little feet, big sky

I had another appointment with our midwife yesterday morning. (We’re setup for appointments every two weeks now.) Everything looked good, so yay! She said that she started to get tired and heavy around this time, too. She guess-timates that the baby is about five pounds about now, give or take a bit, which is pretty good for 34 weeks. I’ve been cleared for visiting my mother up in NorCal next week, and I’ll probably drive up, taking breaks along the way. (I hate to fly these days, the way TSA is.)

I finally got around to ordering the birth tub yesterday. Today, it’s Errand Day, picking up groceries (as I’m finally tired of eating out) and picking up birth supplies from a list the midwife gave. And I absolutely have to call pediatricians today to set up some interview appointments.

And that’s it. I’m sure by the time I’ve done that, gotten home, put away groceries, made dog food and done a load of laundry, I’ll be wiped out. I’ll have just enough energy to make some rice & curry, or pasta-something for dinner and will crash shortly after. *sigh* Nothing to be done about it, I guess – this is what the end of pregnancy looks like: a messy house, lists of things to do and one tired lady who look like she swallowed a watermelon whole, passed out on the couch.

I hadn’t even thought of this, but it’s another reason I’m skipping the classic doctor-hospital route and happy for a midwife-assisted homebirth:

Pregnant women are more likely to catch the flu and become very sick, which can cause pregnancy problems. Pregnant women go to the doctor’s office a lot for regular check ups (can’t they get some new magazines in the waiting room, already?) which means they won’t be able to stay home and avoid people who may have the flu.

- From APHA’s Get Ready for Flu Blog

Today’s appointment went well. :-) My weight gain is good, my BP is good and the baby’s heartbeat was pretty good, too! Answers to my questions:

• The Farm may have unusually low c-section rates depending on the type of care they give, or the type of clients their practice attracts.
• Indigestion tips pending.
• Prenatal swimming is a good idea, but hard to find in our area. The best thing is to look for a prenatal swimming class, rather than a general water aerobics class.

Oooh.. We have our monthly appointment with our midwife, D, today! I always get excited for these, though the verdict is always (thankfully) the same: all is good, healthy baby, healthy mom. Even thought I can reach D anytime by email or phone, I try to stockpile more of the questions I’d like to talk about in person for our appointments. Today’s questions are:

• I read/heard that the Farm in Tennessee, which has been doing “homebirths” for thirty years or so, has a c-section rate of under 2%. Most midwives are between 7% and 18%. Any theories as to the discrepancies?
• Natural tips for indigestion/acid reflux? I’ve noticed smaller portions & drinking water more frequently helps.
• I’m curious about taking pregnancy swimming classes – any obvious precautions I need to take?

That’s all I can think of so far. Sometimes I get a few more burst of questions on the drive over, but I’ll be sure to post back here with some of the answers I get. :-)