What it’s like to be 36 weeks pregnant. With a month to go, it’s time to write a birth plan. The complete details are inside to make your birth plan writing easier. Also, pregnancy crafting: making a toy ribbon. And we get some worrying news, that make us reconsider that original birth plan. Pregnancy is a doozy. Time to start adapting to things out of our control.
*Picture of tulips from our trip to NYC because I forgot to take one…read on for what I was doing.
Worried about IUGR
Baby Boy has got us pretty worried these days. It seems he’s a tiny little thing and is just not growing very much these days. (IUGR stands for Intra Uterine Growth Restriction…we are a borderline diagnosis at this point).
The doctor has assured us that developmentally he’s fine, and that we shouldn’t be worried. He said I’m not in any risk group and sometimes this just happens and they don’t know why. Nevertheless we’re going to keep an extra close watch on him these last few weeks to make sure he’s getting enough blood and all that good stuff.
The biggest cause for concern according to the doc is making sure he’s not in distress during labor. So for now the worst case scenario is a c-section. I really don’t want to have surgery, but of course I’ll do whatever is best for our little man. And despite all this, I’m just worried about Baby Boy and want him to grow, grow, grow as much as he can, before it’s time to meet us.
Making a Birth Plan
I’ve mostly been avoiding this whole part of the having a baby thing- giving birth. A few of my friends here have had babies in Mexico and they all had lots of stories to share. One in particular ended with a “Franken-vaj”. I could not make this up if I wanted to.
From February to April, when we got together for regular 5k walks at Colomos Park, I heard more than I ever wanted. But I wasn’t ready to do much with the information.
Since then, I’ve been:
- given the name of a recommended doula by a friend
- given the information for a natural birth class by a lady on the plane back her
- sent youtube videos
- generally been inundated with questions by a number of well-meaning friends and acquaintances (all natural? epidural? which hospital? using a birthing pool? bringing music)???
The final straw, as weird as it may sound, was a BabyCenter.com email reminding me to write my birth plan. So I did. Sort of.
I stopped avoiding the matter and read through a bunch of information online, and I took notes on things that sounded right to me. (I even read some of the information in Spanish so that I would have some of the terminology down- yay me!)
I draw the line at classes; there will be none of those. I feel like I need to know just enough to be informed and I’m fine with being in the dark about the rest of the details. This way I will just have to deal with things as they come and will not be bound to some text I wrote in the comfort of my living room.
Writing a Birth Plan
I thought it might be helpful if you’re working on your own birth plan to see what mine looks like. So here it is.
Early Labor
- Don’t go to hospital until late as possible.
- Sit on ball, rolling hips.
- Walk around, do lunges.
Mid Labor
- Stay calm, let M take care of hospital check in etc.
- Walk around, sit up as much as possible.
- No IV, drink water, snack if hungry
- No drugs unless absolutely necessary, or I change my mind.
- Use birthing pool if available.
- Small breath in, big breath out
- Get massage from M- shoulders, lower back.
- Take some pictures.
Pushing
- Push on instinct preferred to coaching.
- No unnecessary interventions: pitocin, episiotomy, surgery unless medically imperative.
Postpartum
- Breastfeeding only, preferable within first couple hours.
- Baby stays in room with us.
Adapting my Birth Plan
Coincidentally or not, a couple days after I finally wrote something down, we get news that Baby Boy will have to be carefully monitored during the birth. (See above).
This throws out the whole laboring at home, walking around, dipping in the pool scenario I had envisioned. There’s even a chance for a C-section which is going from “definitely not” to “a real possibility”. That’s life.
Toy Ribbons
On a lighter note, let’s talk about toy ribbons. A long time ago, I’m not sure when exactly, I saw a blog post about making your own toy ribbons. Toy ribbons are those little things that attach on one end to the stroller or car seat, and on the other end to a pacifier or toy you don’t want to lose.
Frankly it was a while back when I read this, but for some reason, this idea stuck in my mind. I decided that when the time came I would make some ribbons.
Back when we were in the States, I picked up some cute grosgrain ribbon and a pack of snaps with a little kit at Hobby Lobby. Recently I finally got around to putting the snaps on the ribbons, and ta dah! It was such an easy project, and I know I’ll be able to make more if we need them.
How are you feeling at 36 weeks pregnant? Have you written a birth plan? Or taken classes?
Wait, one more thing…since this crazy ride almost 10 years ago, I’ve birthed three more babies! Grab your tip sheet below and learn how to have an easier pregnancy!
