Braxton-Hicks Contractions

Yesterday my body decided to celebrate the fact that I am halfway to birth by letting me experience Braxton-Hicks contractions. Now, the definition of Braxton-Hicks contractions makes it seem like they are light, easy things to handle.

Braxton-Hicks contractions are usually painless contractions of the uterus, also known as false labor or practice contractions and are sporadic uterine contractions that usually start around 6 weeks however are not usually felt until the second trimester or third trimester of pregnancy.

From that definition you would think it was this light tightening of the uterus muscles that went away quickly. Not so! I was sitting on the couch watching Jon play video games and reading my Bradley book when things just started getting tight. It was almost like when you have bad gas and everything down there just tightens up only it’s not your intestines doing the tightening this time, it’s the uterus. Then it was painful. I guess it would be most akin to a severe menstrual cramp only bigger and stronger and longer. I thought maybe Zoey was just moving around and stretching or something but it just started getting worse and worse.

I couldn’t figure out what it was at first. Since I had just been reading in my book about relaxation being key to managing pain in labor I thought, well, let’s give it a try. I laid down on the couch and tried to relax all of my body. That seemed to be worse. The pain in my belly was getting worse. Then I thought that if staying still was worse, maybe walking around would be better. Bingo! I got up and started walking laps around the house, checking on dinner, picking up the things I’d left on the coffee table and suddenly it all went away.

I was relieved but confused. I still didn’t quite know what that was. As I was sitting there trying to think through what just happened, it started all over again. I immediately got up and started walking around again and this time it only took about a minute or so to go away. I stayed standing and walking for another minute just to make sure it wasn’t coming back again and was quite relieved when it didn’t.

Needless to say, I’m a bit worried now that actual contractions are going to kill me if I found a Braxton-Hicks contraction hard to handle. Maybe it was just the surprise of it all or that I hadn’t felt anything like it before. At least I was able to remember what I had learned so far in my classes when the pain hit. That’s a little encouraging. I guess it’s my body’s way of telling me that I’ve got a lot more preparing to do before I get to Zoey’s birthday and all the mental preparation in the world can’t replace the physical preparation. Point taken body, I’m not slacking anymore!

The Anatomy Ultrasound

Yesterday was a long day of appointments. I had my regularly scheduled doctor’s appointment and then right after that was my anatomy ultrasound next door at the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Dept. The dr’s apt went pretty well. I told her that I was planning to have a natural childbirth and asked what her thoughts were and what her policies were. She said that she thinks it’s great and strongly recommended I take classes to get through it (already on top of that). She said that she doesn’t know what her practice’s c-section rate is but knows that it is well under the national average (which is good because it’s over 30% nationally now!). She said that they don’t do routine episiotomies and are not quick to the knife at all. The one thing that she said that I didn’t really like is that they do require an IV. She said that it could be a hep-locked IV (meaning that it’s just a line placed in my arm or hand and not connected to anything) but I really don’t think that is very conducive to staying relaxed and focused on my birth to have a needle sticking in my arm… I’m not sure if it’s something that I’m going to really try to fight or if I will just agree to it. The jury’s still out but I still have some time to think about it.

 

After the dr’s apt it was time for the anatomy scan. It was a lot of fun to see her on the screen wriggling around but she was just as uncooperative as she could be. She was nestled right down into my pelvis, head down, facing my spine. She is actually in the absolutely most perfect position for giving birth, but we’re only half way there… They had to poke and prod a LOT to get the pictures that they needed. They actually had to bring in two different doctors to get the last image they needed of her brain. They dug the ultrasound wand so hard into my lower abdomen I thought I was going to bruise! I guess they really didn’t want to have to have me come back in a few weeks to get that one shot. Anyways, we got some cute pictures of her hands and feet and had fun watching her wiggle all over the place (I guess she really liked the rootbeer I drank!). They said that she looks great (anatomically speaking) and we have nothing to worry about so far. J

She Kicked!

I’ve been noticing little movements here and there from time to time. They are usually really small and if I’m not actively paying attention I don’t usually notice them. Last night Jon was laying his head on my stomach as he does quite often. He said that Zoey was talking to him (meaning that he heard swishing noises) and then he suddenly lifted his head up. I looked at him and he said in a shocked voice, “She kicked me!” I laughed at him pretty heartily until he laid his head back down on my stomach. He didn’t feel any more kicks but I’m betting that he will be feeling them much more frequently now.

Bradley Classes

I have decided that I want to try to have a natural childbirth. That means no epidural, no IV, no forceps, no vacuum suction, nothing. I want to wait until my baby decides that she is ready to come out into the world on her own time and don’t want to be induced. I don’t want my bag of waters broken or my membranes stripped. I want things to happen naturally. There are fewer complications both before, during and after birth and many other awesome rewards.

 

For all these reasons I have decided to take Bradley Method classes. They teach methods of how to become an educated consumer of medical care and get the things that you want out of your birth. They teach you all about the process of birth and the stages that you will go through. They teach methods of coping with the pain that you feel and how to best prepare your body for going through the whole process. There’s a lot of other stuff that they cover as well, but there’s just too much to list.

 

I LOVE my class so far. The instructor is awesome and has done this whole process 4 times herself. She has been teaching for something like 16 years and really knows her stuff. I feel so much more empowered with each class that I go to.

 

Natural childbirth isn’t for everyone. In Utah there’s something like a 95-98% epidural usage rate! I certainly meet lots of opposition when I tell people that I want a natural childbirth, but I’m determined to make it happen. Now to find out if my OB is in the same court or if I’ll need to switch to a midwife… more on that next week after my appointment.

It's a GIRL!

I know that we are only two weeks away from our official anatomy ultrasound but I was so impatient that I talked Jon into going to an ultrasound imaging place downtown to find out early. At the beginning of the scan, she had her legs straight up and spread apart as if to say, “There ya go; that’s what you were looking for, right?” Then she put them back together and didn’t open them up again for the rest of the ultrasound. I guess she wanted to be ladylike.

They also took some 3D pictures which was pretty cool. Jon said that they were scary. You can’t see a lot of detail in the 3D images because the baby is so small. She’s only about 4 ½ inches long right now. We also got to see her moving around in 4D which I thought was neat. She always had her hands up by her head so it was hard to get a really good picture but I like the one I posted above the best. We also got a DVD of the whole thing which was pretty sweet.

On a side note, I think that I felt her moving around for the first time. I have felt little flutters a few times before, but on our way to the ultrasound on Saturday I felt what I can only describe as waves in my abdomen. I think she was moving around a lot because of the fruit smoothie and the fruit juice that I had just before that. I’m really hoping that I’ll start feeling her a lot more! I can’t wait to feel a kick. J