#10 24 weeks - 2/3 done, Super Diddle

I am at 24 weeks, two-thirds of the way there. I feel the baby, Super Diddle, move all the time now. In the morning and the evening is the best time. I like to lay there with my hands on my belly and rub, Super Diddle can feel it and kicks back, I feel like we're communicating. Papa has felt the baby move and has gotten a few swift kicks in the face while talking to Super Diddle. (hehe) SD really likes it when Papa talks and sings against the belly. Papa doesn't feel all the movements, so has no idea the true impact on SD. I think that the anterior placenta blocks some of the external evidence of SD's movements.

I want to update the body pillow request!! I got one off of craigslist.org. I'm so excited, I sleep so much better now and don't wake up crying! My next purchase will be the birth ball, it's getting to the point where body positioning will be important to keep baby in the most beneficial position for birthing. As a doula, I was taught that it's not just that you want the head down, you also want the back and butt of the baby in the front left of the uterus and how I sit and lay can impact how Super Diddle lays. This position (left occiput anterior) insures that the smallest part of the baby's head will be applied to the cervix first and also, completely applied to the cervix. Other positions don't connect with the cervix as well and can slow dilation. When you hear about "back labor", it is inevitably caused by a baby in the occiput posterior position.

Gramma was recently in the hospital, (don't worry, she is recovering nicely and at home again!) and I ran into an number of folks that I knew from working there. They were very excited to see my belly expanding. Of course I got a lot of, "Are you birthing here?" That led to, "We're planning a homebirth!" I'd tell them that I have two midwives, that I live close enough that I could be in surgery within a half an hour if need be, etc, all the things that I need to say to keep folks from telling me that I'm insane! hehe One of Gramma's ICU RNs told us that his wife is pregnant and a labor and delivery nurse, he then went on to tell me, in a way that seemed almost like it was a secret, that he and his wife agree that birth is over medicalized and that they are very serious about going natural. I recommended that they get a doula and stick to their guns, then I pulled out my Mothering Magazine that I had just received in the mail. I said this and their website are two of the best tools in my tool-belt!

I feel great, all of my tests have come back quite boringly and blessedly in the normal (yeah!!). I'll be having a glucose test at my next appointment and I look forward to going camping at the end of May - beginning of June for our anniversary. The next big thing is that I want to go to a family reunion in July, about 3 weeks before my due date. I don't think that my midwife/doctor will be too excited about that, but if there isn't a health reason not too, I'm going to insist. It's just East of Spokane, in Idaho, and if I can get my DR to agree, I'm going. The trip is only 1/2 hr in the air instead of 6 hrs in the car. Rob said that he'd be willing to drive over to meet me and I just looked up airfare, with $15 travel insurance, it's still under $100 for me to fly! The airline that I found with the lowest price, doesn't even require a doctors note for a pregnant woman to fly. One of the other low priced airlines requests a doctors note from an OB when traveling in the 9th month. That's probably the most responsible thing to do, but in my case, I don't see an OB, so that would pose quite a problem for me. I'll just take advantage of the lack of rules of the other airline! At least I don't have to worry about being kicked off of the plane for breast feeding, yet!