The Home Visit!

Today Michelle the Super Midwife and her trusty sidekick Carly came to the house for our home visit. Sheridan, doula and hypnobabies instructor extrordinaire, was also on hand, as was my wonderful Abby-entertaining mother. I have the best birth team ever!

I almost cried in the middle of the meeting, it was just so cool. Show me an OB who has ever said, "Okay, so tell me what role you'd like me to play in your birth. Tell me what your expectations are, what you'd like the experience to be like. How can we help you have the birth you want to have?" I almost didn't know what to say in response; I wasn't expecting to be the one in charge of everything. I thought Michelle would say, "So here's what we do, here's what to expect once we get here," etc.--and I would have been totally and completely cool with that, because I trust her to do only that which is absolutely necessary and to be pretty hands off otherwise, that's just what her approach is. But to be handed the reins and told that she trusts me to know best what I need was so empowering. It gave me that much more confidence that this birth would be what I wanted it to be.

After I told everyone what I expected of them (which felt really weird, I have to say; I didn't want to sound demanding or bossy or something!), Michelle went over the whole "when to call us" thing, and then we did my prenatal exam, which is pretty low-key--blood pressure, baby's heartbeat (in the 140s), fundal measurement and checking the baby's position. S/he is still head down, thank you God!! S/he flipped to the right side, which is fine, and s/he has really been pushing that little tush and feet out. At one point it looked like something was going to pop right through, a little foot, I'm guessing. Very weird. But I know from experience that, regardless of how eager I am to have him/her in my arms, I'm going to miss the kicks and rolls and stretches inside.

Mom, Dan, Abby, and I went to dinner afterwards, and I was just so jazzed. All I could think about was going into labor. The home visit really made me feel like everything was official, like the baby was cleared to come any time s/he was ready, and I--

--oh hey, contraction, I think!--

kept saying, "I'm just so excited! I can't wait!"

Sheridan loaned me a DVD of a bunch of hypnobabies births to watch. They were SO cool. Hers was on there, too, and it made me cry it was so great. It was really encouraging to see it in practice. I'm going to be getting together with Tina, my hypnobirthing instructor from Abby's birth, to watch a bunch of hypnobirth births, too. Even though the approach is different, the end result is the same: mothers who are ultra-relaxed, births that are calm and peaceful and beautiful to watch. I want to fill my head with as many of these positive birth stories and images as possible.

I have to be honest, though, and admit that I'm getting a little nervous about the whole pushing-the-baby-out part of the birth. Labor doesn't bother me--I've done that already and it went great, and I have no reason to think it won't go great this time around, either. I haven't gone through transformation (hypnobabies-speak for transition) so I'm a bit apprehensive about what that will be like. I know it's really intense for some women, but I think hypno-moms tend to have less dramatic ones because their system is so relaxed. It's just fear of the unknown, really. But the pushing bit is the part that has me a little more nervous. When I make myself analyze what exactly bothers me, I realize that it's just the idea of it, more than any specific facet of the process. And once I remind myself that a bazillion women have done this before me, most of the nerves dissipate, so I just need to focus on that and stop letting the concept of it all overwhelm me.

So tomorrow I'm 37 weeks--we're in the home stretch! We've been talking a little more with Abby about the baby. Michelle suggested not only getting a gift for Abby from the baby, but a gift FROM Abby FOR the baby as well. I mentioned it to her tonight when she commented on the co-sleeper and how it was where the baby would take a nap, and she said, "Present for Mommy, too!" Such a sweetie. :) Anyway, I think I may take her to Target this week and let her pick out something and help her wrap it and everything. Maybe store it in the co-sleeper. As far as what to get Abby, we'd talked about getting her a new baby doll and some baby gear--a stroller, a bassinet, etc.--but never officially decided on that. I need to talk to Dan some more and see if he has any other thoughts. Seeing how much she loves her trains, getting her another GeoTrax set would probably be just as welcome, if not more so. But she does exhibit some great maternal instincts, and I'd love to nurture that.

Tomorrow I go to Burke Williams Day Spa for a maternity milk bath and an EIGHTY MINUTE massage. Just the thought makes me go limp. Yesterday I got my nails done; now I just have to keep them up so they're pretty in the pictures of me holding the new baby. The house gets spring cleaned by Merry Maids on the 5th. Tomorrow the electrician puts in a new ceiling fan in the bedroom, among other things. And then sometime in the next three weeks we'll have a new baby. :)


Me at 36 weeks!