My next baby will be here in a few short weeks and I am feeling the anxiety. I don’t have a baby bath tub, or enough swaddling blankets. I have to pull out all of those fun things like burp cloths and my handy Nose Frida (no bulb syringe here, this thing works great!). I also need to get a new dresser to hold enough clothes for 2 children.
What I won’t be preparing: bottles. Won’t use them. Pump: probably won’t be using that either, though I may grab it in a moment of engorged desperation. Nursery: baby will be either sleeping next to me in bed or next to our bed in our Hushamok hammock.
What I hope not to prepare: a hospital labor bag! I will find out very soon if homebirth is a possibility for us. Since the MMA (Midwifery Modernization Act) passed and Certified Nurse Midwives have the right to practice homebirths in the state of NY without a signed practice agreement with an OB, there is hope. The only foreseeable block is that my potential midwife already has a mom due at the end of October and she also wants to take some time off that month. If she can get coverage from one of the other midwives in Ithaca then I should be good. The next hurdle would just be meeting with her and making sure I am comfortable with her. It looks like my insurance does cover homebirth, at least 70%. NY State does have a law stating a woman has the right to choose her birth setting and doctor and insurance must cover it. Strange that NY is great for Homebirth in terms of insurance, but it took so long for homebirths to be practiced without the legal tape and hoops.
Besides my obvious reasons for wanting a homebirth, the main perk would be not having to scramble for childcare when I go into labor. Living far from friends and family is very hard, and even harder when you need to leave your house in a relative hurry with short notice. Grandma’s are good for that, “friends” are not. Especially those with jobs and children. I would still want to have someone come to help with Fletcher depending on the time. But at least he wouldn’t have to pack up and come to the hospital with us, which is what I am afraid of.
If things don’t pan out then I will be ok, but only because I do love my current midwife. She is caring and competent and will make my birth experience as close to a home birth as possible. I would actually be sad to lose her if I get my homebirth. I only wish she could deliver me at home!
Pregnancy wise, this has been a breeze compared to my first. With my first I weighed close to what I weigh now before I even got pregnant. And I kept gaining. I had constant hip pain very early on. It hurt to walk up and down stairs. I ran out of breath, my Gestational Diabetes had me on far fewer carbs than I can eat now, and I was generally pretty miserable. These days I forget I am pregnant. While I am beginning to experience trouble sleeping and some hip pain at night, during the day I am comfortable. My GERD has settled down thanks to my Gestational Diabetes diet and I stopped taking any medications for it besides the occasional Tums. I do have to pee a lot but I don’t think there is a way to avoid that at this point. I am also getting a little lazy. My floor hasn’t been mopped in a couple of weeks! The only reason it isn’t coated with crumbs is that I have a Roomba.
I am getting more and more excited about meeting my next son. I am also starting to dread the impending loss of sleep that I have only recently started getting. I am afraid two children will kill me, especially since the one I have keeps me busy enough. Still, I will be happy to have him here with us!
