23 Week Appointment

Weight gain: 7 lbs! In 5 weeks ! I think I need to lay off the pudding. Or maybe I need to not weigh myself, I haven't decided which.

Blood Pressure: 100/60 Good

Heartbeat: 140 but you could barely hear it with all the jumping around going on in there.

Questions/Concerns: None. Everything looks great. It seems Ive entered the boring part of my pregnancy. Nothing really coming up in the next few weeks. I like boring though, boring is good.

And just for fun, here is my 23 week belly

Something to think about

Whenever anybody finds out that I am planning a VBAC ( vaginal birth after csection) I can almost bet that the first question they are going to ask is, aren't you afraid of your uterus tearing open? In truth, yes, I am afraid of uterine rupture, but not nearly as much as I'm afraid of being cut open again, having 6-8 weeks of painful recovery, dealing with the risk of infection and anesthesia, and all of the other potential risks that are brought about with a repeat C-section. I dont know why, but people seem to think that Cesareans are safe, yes, I understand that they are performed millions of times over throughout the world, but it is still MAJOR surgery.
I have been reading up on VBACS since I had my daughter, it was never really an option in my mind to not try for one. I just feel that for me, its the right thing to do, and thankfully my husband and midwives agree.
I recently came across a really interesting article over at Sage Femme on uterine rupture during VBAC that I thought I would share with you all.

Ruptures are more common than dying in a plane crash. Henci Goer's review of the literature on VBACs found 46 ruptures in 15,154 labors. This equates to a 0.3% rate... or 1 in 333, if you prefer. Your annual risk of dying in a plane crash is 1 in 4000, according to one source, and 1 in 700,000 according to another.

Since you asked, here are some more probability statistics for you:

Your risk of dying in a car accident, over the course of your lifetime, is between 1 in 42 and 1 in 75. This is roughly 4 to 5 times greater than the risk of uterine rupture.

You're about twice as likely to have your car stolen (that's an annual risk) than to experience a uterine rupture.

Your odds of being murdered are 1 in 140 over the course of your lifetime. That's 2 times more likely than the risk of rupture.

The annual risk of having a heart attack is 1 in 160, 2 times more likely than rupture. Your risk of dying from heart disease is roughly 1 in 6, or 55 times greater than your risk of rupture.

If you're a smoker, your risk of dying from lung cancer is 1 and a half times more likely than a VBAC mom rupturing during her labor.

You're about 17 times more likely to contract an STD this year than you are to have a uterine rupture; more likely to contract gonorrhea than to rupture, as well.

You're 13 times more likely to get food poisoning than to rupture.

You're more likely to have twins than a uterine rupture. Odds of twins: 1 in 90. That's about 3 1/2 times the likelihood of rupture.

If you ride horseback, you're 3 times more likely to die in a riding accident than you are to experience a uterine rupture.

If you ride a bike on the street, you are 4 times more likely to die in an accident (annual risk) than you are to suffer a rupture.

Having a serious fire in your home during the next year is twice as likely as experiencing a rupture.

You're ten times as likely to win at roulette as you are to have a uterine rupture.

If you flip a coin, you'll be more likely to get heads (or tails) 8 times in a row than to rupture.

The risk of cord prolapse is 1 in 37 (2.7%), or nearly ten times more likely than that of rupture.

And a final irony (heads up, those of you who want a doc to give his/her opinion on your likelihood of rupture next pregnancy!)...

You're 6 times more likely to have a doctor who is an impostor than you are to suffer a rupture. Two percent of docs are phonies (1 in 50), according to several sources I found.

So instead of worrying about rupture, why not take a few minutes to check up on your doctor's credentials? ;) It'd be a more profitable use of your time, and a substantially more likely cause for alarm.

Our 18 week checkup

I love my team of midwives. I am so happy that we decided to go this route, especially after the gong show care I received from my family dr during my last pregnancy( but lets not get that rant started). I actually find that I am looking forward to seeing them each visit. A few days ago we went to the office for our 18 week appointment. Here are my current stats:

Weight gain: 3 lbs , which puts me at a total of 11 lbs lost. I am not goign to lie and say im unhappy about it, at this point in my last pregnancy I had gained 11 lbs.

Blood Pressure: good

Heartbeat: 140, so no gender guesses today

Questions/Concerns: IPS Ultrasound and blood work look greta, the 15 week ultrasound looked great. It looks like my subchorionic hematoma is completely;y gone, unfortunately the leading edge of my placenta is slightly raised, which is a little concerning but they're going to keep an eye on it. I haven't googled it yet, as I find dr Google is pretty much good at only one thing, terrifying me.

All in all it was a really great appointment, and I cant wait to see them again in February.

Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth

Using history as her guide, nationally recognized midwife Gaskin explores what she hopes will be a renaissance in natural childbirth, something that she's been advocating since the mid-1970s. By focusing on how women of ancient civilizations and other modern peoples give birth, Gaskin puts our own hypersensitivities in perspective, uncovering a beautiful, sometimes orgasmic experience rather than a dreadful, painful one. Sure, pain is part of childbirth, but preparing for the pain in a realistic rather than sentimental way--whether giving birth at home or in a hospital--can be the key to a woman's ability to deal with it naturally. Within the pages of personal anecdotes, some touching, some startling, from Gaskin's patients and colleagues, every woman is sure to find something to relate to, whether or not she chooses to have a medicine-free labor. The helpful back matter features a glossary, a detailed resource list including advocacy groups and Web sites, and a bibliography that includes periodicals, rounding out an extremely comprehensive and up-to-date guide on the topic.

Have you read this book? Id love to hear what you thought of it.