Nesting

I haven't blogged in too long, and a lot of that has to do with the insane amounts of energy I've had over the past few weeks. Once the vomiting ended, pregnancy became a very enjoyable thing. Especially with the extra energy. I am not even kidding. On some days I make it through my 8 hour day, go to the gym, and still find myself dying to wash the dishes, do laundry, etc. And the nesting, dear God the nesting. There must be one specific hormone associated with this, and I would love to know what it is. I think Kevin would love to know what it is so that he could eliminate it.

Here's a perfect example: Friday night was a big big big work event for me. The biggest event all year in fact. I had worked for months preparing every last detail. On the day of I worked for 12.5 hours, and Kevin worked for 14. The event involved over 1000 people in attendance, and it also involved a lot of manual labor from Kevin. Anyway, we got home late that night and we were both exhausted but couldn't sleep right away. So we stayed up until 1am, and woke up around 8am the next morning both feeling like we'd been in a car accident. We dragged ourselves out for coffee and bagels. After we ate Kevin was ready to go home and veg. Not me. I was suddenly hit with the need to nest.

I cannot quite explain exactly what it feels like, but basically I am suddenly consumed with energy and the need to do something, anything, but sit still. (As a side note if you've ever seen Stephanie after a latte, and with a sketch pad full of ideas, while her hands get all panicky and shaky as she explains why we should "make unicorn shaped pancakes, right-this-second!" It's sort of similar, but imagine being Stephanie) So Kevin said "are you ready to go home?" And I said "no, I kind of feel like buying Peapod a stuffed animal today." What I meant was "I'll settle for a stuffed animal but I'd really like to buy a stuffed animal, then find a crib, and a crib mattress, and a mattress pad, and build the crib, and set the stuffed animal in it." OR, find a new apartment this minute, one preferably with laundry hookups, and then buy a washer and dryer, and sit in this empty apartment doing laundry in my own machines! While these were the things that nesting was telling me to do, we went to Target instead where we shopped for a friend's baby. Then I barely made it to the cereal aisle before I completely lost all my energy, and all my desire to nest and could do nothing more than lean pathetically on Kevin and whine. I finally felt the way the poor guy was feeling all morning. The events from the previous day finally caught up with me, and my head was pounding, and I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for 3 days. I actually said to him "this is how you've been feeling this whole time, and you walked through Target with me? I am such a jerk! What is wrong with me?" But he just sort of nodded his head (probably not wanting to do or say anything that might wake the nesting beast within me). By the time we got to the car I was super cranky and whining about having low blood sugar. Kevin silently unwrapped a fruit leather and handed it to me as we drove home.

The Beginning of My Birth Plan

Did I tell you about the time my doctor and I made some preliminary decisions about my labor and delivery? Well it went something like this.

Dr.: "which hospital do you plan to deliver at?"
Me: "Arcadia Methodist"

Dr.: "if it's a boy do you want him circumcised?"
Me: looked at Kevin and made him answer.

Dr.: "do you think you'll want an epidural?"
Me: "Nope." huge nervous grin.
Dr. "great!"

Yes. I have committed to an epidural free delivery. I feel like this is such a debatable topic. Let me first say that I am not against epidurals. Choosing to relieve some of the pain does not make a mom less of a woman. But I will explain my decision, and why I think it is best for me.

It really started quite a while ago. When I was in high school I was very interested in child development, and took multiple child development classes. In these classes I had the opportunity to watch babies being born in every situation one can imagine. The most impacting video shown involved two women in labor at the same time. One woman chose the epidural, while the other woman chose to be epidural free. At the end of their labors each woman birthed beautiful and healthy babies. But there was a difference. The baby whose mom had the epidural was sleepy (albeit snuggly too). He just sort of hung out, eyes closed and quiet. The baby without the epidural was looking around, and making lots of noise. They did a split screen of each baby laying on their respective moms bare chest. Epidural baby just sort of laid there. The other baby managed to move his head directly to his moms nipple, and began nursing. I was shocked. I had never considered the drug's affect on the baby. I felt pretty convinced in that moment that I did not want an epidural. I also had to watch women receiving epidurals, and I am more scared of that than I am of having the baby.

Secondly, I see the human body as being incredible. The fact that I am working on growing an entire human being never ceases to amaze me. As soon as the tiny embryo implanted itself in my uterus, my body took over the growing, and nourishing of this little person. I have not had to think about developing a heart or imagine bones forming. My body is just assisting the process. I take vitamins, but those are honestly more for me than the baby. I tend to see this as the ultimate test of my body. Keeping that in mind, our bodies have an amazing way of handling labor. We have hormones that are released periodically that accomplish different portions of the baby being born. I think my body knows what it needs to do, and I will just need to endure the very real pain that accompanies the process.

In the mean time I am trying to prepare my body for labor. I know that once that process begins that it will be similar to running a marathon. I am trying to exercise as much as possible, including exercises specifically for toning my "pelvic floor." Every time Kevin and I walk downtown, or I do cardio at the gym I know I am preparing for labor. I am also doing so by eating lots of protein every day, and drinking ridiculous amounts of water.

I also chose a hospital that is known for its low c-section rate, and for allowing women to labor on their own timetable. Our hospital even has "family" showers where I can work through contractions under the warm water. They will allow me to bounce on a ball, or take a walk in their garden as labor progresses. My doctor will allow me to go two weeks past my due date before suggesting induction, and allowed a friend of mine to labor naturally for 36 hours without pressuring her to take something to speed up labor. He also did not argue with me when I said I did not want an epidural.

I still have a lot to learn about labor, and breathing, and positions, etc. But in the mean time I take any pain I experience now as being nothing in comparison to labor.