Sandi's Angels

I met with the third doctor today, Dr. McMillan. She looked like a cross between Farrah Fawcett and a blonde Virgin Mary. I swear that there was a halo surrounding her when she floated into the room to greet me. She was so incredibly nice and extremely supportive. We looked over the birth plan and she congratulated us for taking such control and educating ourselves so well. *blush* We talked about how things don't always go as planned and I assured her that my main concern is not to be in complete control but only to remain as calm and relaxed as possible. Her staff was so taken aback that I wanted to meet with her. They couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that yes, I wasn't a patient, but any day now I could be, considering that she's on call for the days that I might go into labour. Dr. McMillan on the other hand understood completely that the reason I was making my "rounds" to meet with the team of three was so that once birth day arrives we'd all be on the same page. And during all of the telephone tag, Dr. M even called me back herself to chat over the phone. I have faith in the team and I believe that any intervention or deviation from The Plan will only be in our best interest. Wouldn't it be great if all three showed up? Just like Charlie's Angels!

Happy Mother's Day

I celebrated my first mother's day today. How strange is that?! Yes, technically I'm not really a mom yet. But my parents beg to differ and so does my sista, 'cause they all blessed me with gifts! My folks gave me some yummy body lotion and a delicious chocolate candle and my sista brought me a gorgeous Dalia plant. Oh, and we all chowed down on this delicious cake....

I have always loved Mother's Day. Although we should honour our mamas everyday it's nice to have one day out of the year that is specifically for them. I love my mom. And I'm going to love motherhood. What an awesome club to belong to!

Sista, Mami, Abuela Dinora and Me - mama-to-be!

Week 38!!!

Only 12 days to go! That is insane. Surreal. Unbelievable. Here's a look at what is up...

On the baby front - she's head down, dropped and ready to pop! At the last ultrasound the technician said, "you have a fat baby!" They estimate that she's weighing approximately 7lbs and could get up to 8lbs come labour day. yikes! Although she's running out of room in the womb, she's still moving around quite a bit. Usually during Dancing with the Stars or after snacks have been consumed and of course late late at night when I'm trying to sleep. We are so excited to meet our little girl. the anticipation is maddening!

On the mama front - Some days I just like to stare out the window and think about nothing at all. and other days I can't stop thinking about all of the things that we still need to do before baby arrives. I feel very full (of baby that is!) and swollen (my kankles are killing me) and my knees and pelvis can't wait for the weight to go down. I've always been self-conscience about my weight so I thought that I'd have a hard time coping with the girth, but the clothes shopping has kept me consoled. I realize that the weight will not disappear once baby arrives, that what took 9 months to put on will likely take 9 months to take off, but I'm ok with that. I feel ready for labour (as much as anyone can be, I guess). I'm looking forward to it. I'm up for the challenge. I'm ready to meet our baby.

On the papa front - I can't speak for Jay but I can tell you that he's been so awesome (as always). He takes such good care of me/us with all of the delicious meals and excellent foot rubs and control of the housework. I could not do this without him. There is no way. And I know that if he could, he'd be the one carrying this baby. I'm not sure how prepped he is for the actual labour/birth. I know that he's not comfortable with seeing me in pain (and never will be), but he knows that I'm a trooper and I know that he's a tough guy. So all should be cool.

On the labour/birth front we're sorta kinda prepared. We've read as much as possible, taken our prenatal classes and spent time with our doula. We've met with Dr. Shep and gone over our birth plan. In a perfect world it would just be our family doc that attends but she works with a team of docs and depending on the schedule she may not be the one who ends up at the hospital. With us planning a natural birth and wanting to remain as cool, calm and collected as possible we thought it would be best to meet the other two docs now instead of when I'm 8cm dilated. Dr. Jiwa was wonderful and very supportive of our "wishes" and Dr. MacMillan I will meet on Monday, but we've spoken over the phone and she sounds fabulous as well.

On the family/friends front - everyone has been so absolutely amazing. The support and generosity has been astounding. we are completely blown away. We've been honoured with three showers, each one just as grand as the one before. We feel truly blessed to be surrounded by so much love.

We realize that we can read as much as we want and research until our eyes fall out and still not be prepared for what's to come. What we do know is that together we can do just about anything we set our minds too. People have been having baby's for how many years now? We're just another happy couple excited to extend our family and to introduce the world to our baby girl! Bring it on!

Happy Birthday to Me!

3 more weeks to go!

A very late post....

This is a super old entry (about 2-3 weeks old!) that I neglected to post. oops! But in my defense, I have been super-über sick with a cold that turned viral and eventually stole my voice and sucked me dry of all energy. I promise to have a new and exciting post by the end of this week. For now, let me attempt to entertain with this.....

Yeehaw!! We had the last class of our 6 week prenatal course. What a waste of freakin money that was! If anyone is birthing at St. Mike's in Toronto, save your 75 bucks and put it towards a childbirth education class and/or a doula. Sheesh! The instructor was way into her sixties with a thick accent. She was very set in her medical/clinical ways and had no room for questions or curiosity. The videos (yes, video - no DVDs) that they showed were mostly from the early to late eighties! Yes, the info was a bit dated, but boy were the hairdos and outfits entertaining! The best section of the course was the tour. Which was saved for the last class. Perhaps for fear that - God forbid - we may have more questions. The tour was slap dash, but at least we got to see a birthing room and got a good feel for what to expect. And the ward was nice and calm - no screaming moms, no wailing babies. And so The Education of the Flo-Ho's continues....

A few months back we hired Kim Fernandez, to be our doula. And boy are we glad that we did. If all we had was the hospital's prenatal class to go by, we'd both be basket cases. We've had our first meeting with Kim and she's armed us with excellent reading material and calmed us with her various experiences. Here's a selection from her library...

HypnoBirthing

Isn't that one of the cutest babies ever? Next to Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Hypnobirthing is definitely one of my faves. It has a slightly different philosophy than Ina May's book but it is empowering and extremely educational nonetheless. I brought the idea up with our doc and she was quite interested. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of "breathing" the baby out versus "pushing", but she was very open to the "natural-ness" of it all regardless.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

This one was recommended by my SIL as well. It's very informative, but it seems to have a bit of a bitter tone. Or perhaps I just get exasperated with all of the unnecessary interventions that a lot of women end up experiencing. Enlightening all the same and since it's an American perspective, I have to keep an open mind and remind myself that things just ain't quite like that here in the Great White North.

Hey! Who's Having This Baby Anyway?

I love the cover on this one. And the design is fun and approachable and has less of a text booky feel. Besides advocating natural birth it also has homeopathic suggestions and a very pleasant outlook. Speaking of text books....

The Birth Partner

This is the one Jay's reading. He's roughin' his way through it and trying really had to get into it, but text books don't gel well with his artist brain. But, of course, I really really appreciate all of his effort.

Doula meeting numero deux is set for tomorrow evening. We'll be practicing comfort measures - pain management and relaxation techniques. As well as discussing common hospital interventions and how to avoid them! And we'll be going over our much anticipated birth plan. Bring it!

32 weeks

We had, what we hope will be, our last ultrasound today. And everything is fine fine fine. It's official - we're having a girl! (mami, you can continue knitting in pink.) When we had an ultrasound back at week 19 the technician was pretty sure that we were having a girl, but it was still a little early to say fer sure, fer sure. But this time there was no doubt about it. And we got a perfect score on all counts --> heartbeat: good; amniotic fluid volume: good; fetal movement: good; respiratory movement: good; presentation: cephalic (aka head down, ready to go!).

Super Girl

It was so good to see her again. She raised her fist in a power-to-the-people kinda way and she scratched her head just like her papa always does. More than ever we've been completely distracted by the bump and it's movements. It really is trippy. At Easter dinner, the whole family just sat in silence (a rare occurrence in the Flores household) to watch the kicks, twists and turns and at work yesterday a few of the ladies surrounded me to watch the floor show, Baby Bump Does Macarena. It is such a strange sensation and so very hard to explain, but it always makes me smile when I feel it. And for Jay it's all brand new, every time. I wonder what she must think when she hears us oohing and ahhing at her every move. If she's anything like her ma and pa, she's loving every minute of it!

The Perfect Guide

I was surfing around the net and found a few funnies. This one I liked especially...

The oppression continues, but only ever so slightly. Or maybe it just doesn't bother me as much anymore. I've been reading this most awesome book, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and it really is amazing.

Not only is it helping me understand why women have such "unpleasant" attitudes towards labour & birth, but it's helping me prepare myself for what's to come and how to deal with it. Not only is this book filled with positive natural birth stories, it also deals with everything from what happens during the various stages of labour to pregnancy and prenatal care. Some of my favourite sections so far (besides the birth stories): The Powerful Mind/Body Connection, Orgasmic Birth and Respecting Our Bodies.

The more I read, the more I'm drawn to a natural labour. Most people think I'm nuts and react with "ya right, wait till the pain kicks in". I've gone through two miscarriages. Both were extremely painful. For the first one, I was being treated by an OB and when they couldn't detect a fetal heart beat at my 12 week ultrasound I was told that I had a miscarriage and that I would bleed a bit in order to pass the sac, etc. What I wasn't told was that I would bleed so much and go through so much pain that I would end up in the hospital emergency room for hours, where I would eventually be told by a doctor that I was having a miscarriage. Duh! But what's with all of the pain, I wanted to know. Well, I was told, in order for everything to pass I would need to go through contractions for the cervix to dilate enough for my body to expel what it needed to expel. The second time, similar situation. But this time I was with a midwife and I knew what to expect. Although it was painful, at least I knew that I wasn't going to die.

I wish that I knew then what I know now, perhaps I wouldn't have suffered so much. I would have been able to let it pass instead of fighting it. I'm not saying that the contractions and dilation that occurred during those miscarriages will match what's to come during labour, but at least I've had a little taste. And now, armed with some knowledge (thanks Ina May!) and surrounded by people who love and care for me and encourage me every step of the way, I feel that this is something that I may be able to conquer after all.

And just as an excercise, I keep a ruler & tape measure close by as a reminder of what 10cm really looks like. And it ain't so bad....yikes!