license.  Then he will be so legit!

Also, my boss said that I could leave work a few hours early every day, in the hopes that that will allow me to work longer.  Which is good, cuz I need more time to space out, sleep, and relax.

Bumping my ribs

Well, the baby is kicking around in there, trying to expand the dwelling space. I can feel lots of “small parts” on my right side, alternately poking me in the ribs and the vagina. Yay!

My appointment with Tiffany went well last night. I peed in a cup, swabbed my perineum for group b strep, and had 2 vials of blood drawn (to test for anemia and syphilis), got weighed (137 lbs), had my belly measured (31 cm), and had my blood pressure taken (very low as always). I also signed the form that says I understand and agree to the constraints of giving birth at the Cambridge Birth Center and got to ask a few questions about breaking the waters, which they do there at 8 cm dilation. I also got two prescriptions – one for acyclovir to prevent herpes outbreaks. If you have a herpes outbreak when you go into labor, it’s an automatic C-section. Better safe than sorry. The other is for a topical anti-fungal powder. I got a heat rash a while ago that isn’t going away, so I suspect fungus – something like this has happened once before.

Kelly gave notice today, which is exciting. He gave the date of Friday, August 1st, which is also the date I have told my office will probably be my last day (my due date is the following Tuesday). If nothing is happening on the labor front and our apartment is all ready for the baby (somewhat unlikely), then we may choose to work longer if it is convenient for our offices.

I got caught in this amazing thunderstorm yesterday. I parked the car just as it started and was fishing around in my purse in the Whole Foods parking lot when gravel-sized chunks of hail started hitting the car with violent, sideways-blowing winds, lighting and thunder, and so much rain that the air misted. I was stuck in the car for 20 minutes waiting for it to let up enough so I could go into the store. It was a bit scary, but not as bad as last week when I was outside and lightning crashed down right on top of me out of nowhere. I screamed, jumped, and uselessly covered my head with my hands, of course. Today it is 90 degrees and more thunderstorms are predicted. It feels so hot and humid out. I am drinking a lot of water, but maybe if it’s so hot in our apartment tonight, we’ll turn the A/C on in the bedroom to try and cool it and then go see Hulk. The weather is supposed to break tomorrow and be in the 70s. That would be nice.

I got an appointment with a pediatrician recommended by the birth center for 2 weeks from now.  We need him to see the baby 24 hours after birth, but the receptionist I spoke to did not know if he would be able to do that if I gave birth on a Friday or Saturday.  She said I could ask him when I met with him.  Grrrreat.  If not, we’ll have to scramble to find a pediatrician.  I also called 2 mohels recommended to me by Rabbi Andy Vogel.  One has his own website: Cantor Sam Pessaroff.  I spoke to his wife, who said just give him a call after I have the baby.  The other is a urologist who is out of town until next week.  Finally, I called the insurance company to make sure that they cover births billed through the Cambridge Health Alliance, which is how the birth center bills.  Yes, they do.  I have to figure out the paperwork to add the baby to my insurance after birth, but I did find out that the baby is covered under my insurance for 36 hours.

Be there!

Okay, so last night K and I went to the information session at the Cambridge Birth Center.  All in all, it seemed like a nice place to give birth.  Though the one birthing room we saw was small, apparently the other two are much bigger.  I did have a couple of problems with the center: one, they don’t seem to keep detailed statistics.  This is something I expected from reading the books by Ina May Gaskin – that a birthing center would be able to give more information than “It is our policy to break the waters of a laboring woman if they haven’t broken already by around 8 cm dilation.  This happens in a minority of cases.”  Oh, a minority of cases?  That’s informative.

They also have a clear list of reasons for transfer to a hospital, so it’s not just willy-nilly.  And it is possible to refuse procedures or be clear about what you will and will not allow beforehand, which reduces my fear of being pressured into unnecessary medical intervention.  The birth center does not have a time limit on labor, which is fantastic.  And they welcome expressions of sexuality during birth (for instance, breast and clitoral stimulation and kissing your partner, all of which are supposed to make the birth faster and easier).

But they were very clear that the midwife you see for labor and delivery will probably NOT be the midwife who you see for prenatal care.  The way the presenter explained it was pretty funny – she said that the birth center values a model they call primary midwife care, where you see the same midwife for all your prenatal visits and develop a relationship with them.  And the presenter went on to say that the person attending your birth is whoever happens to be on call, which is unlikely to be your midwife since the midwives work only 1-2 shifts a week.  BUT she would absolutely trust any of her colleagues, it’s a great group.  I was like, huh?  I mean, even if you see an OB-GYN in the most medico-technocratic setting, you can expect that your primary prenatal care provider will at least make an attempt to be at your labor and birth.  We see Mt. Auburn next week, so I wonder if their policy will be any different.

Yesterday was my worst day for nausea.  I have found that the magic food that makes my nausea disappear is a vegan version of a McDonald’s hamburger: I lightly toast a bun and K cooks me up a flame-grilled garden burger, and then I add a bit of ketchup and mustard (sloppily, just like Mickey D’s) and 3 dill pickle chips.  It’s amazing.  I’ve had three already this week.