She's here!

Status: 10 days old!

Talia Hadassah

was born May 14, 2011
@ 5:29 AM
via VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)

She was 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 20.5 inches

She decided to come in her own time - 5 days past her due date! Birth story (which will be REALLY long) to follow!

I'm still me....don't forget!

Status: 40 weeks, 2 days

Two great links for you to check out:

#1) A Friendly PSA to Help Your Very Pregnant Friends

#2) Have you had that baby yet?

Enjoy!

Belly Mapping

Status: 40 weeks, 1 day

On Saturday, May 7, I went to a Mother's Day Tea thrown by ICAN of Atlanta. One fun little activity we did was a process called Belly Mapping. I'm not very good at it, but Nichole, one of my doulas, helped me to figure out Waffle's position (ROA). We confirmed it by ultrasound, and then I had it painted on my belly!

The Final Countdown

Status: 40 weeks, 1 day

Wow. I never dreamed that I would be sitting here, still pregnant, at this date. On one hand, it blows my mind that I am "overdue" (we'll get to that), but on the other hand I am REALLY proud that Waffle and I have been able to do such a great job of giving her the time she needs.

Although Eli was considered "term" when he was born, we always considered him early. I was never able to have contractions on my own, and he had a few issues that are more common in premature infants - he just wasn't ready (and neither was my body). This pregnancy making it past the 40 week mark has just solidified to me that I know my body and that he really was early.

So the whole topic of "overdue". There's a reason that a due date is called an ESTIMATED Due Date. Some babies cook just fine in a lesser amount of time, and some need a bit more to be well-done. I look at it this way, if one, two, or ten days more spent in the most perfect environment is what my baby needs, then that's what I will give her. She doesn't have an eviction date. As long as she behaves, then my job is to support her and allow her to do what she needs to do. The perinatologist that backs-up our midwives is comfortable with going until 43 weeks as long as all the tests are fine.

If she's still in there, 3 days from now we will go for an NST, and 6 days from now a BPP (I had this with Eli). Until then, I will continue daily kick counts to monitor the baby myself, and I'll just enjoy things as they are.

My Doula Story - Part 1

Status: 39 weeks, 1 day

Our local ICAN chapter started a discussion on why we think doulas are awesome, which led to this website - Why a Doula?

The first half of my story (the "Why I regret not having one") was posted today! Take a look, and if you have your own story to tell, or the story of a friend/daughter/wife/etc. feel free to submit it!