Six weeks left

I have had 5 hospital deliveries and was determined to never have another one.  Especially after Marcus's delivery in that horrible hospital in Buffalo. I had to use community bathrooms/showers post delivery that I was sure were never cleaned judging by the fact that in the three days I visited it the same bloody band-aid was never removed.  I was so anxious to get out of there before I caught something. And even in the clean hospitals I had delivered my girls in WA, I hated the constant rotation of nurses and all their contrary ideas about how I was supposed to be going through labor.

Thus, before becoming pregnant this time we decided that first of all we wouldn't add maternity insurance to our plan. It was an additional $1,000 a month in insurance premiums just to add maternity. So instead of a expensive hospital delivery I was going to see a midwife from a birth center and possibly even give birth in our home. It sounds so New Hampshirish.


I was pretty disappointed at 16 weeks when the midwives from the birth center said that I needed to go to an emergency room rather than be seen at their center. Having no choice I started seeing an Ob/Gyn and of course will be delivering at a hospital. Without any insurance coverage to pay for it. And I've seen expensive specialists and am about to have my 4th ultrasound. Of course I don't have a choice with any of this because we are trying to protect an unborn baby here. I also am very glad that this birth will be in a hospital after all. A rupturing placenta is a bit scary during delivery as it can cause hemorrhaging or an emergency Cesarean birth. 

Last week I called the hospital where I will deliver and found out the answer to the question I have been dreading to ask. 

How much is this going to cost?


All I can say is it's lucky for me that I opted to have three natural deliveries in the past and know that I can survive a contraction at 10 centimeters dilation solo. It's an extra $3,000 to have any kind of anesthesia and then on top of that the epidural starts at $500. That's the base hookup fee and buys you a mere 15 minutes. Each subsequent 15 minutes increment- $125 more. That could add up fast. Now I am pretty much against epidurals after one horrible epidural headache with Caroline, but at the some time it is nice to always have it as a back up, you know?

But that kind of frivolous spending is definitely out of the question.  Or at least my birth coach (Brent) will do his very best to talk me out of it no matter how insistent I become during labor. He is thinking about having me sign a pre-birth plan that he can hold me to and supersede any last minute change of plans that I begin insisting on.

So definitely no epidural. Hopefully no $$$C-section$$$$ either. And if we can make it without anyone insisting I need a $3,000 IV in my arm -we will be getting a baby for a real bargain. 

 Marcus's birth was the fastest yet most painful experience ever and once pregnant again that's all I could think about. (I made Brent promise during and after delivery to NEVER let me do this again.) So what to do? 

I am researching hypnobirthing. Who says I can't try something new for #6? I actually am too cheap or stubborn to buy the hypno CD's.  I mean it's not like I am new at this, I don't need someone else to teach me, right? 

I think I have the basics of it down though. I have been spending a lot of bed rest time focusing on brainwashing my too wise mind with affirmations such as
" Birth is a safe and wonderful experience."
                            
                            and 

"My body knows exactly what it is doing"  

                             or 

"The power and and intensity of my contractions cannot be stronger than me because it is me". 


So the plan is if I can remain calm and positive I may be able to just have the most beautiful, painless birthing experience yet.


"All I need to do is relax and breathe -nothing else" 


Sounds beautiful doesn't it?

32 weeks and Ron Paul

 I asked Camille to take some photos of me at 32 weeks so we could document bump #6 for Kashann.  Most of the pictures were just bump- not much Kashann.

 I finally made it to the heavily anticipated 30 week mark. That is when they said they would ultrasound and re evaluate the bed rest. My ultrasound showed a healthy baby but of course still an abruption of the placenta. Just a small blood clot remained but there was also some fresh bleeding in the uterus. No idea how that could've been caused at my activity level. I went home pretty disappointed after having my fingers crossed that I would just get to live it up the last two months.

So I am still pretty much on bed rest. . .now until the end. Or I would say 37.5 weeks should be far enough along to not worry about getting things moving. I don't think I will start any running program until postpartum but I would love to just not worry anymore every single time I am on my feet.
Starting at 29 weeks I've had contractions. In the five other pregnancies I never had ANY early contractions/braxton hicks so it was pretty scary and got me back in bed for a couple days. But it's easy to get relaxed again after a couple good days that all is well and have a day or two where I overdue it again. It's so hard not to.

 In some ways I have gotten pretty good at just watching others work. Brent backed his car into the woods the other day in our back yard after a rainfall and then couldn't get out. He had all the kids out pushing him out. I felt bad for him but couldn't help laughing and thinking that would be a great place to retire the old Buick.

We finally got to see Ron Paul live at a Town Hall Meeting in Nashua, NH. He doesn't stick around to shake hands like Mitt does and we were disappointed. 

His audience has a lot of wackos in it. I found one of the craziest (I missed getting her blue lycra spandex in the picture) and asked if Brent could get a photo with her. 

Brent had his third paid vacation week of the year. Paid means we pay employees all week for not working and we make Zero. Besides going backward financially, we loved the week. All the girls were in school and for the first time a week vacation really felt like a week vacation.  Brent got involved in so many projects around the house. He is planning his deck, fixing some siding, installing a new wood stove, packaging up over 500 lbs of wheat, beans and oats that he decided we need in our food storage. Lots was started but little was finished (he didn't get much help from me)  but we had a good time also sneaking in some lunches, a little shopping for furniture and a vehicle for 8 -(no luck still on the vehicle but we did find a couch), and even a town hall meeting. For now Brent is supporting Ron Paul and I am on Team Mitt. I loved what Ron Paul had to say but it just makes more sense to me to support the one who is most likely to win. Plus, he kind of won me over the last time when he greeted me like an old friend.