26 Weeks

Wrapping up my 25th week, I'm beginning to feel heavily pregnant. The rate at which I get up from sitting is increasing and I have begun to enlist the help of my kids to do so. I'm feeling more tired and achy every day and my back (via diastasis recti), I'm sure, is the culprit. I got a massage for my birthday last week, thank you mom!, and that helped me feel better for a few days and I go see my new chiropractor on Friday- hopefully it will do wonders! Of course, by then, I will be so sore from sitting for almost 3 full days that it will probably be INCREDIBLE!

I'm going to be in training in the big city for 3 days (8 hours each day) for work. It's a training for trainers, so it will enable me to travel and train other peer counselors and others who may need/want this training. I'm not thrilled to be away from my family for so long, but I suppose it will be nice to have a change of pace for a little while.

My new term starts this week as well. The class that I'm taking is called Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spritual Aspects of Healing. Sounds fun. I'm very relieved to have a break from my classload for the rest of the year. I hope that I'm ready to get back to my full-time status once the new years starts and the new baby's a couple months old.

Oh yeah, this is a pregnancy update... This baby is doing very well, according to the ultrasound that I had on Wednesday. I went in to see if my placenta was clear of my incision site so that I can be cleared for out-of-hospital birth. I expected a simple and clear answer and shame on me for that. The tech was nice; was understanding of my rowdy kids in the room, was happy to explain his process and seemed very knowledgeable about his job.

He started when the baby was asleep, went right to the face and saw several little yawns. Adorable. Continued with his anatomy scan (I was sure to tell him NOT to let on about the sex) and the kids became increasingly obnoxious. I was pretty stressed out because I couldn't get them to settle down and was stuck on the table, unable to physically restrain them. It appears that the baby was getting stressed too because when he went back to the face, baby had the hand up on the head with the mouth open in an adorably stressed-looking gesture:

Poor baby.

He said that after the full anatomy scan, that the baby was measuring about 2 weeks ahead and was already 2 lbs 1 oz!  A baby at this age is usually only about a pound and a half. Everything looked perfect.

Then I asked him where my placenta was, attempting to explain the situation and he didn't get it. He told me it was anterior (on the front) and so I was clear to have a vaginal birth. This is great news but not what I was asking or concerned about. I asked him again if he could tell me if it was attached at the c-section incision site and he repeated what he had already said: anterior, not posterior, blah, blah, blah. He pissed me off after that because he decided it was necessary to explain the difference between anterior and posterior (I know this!). In the end, he finally said that he could not visualize my incision but that it seemed like my placenta was around there. UGH. After an anxious call to my midwife, she assured me that he was just the tech and that the report would be sent to and reviewed by a perinatologist who would forward the results to her. If I have to have a repeat ultrasound, I will. I just wish I knew whether to plan for another hospital birth or if I could mentally prepare for my desired birthing center/home birth.

My next appointment is August 11th, so I hope to learn more by then.

Here are the rest of the pics I got from the ultrasound. (I think it looks like Auron)