On Monday, Dad and I went for our 5-month visit to the doctor. The trip started out a little rocky; when I had to do my usual weigh-in when we first got there, I found out to my horror that I have already passed the 150 lb. mark!!! : ( (To be exact, I was 151.0 lbs) I was so horrified about my blossoming weight that I even shed about 3 tears.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think I would change a thing. And I told Scott that I would rather consume too much than too little, in order to ensure that VJ is getting all of his proper nutrients and vitamins. I have been following a strict nutrition plan and getting my exercise (prenatal yoga), and I feel pretty committed to following the "diet," even if it might be causing me to gain a few extra pounds. (The program, which recommends a hearty intake of milk, lean meats and eggs, is apparently good for decreasing the mother's risk of pregnancy-related problems such as preeclampsia, toxemia, and premature labor.)
The doctor said that VJ's heartbeat is very strong and told me not to worry about the weight too. She mentioned that at this stage of the pregnancy that there is a lot of water retention, and when she looked at my ankles she said they are indeed swollen. So a couple pounds of that weight is water. (I hear from my yoga instructor that pregnant women tend to retain more water during the summer heat as well). My only main concern is whether I will be able to get this extra poundage off, once our little baby gets here.
The visit was interesting on a lot of other fronts as well. Since Scott and I have been taking the Bradley class, we have really become quite informed on the different procedures and interventions that hospitals take, and we wanted to ask about our own hospital's policies. We are aiming for as natural a childbirth as possible.
On the whole, we have been very pleased to find out that our hospital (which is apparently ranked #3 in the country AND has just opened the most advanced medical facilities in the country) is quite cutting-edge and supportive of progressive (women-centered) birthing scenarios. For example, the hospital allows women to get up and move around during labor, which is suppose to encourage a speedier birth. (Rather than making her lie on her back, and hooking her up to monitors and IVs) The hospital also supports laboring, delivery, and recovery in the same room, and, as long as the baby is fine, he gets to stay with us immediately after the birth. This is important, because, if possible, the baby should really be breastfeeding during the first hour after he is born. The breastfeeding stimulates the body's production of oxytocin, a natural hormone which stimulates the uterus to push out the placenta and stop bleeding. Without the hormone, a pregnant woman is at higher risk of hemorrhaging or bleeding out.
Another thing we really like is that the hospital assures that it will not feed the baby any formula or give the babies bottles or pacifiers UNLESS we ask them too. This is reassuring, because we had heard that in some hospitals, it is the opposite; even if you ask the hospital NOT to give these things to the baby, some nurses will try to do so anyway. We don't want the hospital to do this, because it confuses the baby about how to nurse. If exposed to the bottle/fake nipple, the baby learns a different, easier method of feeding. The baby has a harder time adapting to breastfeeding AND breast milk especially if it has been exposed to the other man-made alternatives.
Scott and I definitely want VJ to be breastfed, although we heard that it can be challenging at times. Besides all of the health benefits (and there are many), we learned that it is a couple thousand dollars cheaper per year to breast feed. That alone sold me immediately!!
One thing that we are hoping to avoid at the hospital though is the "Hep-lock" (the heparin-lock flush injection) which hospitals like to put on birthing mothers so that, in the event of a medical emergency, they can deliver necessary drugs and fluids to them. Such cases arise in about 4% of childbirths though, and administering the hep-lock in advance assumes that the nurses aren't going to be able to administer an IV quickly enough. (Scott and I think that if an emergency arises, they will be able to put in an IV just fine, with plenty of time. Maybe the hospital is just afraid of getting sued, so it takes this better-be-safe-but-annoying approach).
WE wanted to avoid the hep-lock because the risks don't seem to outweigh the discomfort and pain, that ultimately obstruct the laboring process. When we talked about this with the OB though, we were disappointed to hear that the hospital was very much against our not wearing one. She even suggested that if we choose not to wear one, we might as well go ahead and have a home birth. (As if the hep-lock is the deciding difference between hospital care and mid-wife assisted home births!)
There was one other thing that we weren't too pleased about with our hospital's apparent policies. I'm getting tired of writing for now though, so I'll talk about it in my next blog posting.
Incidentally, I have avoided naming our hospital here, but to find out more about it, have a look at some of these pages: Utube video (that won't embed in my blog), local ABC televised news report, and the general fact page at the new hospital's web site.) The story behind our hospital, which was just transferred to a new, state-of-the-art facility, is quite impressive. I am just hoping that all of this technology (which I'm sure is extremely helpful in certain high-tech medical situations) is conducive to the type of natural birth that Dad and I are hoping for. We feel strongly that too much medical technology in the majority of healthy birthing situations is UNhelpful, and can even lead to unnecessary, and even dangerous, interventions).
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