Welcome, Blanca and Elonwy. Good to see you both here.
Blanca - sounds like you're pretty much ready! I imagine you must be getting so excited, it's getting so close to baby-meeting time! I already ordered a stretchy wrap second-hand, and I have some clothes, but I have a ways to go until I'm as ready as you are.
Tank - that's great that you had such a good day with your husband. Mine doesn't get too verbose about anything, so he hasn't said a lot about it, but I think he's at least moderately excited. And he was very apologetic when he caused me to spill chainsaw oil on one of my three pairs of maternity pants, so he's paying attention at least. It's sweet that your guy was jealous of the other woman showing.
Cristini - yeah, I can't have a homebirth either, unless I want to go unassisted, which I really don't, but I did find that pretty interesting. And I like the idea of knowing what procedures they might choose to do, and why, when I'm in the hospital. My sister thinks I shouldn't read up too much because I'll scare myself, but I would rather have information than be in the dark. What really would scare me is if they said that they were going to do something to me, or I had some complication, and I didn't know what it was! I would much rather know than not. My library ordered in a bunch of birthing books for me on interlibrary loan, so I've got lots of information in front of me.
Val - not wanting an epidural does not make you a wimp at all! It's supposed to provide pain relief, so not wanting one makes you stronger, right? But yeah, keeping your options open is always wise. I guess here it's really hard to get one anyway, which is fine by me, because I don't really even want the option. On the other hand, I can get nitrous oxide (laughing gas), which I've had before at the dentist and liked. I like that that's an option - it's short term, self-administered, has no known ill effects for the baby (except for one study which found a higher probability of amphetamine use in adult life, which is something I could explain to the kid about why they should never use amphetamines - since they would be even more dangerous for them than for most people). My sister told me that she was doing okay with her pain-med free labor until she overheard the nurse say it would be at least another two hours, when she had already been stuck in transition for a couple of hours (baby's face was turned the wrong way). Then she wanted an epidural, but they couldn't get her one right away, so she had to just live without, and then less than an hour later (I think she said), baby was born. She said that she hadn't realized how much she would want it, but also that she didn't end up getting it and made it through anyway. So it can definitely be done, even when the laboring woman isn't sure that it can!
Birdie - I'm only partway through Ina May's Guide right now, just finished the birth stories and now on to the second part. So far I really like the positive feelings it's focusing on. Sometimes I need a reminder that I can do difficult tasks, just like women have been doing them for hundreds of thousands of years. And I've heard that the non-vegan or non-vegetarian cravings are fairly common. Some women just go ahead and eat what they're craving, thinking that their body must need it. I'm not so 100% sure, because I'm pretty sure I don't NEED olives, but it's hard to be certain - I might need salt, but there are other possible sources. Just like if you're craving animal products you might need more B12 or protein, but there are other sources for those too. Good luck on getting through that stuff. And congratulations on your new job! I took a list of recommended daily intakes for pregnancy and looked at the prenatals, then picked the one that was closest. It didn't have as much C or calcium as it should, so I take those separately as well. I think the options are pretty limited here, since it's quite a small town, but I'm reasonably happy with the ones I'm taking. Don't remember what they're called, though.
Which brings me to:
AFM: I'm probably (almost certainly) being overly paranoid, but I had a tiny tiny bit of pink-tinged discharge two days ago, and then occasional very light brown-tinged discharge yesterday and today . . . so I'm not getting off the couch until my ultrasound tomorrow. I'm nearly certain that it's just a yeast infection, but just in case it's something more serious, I figure bed rest (or as near as I can manage) won't hurt anything, for just two days. I'm glad my u/s is so soon, because then I can be precautionary without it being unduly ridiculous. My husband has been doing a lot of work by himself, just because I've been feeling pretty tired, and he's been very good about just doing it and not acting like I'm being unreasonable . . . even though I probably am. Anyway, tomorrow will probably be very reassuring.
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