August 27, 2010

Here comes my due date ... And ... there it goes.

Well, August 26th has come ... and gone.  It is now the 27th and I am officially "over-due".  The lady at the coffee shop looked at me and asked me when the baby was supposed to come.  It's interesting to tell them "yesterday."  I also went into Creative Kids Stuff to buy Abby a present from the new coming Baby Beal and the sales lady saw me from behind and asked how I was doing, when I turned around, her eyes got real big and I'm pretty sure she lost her train of thought and then walked away.  Yeah, it's FUN to be looked at like a freak of nature.

Anyways.  I have officially never been this pregnant before so this is all new.  With Abby, they induced me at 38.5 weeks.  So, feeling "ready" to have the baby is an understatement.  Jason and I have been trying everything to move things along.  I've been adjusted, had acupuncture, done Moxibustion (this is a weird thing but supposedly it works well), I walk 2 times a day for 15 minutes at least, one day I went for a 3 mile walk (that was exhausting).  The little booger is just nice and cosy inside. My only worry is that I will go 2 weeks overdue and the next step will be to have a C-section.  I am so ready to do this, I KNOW I can do this, God just needs to grant me the opportunity. 

I really appreciate all the support I've been receiving.  Everyone has been so encouraging these last few weeks as my due date has come and gone.  It is truly what has kept me going.  I've been exhausted recently so the encouragement is MUCH needed at this point.  Thank you so much, keep sending me positive thoughts and prayers.  I just want everyone to know that I'm not only doing this for myself, the baby, Abby and Jason but I'm doing it for all my readers, and all the women in my family that have had C-sections before me.  I'm doing this for all of you as well as myself. 

If I can do it, you can do it. 
Thanks again everyone, hopefully next time I post I will have become a mom for the second time.
~Mama Beal

August 21, 2010

5 days ... AND LOOK AT THIS ZUCCHINI!

My "due date" is slowly but quickly approaching.  I haven't really been feeling any different from last week but when I looked at the pictures from the last post, I obviously have increased in belly size.  I must be growing though because I literally have no shirts that cover my belly anymore.  On my off work days I find myself rummaging through Jason's drawers to find his few extra large T-shirts.

As the days go by, I find myself feeling more and more prepared to have this baby.  People keep asking me "do you just feel like you want to be done?"  Well yes ... but I feel like I had an epiphany the other day and the best place for an epiphany is, of course, the bathtub.  I was laying in there thinking about my decision to have this baby and do it naturally and attempt this VBAC and I suddenly knew I was ready.  I'm not just physically tired and ready to be done but I know that I am mentally prepared.  I CAN do this.

To put things into perspective as to how my pregnancy is progressing, I'm feeling round, I'm measuring about a week ahead of schedule and I'm occasionally having braxton hicks contractions.  PLUS, when I walk into a room of people who don't know me, they almost look startled as to how big I am.  (yeah, that makes a pregnant woman feel REALLY good.)  I haven't been nesting, infact, I've had to force myself to clean the house for a showing that we had.  I've even started doing dishes (against my own will) just to see if it would maybe put me into labor, kind of a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" mentality.  I don't think it's working.

Anyways, to spice it up a bit, I have taken the regular picture of my growing belly but we also have received some rather large Zucchini's from our organic farm share.  I've never seen zucchini this large before.  They've got to be about the length of a full grown baby! :)




Have you ever seen a Zucchini this huge before???  It's GOT to be about the length of a baby.

Aw, Zucchini Baby.  (Weird, I know.)

August 2, 2010

 What I am about to tell you may sound far fetched BUT, bare with me.

As I approach my due date, I've been thinking about my family history of obstetrics.  While going to school, we were taught that 50% of a patient's diagnosis can be found through taking a good family health history.  Basically, when the doctor looks at you, 50% of you is diagnosed through your genetics.  The other 50% is diagnosed through your symptoms and vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate etc.

So, thinking of myself as the patient, my family obstetrical health history would show what my future may entail for having babies.  Logically, I started to dig into my family's past to figure out what kind of history there is in having babies because C-sections are a medical intervention that has not been around forever.  In order for me to exist, a long time ago, someone with my same genetics MUST have had a baby naturally.  Here's what I found ... My mom had both me and my brother through C-section with exactly the same diagnosis I had with Abby (failure to progress).  My mom is an identical twin with identical genetics who ALSO had a baby through C-section with exactly the same progression as my mom and myself.  Because my mom and aunt are twins, it can be assumed that they were both born via C-section (although we don't know this for certain).  My Grandmother was probably the first of 3 generations to have a C-section.  My Great Grandmother was probably the last person with my genetics to have a natural birth probably on a farm somewhere. 

With this logic, some may ask, "can you even have a normal birth? maybe you're just destined to have a C-section."  Believe me, I've been asking myself the same question for this whole pregnancy.  BUT, here comes the "far fetched" part of this blog.  Somewhere in my genes, is hidden the truth and the mechanism for me to have a normal, natural birth.  I am my own living proof.  I am alive today because SOMEBODY had to birth my genetics WITHOUT pain medication, WITHOUT medical intervention and WITHOUT a C-section.  Thus, my genes hold the secret to me having a normal birth, I just need to believe in them and trust in God to innately guide my body to do what it genetically knows how to do.  Birth is such a process that is ingrained in us to the core that if we didn't trust ourselves or listen to the needs of our body or believe that God will guide us through such a difficult process, that we would no longer exist as a human race.

Therefore, I will be trusting in my genetics, calling upon the strength of my Great Grandmother and her mothers and grandmothers of their past, as well as praying a LOT and most of all believing in myself to accomplish my goal.  I can do this.  I know I can.  I am my own living proof.  I can do this ...

~Mama Beal