Birth Centers

As some of our readers know, I have had my last two babies in a free-standing birth center. I just received their local newsletter in the mail, and, as always, I was extremely impressed with the great work they are doing for women and babies in our community. While I have a pretty negative relationship with labor and delivery, overall, I love the birth center experience, and I think the choice to birth in a birth center, as opposed to a hospital, it a great decision for many couples. It isn't for everyone--most particularly those that are high risk!--but for many women it is a great option.

My birth center offers several birthing suits, complete with queen size beds, jacuzzi tubs, natural lighting, relaxing music, and kitchen areas. Nurse midwives attend to all births at the center, and if an emergency arises, you are just a few steps away from the local hospital. Last year, the midwives at the birth center delivered 504 babies. Only 8% of those babies were delivered via a c-section (compared to the almost 40% rate at most hospitals!).* Their episiotomy rate was a mere 5%, AND what I find the most impressive statistic, they had a 99% rate of initiating breastfeeding, and a 90% rate of continued breastfeeding at 6 weeks. Talk about baby centered care!

In general, birth centers are strong promoters of the health of women and babies, and they give many families a safe and wonderful option for a natural delivery in a home like setting with emergency medical care just steps away. If you desire to deliver naturally, I think it is really important to feel comfortable and relaxed at your delivery location. For some women this means a home birth, for others a hospital setting, and for me, it means a combination of the two at our local birth center.

I first sought out the birth center after two less than stellar hospital births. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for the healthy delivery of my first two children, but my desire to birth my babies naturally, without unnecessary interventions, was very difficult for me in a hospital setting. For starters, I just couldn't relax in the hospital. We lost our first baby at birth back in November 2002, and as soon as I walk into a hospital labor and delivery room, with all those machines and beeps and monitors, I am immediately brought back to my labor with Therese. My stress level increases and I just desperately want to go home. Stress increases pain, and I know I will ask for pain meds as soon as labor really starts to intensify.

Second, hospitals are set up to deal with medical situations--mainly emergencies and illnesses. In an uncomplicated birth, the process is natural. Mentally I find all the "math" of the hospital draining. The constant monitoring, measuring, timing, and statistics are stressful and prolong my labor. Sure it's my fault that I let all the numbers get to me, but I'm very vulnerable when in labor! I don't like to be put on a timetable and told that I'm taking too long!

In addition, I am a wimp. Plain and simple, if pain medication is available, I will ask for it! If I want to go naturally, I need to move myself away from the temptation of easily available pain medication. The birth center is great because when I ask for pain meds, and believe me I do so frequently at the end of each of my labors, they simply tell me that it is unavailable and will necessitate a transfer. This line usually buys enough time to get me through the most difficult part of labor. I really admire all you natural birthing hospital women--please tell me, and B-Mama who is about to go this route, how you do it?!? A doula? A fantastic husband? Delaying your arrival at the hospital until the last minute?

But I digress...my basic point here is that most birth centers are great places, so do check out your local options!


*I realize that hospitals will have higher c-section rates because of the self selection factor in repeat c-sections. The birth center, however, does take repeat clients attempting a v-bac, and so their numbers are higher in this area as well. My overall point is that the natural techniques of the birth center are much more likely to end in a vaginal delivery.

Thankful

For the healthy arrival of Claire Marie.
Born on the Feast of St. Francis, Sunday, October 4th at 11:37 pm, as predicted over 1 month ago by her elder sister Gianna!
She was the perfect weight and by far my smallest baby--8 pounds 3 ounces, 20 inches long.
We are all home, recovering, and enjoying our first day together as a family.

Joanne, congrats to you on your near perfect weight guess!

Random musings of a very pregnant builder

So I'm wondering why so many friends and family have forwarded me the link to this story? Is a 19.2 pound baby going to make me somehow feel better about my tendency to have very large babies? Or maybe this is just funny and I fail to see the humor because my due date is 11 days away and I'm rather anxious about my baby's size. I have a hope that she will be smaller than my last (10 pounds 13 ounces), I'm praying she won't top 11 pounds, and I'm really praying for a healthy delivery free of any broken collar bones. But I am frightened that a woman's body could grow a child THAT large. I'm praying my body is not capable of this feat. I don't have gestational diabetes, so that's a start.

The last days of pregnancy seem to be a real emotional battle for me. One day I'm optimistic that it will soon be over, the next moment I can actually convince myself that I will be the first woman to be pregnant forever. In the last weeks, as the sleepless nights increase, my ability to view my situation with a level head practically disappears. I start dreaming about robbing the local pharmacy and injecting myself with pitocin. I scour the internet for labor inducing techniques and I actually start believing that eating pineapple will put me into labor. In my more sane moments, I remember MaryAlice's wise words, "If chinese food or spicy mexican food or pineapple actually put women into labor, there would be no need for pitocin." I realize how irrationally I'm behaving. Suddenly, I feel trapped, hopeless, and depressed. I then think about my baby, and I feel guilty for having any depression--how lucky I am!

The insanity continues, day after day, sometimes for several weeks, and then it happens. Labor begins and in the time it takes to watch a football game (or at least I hope that's the length of my labor!), I have a beautiful baby in my arms. The babymoon ensues, and most of my suffering is soon forgotten.

The end of pregnancy is so hard precicesly because it is so unpredictable. The wait, the uncertainty, the what if's dominate those last weeks. I am reminded each day, and often each hour, that I am not in control. For a type A control freak like me, this lesson is hard to swallow. I pray for the grace during these last days to trust in God's plan, and in his perfect timing.

Nesting

Last weekend we set out to rearrange the upstairs bedrooms in preparation for the arrival of our little girl. Augustine (19 months) moved from the nursery into our guest room, which required assembling an additional crib and cleaning out many of the items we were "storing" in the guest bedroom. It was somewhat time consuming, but thankfully the upstairs of our house is now very organized!

The nursery was painted in a sky blue, perfect for a baby boy. I wasn't in the mood to paint anything, so I opted instead for a few quick changes, and I'm pleased that these few things transformed the room into a girly nursery.

First, I cleaned and ironed Gianna's old pinked checked valences, and I love the way they look on the windows with the sky blue paint. I then cleaned some of Gianna's old baby blankets to add a nice touch to the crib and chair. I purchased a new changing table cover (pink polka dots). And finally, Gianna helped me decorate the room with butterfly and flower stickers. I was a little worried that these wall decals might look tacky, but they added a great touch, transformed the room, and will be very easy to remove when we want to change things around. We still have a few pictures to hang, but overall this nursery redo took about one hour, and cost under $20!




And I should also add that I sorted, washed, and folded all of our baby's clothes. In the process I a came across this adorable dress, and had tears in my eyes as I remembered our baby Gianna getting her first set of baby pictures taken in this dress.



And then it all hit me. We are having another baby, another little person will soon join our family. My pregnancy has been so difficult that I have been counting down the days until our baby's birth, all along thinking of the birth as an event that will make me "unpregnant!" But seeing this dress brought me a lot of joy. I sighed, I got nostalgic, and I was suddenly excited. Our baby girl is arriving soon, and in the end, THAT is all that matters.

At my midwife appointment yesterday, after discussing my latest aches and other health ailments, my midwife looked through my chart and commented that I have really had a rough pregnancy. After this comment, she handed me a form for my birth plan, or as they like to call it, "Birthing Hopes and Dreams". I laughed and said, "In all honesty, I only have 3 goals for this birth. I want a healthy baby, under 10 pounds, and I don't want a c-section. I'm sorry if these goals are a little lame for you and this all-natural birthing center!" She looked at me and said, "with what you have been through, I think those are GREAT goals." And so they are.

And I will keep this little dress out to remind me of my baby girl, and my very simple birthing hopes and dreams.

Palin Revisited

I realize that Sarah Palin is a pretty controversial political figure these days. It seems she is either loved or hated--less for her politics than for her her personal choices. I thought the following article was really interesting, and provided some interesting insights into how the strong emotions Palin evokes represent the cultural divide among Americans on two hot button issues: the right to life and disabilities.

Here is an excerpt:

Palin is controversial, in part, because America is divided over disability. We’ve established laws and institutions that protect people with disabilities. But we also do everything we can to make sure they don’t see the light of day.

Trig is a reminder of our fierce ambivalence over disability. Every mention of his name is a pinprick to our conscience. Every photo of mother and son is a reminder of concepts —vulnerability, dependency and suffering — our culture no longer tolerates, as well as virtues, such as humility, dignity and self-sacrifice, it no longer extols.

Trig is also a reminder of an inescapable truth: Disability is an inherent part of the human condition. At a time of deep cultural divisions, 1-year-old Trig Palin represents the deepest division of all, between a culture that increasingly sees genetic perfection as an entitlement and a culture still rooted in the belief that human beings are defined not by their capabilities but, instead, by the very fact of their humanity.

While I don't think the issues mentioned in this article are the only reasons Americans have such strong feelings about Palin, I do think the divide is a very large contributing factor. Obviously any politician will evoke feelings of discontent from those with opposing political opinions. When someone speaks of their hatred for George W. Bush, they roll off a litany of concrete political decisions with which they disagree. With Palin, however, the hatred (and often the praise), is primarily directed at her personal life choices. And this is where I think the article hits the nail on the head. To most Americans, Palin isn't just another politician, but a representation or a critique of one's own personal values and choices.

God doesn't give grace in advance

As Juris Mater and MaryAlice discussed in their recent posts, many of us Builders have been dealing with adversity lately. Personally, I have been feeling pretty down and overwhelmed and my emotional state has a strong physical componenet. Back in early February, I began the marathon of pregnancy in sprint mode--horrible nausea, hospital IV and anti-nausea meds, and even bedrest due to a large cyst. When Easter rolled around, the fog lifted briefly, I was removed from bedrest, and I started to feel a bit better. But soon other health issues began to plague me-- anemia, hip problems, and general circulation issues in my leg (to name a few!), and I'm only 21 weeks! Having started the marathon sprinting, I'm now dead tired and the distance to the finish line is downright depressing.

I spend my free moments wondering how I will survive the hot summer. What will it be like in August when the heat really kicks in and I'm huge and even more uncomfortable? How can I possibly go through another labor and delivery when my body is already falling apart? What about future pregnancies? How will I ever have another baby? Should I ever have another baby? What about my health? Will my circulation issues ever resolve? As these questions have come to dominate my thoughts, my emotional state continued to spiral downward.

I was sharing all my worries, physical complaints, and general concerns with B-Mama the other day and she gave some great advice. She said, "I have a rule. I don't talk about future pregnancies at all when I am currently pregnant." Great point.

And then I began to realize that I have been spending an awful lot of time worrying about future events, rather than just living in the present.

When I suffer, I tend to look toward the future, toward the light at the end of the tunnel. My forward thinking allows me to see that the suffering is only temporary, as the future usually looks brighter than the present. But this isn't always the case. There are times when our suffering is so intense primarily because there isn't an obvious light at the end of the tunnel (or else that light is so far away we can't even get a faint glimpse of its presence).

6 years ago, I was pregnant with my daugther Therese. Therese had been diagnosed with anencephaly (a fatal neural tube defect), and I knew that the day we said hello to Therese would also be the day we said goodbye. The days, weeks, and months of my pregnancy passed very slowly, and I experienced great anxiety thinking about how I could possibly watch my daughter die. The final days of my pregnancy were spent in a sleepless state, waiting for Therese to arrive, and worrying about how I could ever say goodbye.

And yet, when the time came, the grace was there. When Therese was born and died I experienced the most profound sense of peace I have ever felt in my entire life. I didn't feel one ounce of sadness, fear, or worry. Those moments were perfect and I can honestly say that I have never felt such peace before or since. But the grace didn't arrive in advance. It was there when I needed it, and not a moment sooner.

And this brings me back to my present difficulties. Once again, my sufferings have propelled me into worry and anxiety about the future. But through the guidance of some great friends (thanks B-Mama!), I realized that I don't have the grace to deal with a future pregnancy because I'm not yet there. I don't even have the grace to deal with the hot month of August in my huge, pregnant and malfunctioning body ;-) because it isn't August. But I do have the grace for today. And when the going gets tough, I need to pray harder than ever for the grace to live in the present moment. I need to run the marathon of pregnancy--and motherhood--not one race at a time or one mile at a time, but one stride at a time.

As the late, great Rich Mullins put it: "Step by step you lead me, and I will follow you all of my days."

It's a Girl

And everything on the ultrasound looked great! We are obviously overjoyed. This is my first ever anatomy scan where the doc said everything looked "normal" and there was no need to return for another scan. We are completely boring, and with pregnancy, boring is a fantastic thing to be. With every other baby, even my healthy 3, we had to return for at least one small thing. But not this time. Unless my midwife sees a problem, I hopefully can go the rest of the pregnancy without another ultrasound. Praise God for such wonderful news. Thank you all for your prayers!

Praising God Today

As I should do every day.

Many of you were praying, and for that I want to say thank you. We had our ultrasound this morning, and I was overwhelmed by how many of your prayers were answered. Ever since the birth and death of our daughter Therese, ultrasounds have been an incredibly stress-filled experience for me. I still vividly remember the day Therese was diagnosed with anencephaly. June 18th, 2002 changed our lives forever. The dim lights and hum of the ultrasound machine always bring me back to that day, the terrible news, the feelings of desperation, hopelessness, and the unending tears.

But today was different. We arrived at the hospital and were greeted by a wonderful ultrasound tech, the mother of a friend from high school. She knew about Therese, and she knew me. It was a joyful surprise, and I was immediately aware that God was present and taking care of us today. To some this would be a coincidence, but to me, it was clearly an answer to prayer.

As soon as the scan began, we saw a nice beautiful round head (pictured above). I began to cry. The tech immediately said, "see that nice round head, this baby does not have anencephaly." I grabbed Mr. Red's hand and relaxed. My baby looked beautiful. He or she was moving around and otherwise looking very normal for a 14 week baby. The tech carefully pointed out each thing she was looking for, and was full of assurances that our baby looked great. It is obviously still very early, and we will head back for a full anatomy scan at 20 weeks (where they will scan for another neural tube defect called spina bifida). But as of today, all is well.

She then scanned for the cyst that has been causing me so many problems this pregnancy. The cyst shrank considerably, and is now 1/2 the size it was just 1 month ago. This is fabulous news, as I will now avoid having surgery during the pregnancy.

Today was a day of answered prayers. A day when God said yes to the wishes of my heart. And for that I am VERY thankful. I am also keenly aware that it was not just my prayers he was hearing. Thank you all for your prayer for me and for our baby.

--And as a funny aside, I have a history of HUGE babies, and our baby was already measuring almost 1 week ahead in growth! Not bad considering I have eaten much in the past 2 months.

It's baby time...

Prayers for B-Mama as she has headed over to the hospital to greet sweet baby J! After a bit of prolonged 1st stage labor yesterday, I am praying for B-Mama that labor will continue in high gear this morning and baby J will arrive very soon. I just spoke with B-Mama and the hospital where she planned to deliver is full ;-( They sent her to a neighboring hospital and she was en route with painful contractions when we spoke. I will write with any updates! Let's pray that baby J arrives by lunchtime!!!!!

Update****

He has arrived! Baby J was born at 10:38am, just 1 hour and 15 minutes after I spoke with B-mama! Baby J weighed it at 7lbs 4oz. I do not yet have his length. He arrived screaming and very healthy.

In addition, B-Mama had an unplanned totally natural delivery--with a very entertaining story surrounding baby J's arrival. Congrats to B-Mama and the entire family. I can't wait to see pictures of the little guy.

Against Conventional Wisdom

Most people say that you take the most pictures of your first baby and that future children don't have as many pictures. I see it quite differently.

One little guy is cute:

But two little guys are even cuter:

And three are irresistible!


My only hope is that they make a giant leap forward in digital photo storage in the future!

We are so thankful that our IncrediBaby arrived safe and sound. He was 7 pounds, 20.5 inches and is so well loved by his brothers. Thanks to all the builders and readers of this blog for your prayers.

We are still awaiting news from B-Mama!

While we are still waiting to hear details,

CONGRATULATIONS to Texas Mommy and family 

on the arrival of their newest baby boy last night!!!!

Both Mommy and baby are well.  Praise God!

More details to come...

A Friendly Competition

Among our builders we have two beautiful mamas due with baby boys in just a couple of weeks! We are all praying for a safe arrival and smooth delivery for both babies. And while we are waiting, I thought we could have a little competition to see who among us can best predict the date these little bundles of joy will arrive.

Here are some hints: Texas Mommy is due the 27th of July, and she has had her previous 2 boys a little bit early (6 days and 3 days). Prayers that Texas Mommy will again have her baby right on time...

B-mama is due August 4th. Her eldest boy arrived 4 weeks early due to blood pressure complications (no sign of that this time around praise God!) And her second boy (what's up with all the boys!) arrived right on time. B-mama's hubby is taking the bar exam at the end of July, so our prayers are with her to deliver after hubby is finished with the bar exam--and for sanity beforehand!

Ok readers, let's hear your guesses. The winner will receive bragging rights when we post the birth announcements. And do list a time of day with your guesses as a tiebreaker.

I'm going to leave my guesses in the comments.

Red

Prenatal Testing

B-mama,

Thanks for addressing this topic and I typed up a very long comment and decided to change it to a post. I've had a really busy week, otherwise I would have written about this sooner. I'm sure Kat will have some thoughts as well. For our new readers, this is a topic near and dear to my heart, as I had a daughter Therese, who died of a fatal birth defect called anencephaly in 2002. Kat also had a daughter, Lucy, with anencephaly. Anencephaly is a fatal neural tube defect easily detected via ultrasound, and it is one of the 4 things for which the Quad screen (also called and AFP or Triple Screen) tests.

Everything for which the Quad screen tests can be detected via ultrasound, the main reason to get the Quad screen is that it is done earlier (and cheaper) than an ultrasound and therefore can alert a couple to a problem sooner, and thereby allow them to terminate the pregnancy sooner :-( Couple this with a high false positive rate for the test, and B-mama is very wise to recommend against this test. Even if your results come back indicating a problem, you then have to wait for the u/s to know if there really is a problem.

Unlike an ultrasound, CVS and Amnio are both very risky and dangerous to the baby. I'm actually not aware of any reason these tests need to be performed, other than to alert a couple to a problem and allow them the option of early termination. If these tests were for some reason medically necessary (in that they could help the baby in some way), an amnio can be done later in the pregnancy when the risk of miscarriage is small (there will be a pre-mature labor risk but that can be handled accordingly and is safer for the baby).

There are actually very few things even a good Obgyn can do prior to the birth of a baby to help that baby (other than setting you up to deliver at the best hospital and choosing a different method of delivery or pregnancy management). Knowing at 14 weeks that the baby has a problem is REALLY not necessary and not at all beneficial for the baby--you can wait until the 20 week u/s to discover problems.

When talking about pre-natal testing, I think it is really important to follow the principle of first do no harm. If the procedure can harm the baby, and the only reason you are getting it done is so that you can know something (not to help the baby in any way), then the test/procedure is immoral and should not be performed.

Second, I think everyone should think long and hard about what they will do with a poor prenatal diagnosis. Most people who plan to love their baby for each day God gives them with that baby don't want to know at 12 weeks that their baby has a fatal birth defect. Even with my history, we try to avoid the 12 week ultrasound to check for anencephaly as I don't think I could bear to hear bad news that early in the pregnancy.

I do, however, believe firmly that at least one ultrasound is best for both the parents and baby. There are conditions, such as placenta previa, that are diagnosed via u/s and necessitate a c-section for the safety of the baby. There is also very little, if any, evidence of harm from ultrasound, so it is a diagnostic tool that is usually always in the best interest of both mother and baby.

Pre-natal testing is obviously a very personal decision that each couple must make. Since the medical profession has values that are usually very different from our own, it is always best to do your own research in this area and ask lots of questions before making any decisions. In my own personal case, I interview potential caregivers and ask them how they would handle me as a patient were I to have a baby with a fatal birth defect. Would they support me in carrying the pregnancy to term? Would they treat me and my baby with respect and dignity? If the caregiver is uncomfortable with these types of questions, they are probably not someone you want caring for you or your baby.

There are a number of resources to help families receiving a poor prenatal diagnosis. Be Not Afraid is a wonderful support group. I would also highly recommend contacting a perinatal hospice.

While I hope and pray that none of our readers ever need these resources, I can say from personal experience that the life of my daughter Therese was a beautiful gift from God. While the wound is still there, deep in my heart, I can now say with confidence that I am unbelievably thankful for Therese. In her brief 9 months she taught her mama how to love, so that someday, I might join her at the feet of Jesus.

Eco Friendly Recommends from the March of Dimes

While I have some concerns with The March of Dimes (primarily their goal to have every baby be a healthy baby, a very unachievable objective in our fallen world) I do think The March for Dimes does some great work. They give women valuable information to make wise health choices prior to and during their pregnancies. Having personally suffered the loss of a baby due to a very serious birth defect, I'm all for helping to improve the health of every mom and baby. For the moment, I'll put aside some of my concerns with The March of Dimes and link to their recent online newsletter article, The Eco-Friendly Mom and Baby for the 21st Century.

Many of their recommendations are great for new moms, and a real starting-off point for those of us looking to go more "green" with our parenting. I know some of our commentors are pretty hard-core in this area, but for the rest of us, it's a good place to start--especially for those expecting new little ones soon! One of their recommendations, buying an organic mattress, is of particular interest to me, and I'm wondering where I can get one of these so as to not break the bank?

Triple Screen Query

Reader K writes:

I have a question. How do you all approach the prenatal testing that is available? I got a chill when a nurse suggested yesterday that I get testing done early so that I could "do something about it" before I'm out of the first trimester. I'm almost 37, and this is only my second pregnancy, but there wasn't this pressure with my first.

K, great question.

Just to give you some insight into my personal experiences, I have never opted to have the AFP (alphfetoprotein, triple screen, or quad screen) testing. It tests the mother's blood for the presence of AFP (and other serums), secreted by the baby's liver, which can indicate a host of anomalies, including neural tube defects, Down syndrome, kidney disorders, and others.  According to my midwife, of the AFP tests showing a positive reading, 90% are false positives, unnecessarily scaring the heck out of the poor parents! Positive AFP tests can (and usually are) followed up with an ultrasound and possibly an amniocentesis/chorionic villus sampling (CVS).  Many times an u/s is all that is necessary to confirm/discredit the AFP results.  Amnios and CVS carry risks (1-2%) of losing the baby.  

Most likely you are planning to have an u/s midway through the pregnancy anyway, so my opinion is--WAIT for the u/s and you'll have all the information you ever wanted without having to endure more tests and a potential scare!!  Present a firm "no" to your care providers and let that be the end of the story!

Now, as a disclaimer, some friends have recently been encouraged toward early testing with the promise of an additional second trimester u/s. Presented with such an option, I might go for it too! I can never see my little one too much during the pregnancy...

Additional thoughts?  Prayers, K, for a wonderful outcome and a blessed pregnancy!

For more information check out WebMD. 

The Joys of Expecting

While pregnancy offers more than a few hang-ups, here are some things I've been reveling in as I enter the 36th week:

* not ever having to "suck in"

* the extra TLC from my hubby (what a good guy he is!)

* the excuse of not wearing tie shoes (can you really reach your feet anyway?)

* the kind, pitiful glances from passersby (who doesn't love a little pity? ;)

* the excuse of sitting down and "propping"

* the companionship of a wee one

* the baby's feet sticking out my side (I really do enjoy this!)

* the excuse of ordering a waffle cone 

* knowing I am carrying a little miracle with me all the time

* the prospect of a new life in our family

* seeing my baby's brothers get so excited to meet him

* new baby things that are beginning to grace our home

* old hand-me-down, faithful items that are resurfacing from storage

What do you love about pregnancy?

Getting My Ducks in a Row--Nesting and Stroller Advice

I am the type of person that is always "nesting" even without a baby getting ready to make his appearance. Baby on the horizon only increases this compulsion. We purchased another baby monitor, located the infant car seat and co-sleeper and I made my husband go through his clothes this weekend. If I'm not laying down on my left side, something is being organized.

We finally completed our wills this week and had them notarized at Daddy's office (what is it about long office hallways that invite little boys to run at top speed until they go straight into someone's office?). Even though these concern temporal matters, it gives me much peace knowing these documents are in place. I seriously encourage everyone to have something down on paper should the unexpected happen. We followed the advice of several lawyers and didn't hire a lawyer, but used Quicken Willmaker instead. It also allowed us to make and have notarized other forms that authorize grandma to seek medical treatment for the kids, etc.

The one thing that I am still hoping to figure out before our little man arrives is how to make our double stroller work for 3. Has anyone tried the Lascal Buddy Board stroller platforms? I know they are expensive, but with as much as we go to the park and the pool and with gas prices so high, I am trying to figure out how to convey 3 kids under 3 if my back can't handle the sling for 12 hours a day. I called the company and, because of the handlebar on my Combi double stroller, they said it wasn't a great fit, but that the Basic buddy board would work better than the Maxi one. Are there any other options that I don't know about?

T1

Well, the good hearted Texas Mommy has encouraged us to look on the bright side of the third trimester, but other than the joy of finding out about a baby on the way, I can't come up with any good things about the first trimester of pregnancy. For any of you out there who might be just getting started on baby cooking, and especially for your spouses, Suzanne Temple sums it up.

Pregnancy Comforts

As I enter my third trimester, I realize how easy it is to talk about the discomforts of late pregnancy. Pinched nerves, round ligament pain and feeling like a waddling penguin certainly make the list of T3 woes.

As about half of the contributors to this blog are pregnant at any given time (the other half having newborns), I thought it might be fun to compare ideas about those things that comfort us during pregnancy, that lift our spirits, and make us feel great even if we look like whales.

So...here are a few of my picks:

Tea: Specifically Earth Mama, Angel Baby Third Trimester Tea
Either Elizabeth Foss or Kim at Starry Sky Ranch mentioned a very long time ago that they order their own herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs to make their own blends. This sounds like a much more economical route, but I have yet to get around to it.

Books: Right now I'm reading Pride and Prejudice. I'm sure before long I'll have Little Women on my nightstand, too.

Baths: I only take about 3 a year (not counting labor/birth). Lavender oil, a scented candle and both Tea and a Book are musts!

Frozen Meals: After a long day of chasing around two toddlers, I am sooo happy to that I have doubled up making meals and that my mom has brought some and I have a stash in the freezer.

Pillows: Lots of pillows, little pillows, big pillows, body pillows. If Mr. Incredible isn't complaining about lack of space then there aren't enough pillows.

Mortification: Offering up the discomforts for other moms, especially those who have miscarried or are going through difficult times helps

Gel Mat: One of the most unique, but also most appreciated gifts I have ever received. Standing at the sink doing dishes when pregnant is much nicer on a squashy gel mat.

Chocolate: My parents in St. Louis have received several panicked phone calls when I’m pregnant and realize I have just eaten the last piece of Bissinger’s dark chocolate.

Any other thoughts on treats for mom during late pregnancy?