28 Weeks!.... The money shot - eyes open!

We made it to 28 weeks! This was our last US for awhile - his eyes are open! So we are in the clear as far as the IUD and preterm labor goes. The baby is getting big and everything looks really good...except for the fact that he's right side up. We talked to our doctor about having a natural birth and he said that was fine with him. But he said at this point he is concerned with the fact that he's breech. Our whole plan will be irrelevant if he continues this way. He said although many babies do turn up until the end, fewer and fewer babies are breech at this point. So, my new mission has begun. We are doing moxabustion on BL67, the Webster technique by a chiropractor, Pulsatilla homeopathic, and of course visualization to see this baby upside down. I'm also supposed to be doing other things like swimming in a pool, lying with my hips up (sooo comfortable!), and other similar things. We will see.. After going to the chiropractor, I was good for a day and then I went right back to how i was. But maybe if i keep going, that will help. My pelvis is all tilted and shifted which could impact how the baby is situated in there.

I feel way more zen in general, now that i'm a big Earth Mama...but i'm just a little nervous. I really want this baby to have his descent down the birth canal, and I also want to avoid surgery and the resultant recovery period for myself. I had a really hard time with having Noah with surgery, having a bad reaction to the meds, and then trying to nurse with the incision. But I'm trying really hard not to focus on that, which is hard to do. But we will do our best, and if it's meant to be for him to turn, then he will. Turn, baby, turn!
Btw, we also learned that he is in the 96% for his age, over 3 lbs already, which explains my enormous belly (i knew something was going on..)

Snow, snow, flu..

It's been a while, so i thought we'd give an update until our prenatal next week. We are in the middle of one crazy winter up here in NE. We're having roughly one snowstorm a week, and even weeks with 2-3 storms. I'm getting used to it (doesn't mean i like it!), and it feels like it will be this way forever with this immense snow. We are 27 weeks now - one week shy of our "safe" zone. I'm in bed with the dreaded flu, but so grateful to my family for helping out so much. Feels good to eat again, for the sake of the baby, i was feeling bad for him. He is still breech, kicking so hard and low, and punching and flipping all the time. At least the break from food hasn't affected his activity!

I've been in some major discomfort and even pain with my hips separating - it is the strangest sensation. It is really impacting my sleep to the point where i am tossing from each side every few minutes all night (probably why i got sick). They ache and pop in my sleep and there is no way to get comfortable. I'm thinking of wearing one of those sexy pregnancy hip braces, hopefully not the ones that go all the way up the body and cross over the shoulders and then go down and cross over the butt like a jock strap! Anyone seen those? There are simpler ones i'd be willing to wear, and hopefully would help. I am desperate at this point.

We've been thinking more about the birth lately. We're going to plan for a natural birth again, but this time in a hospital, one of the biggest in the country at that, Brigham and Women's. We've begun Hypnobirthing classes which will allow Greg to be my support person, which we're excited about-it will be a twist on the homebirth. I have some apprehension about birthing naturally in a hospital setting, with all the potential for interventions, all the nurses, the environment, etc. But i'm confident that I will be prepared and do my best to have a good experience. I have some stuff to work through with Mim's birth, since it was more painful than i expected. But i believe that that just means i can learn from it and I also know that every birth is different. We also had a lot of stress in our lives before that we don't have now, me finishing school and us just moving days before M's birth. I think stress plays a huge role in childbirth, and therefore the lack of it too.

Otherwise, everyone's doing well here. I'm still working and getting new patients but the desire is definitely waning, at least for work that requires me to leave the house. The kids are great and both healthy for now. Mims is really looking forward to holding our baby and showing him her little babies. It will be something to see how she responds to the real thing. Noah's birthday is coming up so we're going to have a party and then he will leave for a week with his dad. Greg is still the biggest trooper, maintaining his high needs job and coming home to his high needs family everyday. He comes home to dinner and Mirabel singing and dancing the Wizard of Oz (she's obsessed with it, a little dorothy), doing the princess dance, and playing Yugioh cards, baths, cozy time with books, and bed...ahhh.