26W5D and Counting!

I am slow to post because I am BUSY!!! Work has been interesting and challenging and fun and crazy. I threw myself into Christmas early and did most of my shopping, so that is mostly taken care of. I decided to make my own advent garlands for Miss M and T, which was a TON of work, but has turned out to be very fun. Miss M loves her little morning present. I put together a really detailed photo Christmas card with a nice little note about our adventures during the past year, to send off to far-flung family and friends. I ended up using Apple this year because it was just so easy (albeit, not particularly creative in terms of layouts). Would you believe the order arrived two days later??! The print quality is pretty good, although not as good as Scrapblog, which I used to love. Unfortunately, they merged and are no longer in business, and the new company's website looks kind of sketchy and I didn't want to take the risk.

And then there is this baby. I can't believe we are almost to 27 weeks. She is really active now, and from what I can tell, she is not at all in the right position (ie, head down). I feel jabs really low in my pelvis (like, bikini line low), and then way up by my ribs, and then in the middle of my belly, often in succession. I can't even imagine how she's managing it! I feel really good, though. I'm a bit stiff (because I keep doing too much, probably), but I'm still walking 1-2 miles a day. I finally had to give up my long weekend hikes, though. It was just too much for my poor back and stomach muscles. I am struggling to eat, as I constantly feel full, but I'm gaining exactly as much weight as I should be, so I think I'm doing okay. My next doctor's visit is in two weeks. We talked about delivery during the last appointment. I'm still not crazy about healthcare here, and really should find a doula, but I still haven't gotten around to it. Philosophically, this doctor sounds like she's much more on the same page with me than the practice that delivered Miss M. If my water breaks and I'm not in labor, as long as everything sounds okay, she doesn't want to see me. She's fine with me laboring upright. She gets why I don't want constant monitoring, and is fine with periodic monitoring (which I had with Miss M, but had to fight for mid-labor). She is fine with no drugs, no Pitocin, etc. Of course, I know all too well that doctors can sing a different tune during labor.

I also found out that in addition to my doctor being around to deliver the baby, I'll actually have a midwife with me the entire time who is assigned to me by the hospital. But it won't be someone I've ever met. This strikes me as so incredibly odd. But, that's how it's done. It's all the more reason I'd like to get a doula, who I can at least meet in advance and have some comfort level with. I've wished a thousand times that my previous doula was available for this birth! She was so fantastic. Now I need to find someone just like her.

I just realized it's gotten quite late here, and I have to work tomorrow. More soon!