Survived the blood draw and am reading like crazy!!

We got up at the butt crack of dawn to get ready for the days prenatal appointment. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything after drinking my nasty Glucola. The Glucola had to be started by 8:45am and finished by 8:50am so I had to eat before hand. The thing is I’ve never been able to eat right after waking up so I had to wake extra early to get something in mah-belly before the Glucola madness was to begin.

Let me tell you, that Glucola is something else! My main complaint was the way it made my throat and mouth burn on the way down. I suspect it was the carbonation that burned but either way it was major ouchie! I did feel like vomiting and also was pretty burpy after drinking it but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Chugging an orange sugar soda that early was pretty unpleasant though.

Apparently at the OBGYN’s office they put a giant sticky note in my chart that said “MUST LAY DOWN DURING LABS” so they were ready for me and surprisingly I didn’t even feel passioutie during the draw. (Ha don’t pretend you aren’t loving all my made up words and crap.) Yay for not passing out!

Oh, the Glucola made my heart race big time! Not much of a surprise considering the drink was pure sugar right? Well it made my blood pressure go sky high! I was at 124/60 today which is way higher than my normal 108/60… The nurse practitioner that was with me said it wasn’t that out of the ordinary though. I’ll get my blood test results in the next few days!

I also gained another 1.5 pounds in just a matter of a few days. I was 123.5 on Saturday and today I weighed in at 125, still right on track for weight gain. Yay Tater is growing!

I’ve been reading like crazy these days too. Since I’ve been told to lay more I am also reading more. Specifically I am loving the book Donna B. got me, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. For those of you who don’t already know, Ina May is one of the founders of The Farm where we are having Tater. I am enjoying this book because it is packed with tons of birth stories from real women who’ve birthed at The Farm or at home with The Farm midwives.

Plus the basic premise of the book is that childbirth is natural and that with the right support, guidance and expectations the majority of women can have a natural childbirth if they choose to. Sure it is going to be a trying experience but without fear an anxiety women can and do birth babies naturally there no problem.

The main point of it all is to learn to trust your body and the age-old process of birthing. As a culture we are conditioned to fear the experience, every time we see or hear about birth it is dramatic and awful. We become scared and unsure about how we’ll fair when it is our turn to have babies.

Well that very conditioning is exactly what causes us to only birth in hospitals, to receive medications during birth and even have birth complications. There are loads and loads of birth stories out there that “fail to progress” or even come to a complete halt because of a woman’s fears, doubts and thoughts during the birth.

The books point is that every birth is not life or death and our bodies really do know how to have babies. They key is getting beyond all the conditioning, fear and doubts we’ve got about our own abilities to birth and to handle the process. Once we get our thinking minds out of the way and allow the energy of birth and the age old instincts kick in things turn out just fine.

The Farm has delivered all sorts of babies to mothers with wide ranges of circumstances and has wonderful birth outcome statistics that are also covered in the book. I am really enjoying reading the book, it’s giving me the knowledge and reinforcement needed to prepare for Tater’s birth at The Farm!

Speaking of Tater’s birth, today marks the beginning of my 27th week pregnant. Other than being drag-ass tired the pregnancy is progressing great and I can’t believe how far along we are. It is so freaking exciting!