Tips for: How To Find a Good OB or Midwife...

This is an important topic to me and one that we just waded through ourselves, so I thought I'd write about it just a bit on here.  I should definitely qualify this post though by saying that we have become only moderately educated about childbirth (through a Bradley Method class and our own experiences).. we are certainly not professionals!   As a result of really looking into birth and all of its complexities and options, we have decided to pursue natural, un-medicated childbirth because we feel like it is the safest route and has the best chance of leading to healthy mama + healthy baby (which is our #1 goal).  No matter what kind of birth you're hoping for though, I hope this post helps you select a good care-provider for you.

Finding the right doctor or midwife is very important!  Just like you don't buy the first pair of shoes you pick up in the shoe store without noting size, style, and comfort, you don't want to just "go with" the first care provider you meet (or the one closest to your doorstep or the one all of your friends rave about).. You first need to decide what you're looking for (no chaco sandals in the winter time for this girl!) and then you want to determine which care providers in your area best meet your needs.

Here are some questions that I recently asked our care providers:  

• Walk me through a typical, natural birth with you as the care-provider…
• How much of the actual labor & delivery do you attend?
• What are the chances that you will be there for my labor/delivery?
• How often do you like to check dilation?
• Do you recommend routine 3rd trimester ultrasounds?  Why?
• Is eating/drinking allowed during labor?
• Will I have the ability to labor in different positions, with birth ball, and freedom to walk?
• Is intermittent monitoring okay?  How many minutes per hour (and how does it change as labor progresses)?
• Is a heplock okay instead of an IV?
• What are delivery positions are you comfortable with? (squatting, side lying, hands and knees, etc.)
• Do you or the nurses do perineal massage? 
• What would cause you to use an episiotomy?
• How do you handle decels in baby's heart rate and how do you tell the difference between true  fetal distress and normal decels?  
• How do you handle a cord around the baby's neck?  
• Are you willing to delay cord clamping?
• What is your process for placenta delivery?
• What is your process for clamping the uterus down after placenta is delivered?  Are you okay with avoiding pitocin, unless medically necessary?
• What is your policy on induction?  When and how would you induce?
• What is your policy on premature rupture of membranes (before labor begins) and how long would I have to deliver the baby before you suggested a C-section assuming no signs of infection were present?
• After my water breaks, how much time do I have to deliver and am I limited to bed?
• Does the hospital provide labor tubs in room?  Can I labor AND deliver in the water?
• Does the hospital provide in-room care for newborns?  If not, when will baby need to go to the nursery and for how long?
• Does the hospital provide family centered c-sections (daddy keeps baby skin to skin until mom is in recovery, nursing asap, private transition)?
• Where is the closest NICU?
• What is the hospital’s C-section rate?  What about yours?
• Do you encourage VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean)?

It would be wise for you and your husband to discuss these questions together and decide which ones are important for you both. You might even add to the list of questions as you think through other important issues based on your personal history, your current medical conditions, and your knowledge of the doctor/midwife/hospital you're looking into.  There are certainly many other issues to be considered than the ones I brought up here.  You should also think through the type of answer you're looking for on each question as well as possible follow-up questions before interviewing your care provider.

Remember, it's unlikely that you'll find any one person (whether doc or midwife) who will perfectly fit all of your needs/desires to a "T"... that's why it's important to decide which of these issues are most important to you and why.  Having an ultimate goal is helpful in this... our ultimate goal (again) is to choose the best option for a healthy mama + a healthy baby.  That's #1 for us.

Hope this helps!  If you have any questions about what types of answers we were looking for on any of these questions, feel free to comment below or email me, and I'll try to get back with you ASAP.   I'd also love to hear some of your own concerns/questions you asked/will ask your care provider!

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FFF: Sweeping & the Deck {videos}

Enoch discovered the broom & dustpan while I was sweeping last week and decided to help me get those floors a little bit cleaner.  ;)  There's also an "uh-oh" in this one, which is one of his newest words.



This is some footage that Hugh shot of Enoch enjoying the freedom of the deck (I say 'freedom' because there aren't too many rules to obey out there, unlike certain other rooms in our house).  This video definitely attests to how much he's improved in walking in the past few weeks... looking back at previous videos, I'm blown away!  There's also lots of grunting in this one, which is possibly one of the most common sounds out of Enoch's mouth these days.

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Tips for: When to buy organic

This question stumped me for the longest time, especially knowing that pesticides are becoming more prevalent and potent in produce.  Thankfully, around a year or two ago, one of my sweet friends shared a tip with me that has helped me make wise decisions about which produce to buy organic and which to buy "regular" (aka: cheap).   Some of you may already know about this tip, but I thought I'd share it anyway, in case there are some out there reading who don't yet...

So, without further ado, meet the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen!  These two lists are put out each year by the Environmental Working Group after they've tested to see which produce contains the most and the least chemical residue.

Source: Environmental Working Group
(from: http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/2012-shoppers-guide-to-pesticides-the-dirty-dozen-clean-15)

Here's how it works: any produce you see on the Dirty Dozen List should be bought organic because they have the highest amounts of residual pesticides and other nasty chemicals.  Any produce you see on the Clean Fifteen List can be bought regular (non-organic) because they have the lowest residual chemicals.

When I was first introduced to these lists, I have to admit that even though I was excited to be informed, I was slightly overwhelmed... I mean, I regularly buy things on the dirty dozen list, like weekly!  And let's just be honest, not every grocer carries organic grapes (and if they did, I probably couldn't afford them anyway!)..  So, to get past my overwhelmed state, I decided to set a few simple goals, and that's what I'd recommend for you to do as well if you're interested in using these lists to your advantage.  :)

Last year, my goal was to buy only organic apples (they're one of the dirty dozen that I do buy every week without fail because they're a staple in this house).  And about halfway through the year, I added potatoes to my "only buy organic" list.  Those two were pretty easy for me because our local WalMart carries 3-4 lb bags of organic apples and potatoes.

This year, I've been working on adding spinach to my organic list as well as substituting grapefruits and kiwis for peaches/nectarines when possible (this will be harder in the summer when all of those peaches and nectarines come into season).   I'm also hoping to have some type of small garden this year (just trying to figure out where in my yard and what kind of containers), and if that happens, I hope to grow cucumbers and bell peppers, two of our other staples on the dirty dozen list.  :)

Now I realize that it's possible that some of you are ready to jump into the deep end and stick to these lists fully... if so, you can click the link below the picture to find a free pdf that you can print to carry in your purse, in case you don't want to memorize the lists (which is harder than I first thought!).  If you really want to go hard core on these lists (and if you're on a budget like we are), you might consider making the clean fifteen your list of weekly staples and buying one organic from the dirty dozen list per week (or month) as a special treat.  :)

HAPPY SHOPPING AND/OR GARDENING!!

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30 weeks w/ Karis Grace

Somehow the clock keeps ticking, and as a result we have reached 30 weeks with sweet Karis!  By God's grace, I am still feeling good overall, and Karis is becoming more active the larger she grows.  Speaking of growth, baby girl is most likely around 15-16" long now and weighs roughly 3 pounds... just think about holding the 3 lb roast at the grocery store!  :)   Hugh and I both just love feeling her squirm in there and talking to her.  :)

Just like Karis, my midsection continues to grow, and I'm daily laying aside shirts that are no longer long enough to cover my baby bump.  It's funny because I think that when I first found out I was pregnant with Karis I underestimated how large I would grow (my memory must have faded since I got huge with Enoch).  Anyway, I stocked up on a few new maternity shirts, a few of which I called "third trimester" shirts because they were so big and long.. but secretly in my head I thought "there's no way I'm going to need shirts that big!"  Wrong!  I'm so glad I kept the bigger ones because now I look at the shorter, smaller ones and think... "there's no way I'd wear that out of the house... it wouldn't even cover my belly button!"  haha!  

Although it doesn't look like she has dropped when comparing pictures of my belly, for some reason I don't feel like she's pushing up into my ribs/lungs anymore *usually* which is so nice!  I do have to be careful about working too hard or too much though because these pregnant hips are so loose that they can easily become sore with too much up and down and all around motions (like when I'm helping Hugh work on the deck).  The ice pack works wonders though, and it has been in frequent use lately.  ;)

The Braxton Hicks contractions are pretty regular these days, but they are usually only short-lived.  Every once in a while I have to lie down and rest for 20 min or so to make them go away, but they always stop, so no complaints!  When I go for walks they sometimes become more intense and even painful... I've just been reminding myself though that this is just practice for the real deal.  :)

And my last pregnancy update is that I'm loving being able to sip some warm red raspberry tea every night (it's supposed to tone my uterus and prepare me for birth), but whether it does the job or not, it is so delicious, and I enjoy every last sip!

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Around Our House: the deck

The back deck was one of the first projects on our list for two reasons: safety & insurance requirements.  Let me show you why... 

First, it's HIGH up off the ground and the rails were too far apart (a little baby could easily roll right through them!!  eek!!)

... and the steps/landing platform had absolutely NO railing before we moved in!

So this has been a high priority since we bought the house.  Thankfully, the steps/platform issue was solved when my mom and stepdad visited us to help us prep the house for move-in day.  They stayed around a week, and adding railing to the steps and platform was one of Craig's first projects.  You can see his handy work below...

SO much safer!!

Then Hugh and a friend added all of the 2"x2" horizontal boards to fill in the gaps between the 2x4s (They technically did this in the photo above as well since my stepdad only added the 2x4s to make it the step/platform railing look like the other because we weren't sure yet how we would address the large gaps.)

Here's one to scale so you can see how much safer it is for little ones:

I absolutely love the way this project turned out!  The narrow 2x2s add safety yet didn't sacrifice the "open" feel of being able to see through the deck railing (something I did not want to happen!!). 

---

The other deck project that we just completed this weekend was fixing 3 holes in the deck floor.  The holes were there because of burns.. probably from a charcoal grill.  They weren't large enough to be a concern for adults, but they were certainly big enough to catch a small foot and cause trouble (see below).

So we decided to cut out the area around the hole and patch it.  Ideally, we would have used some aged wood (to blend better with the existing wood), but we didn't have any, so we bought some treated lumber and made due.  Hugh did all of the cutting and most of the drilling (he's becoming so handy!!) while I helped here and there.  We put a 2x4 under the deck for support beneath each side of the patch that didn't already have an existing support running below it.  

After screwing the patches in place, it feels so sturdy and much safer!  

And now Enoch can run and play out on the deck as much as he wants!!  I'm so thankful because it'll probably be one of our new favorite ways to spend the afternoon (since it's shady in the afternoon back there).  :)  

The only other thing we have left on our project list with the deck is to add a gate at the top of the stairs, so for now I just position myself there in a chair with some sweet tea and enjoy watching my little man play.  :)

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FFF: Our Spring Break Picnic

We celebrated Spring Break last week with a picnic.  We went to our favorite Starkville spot - a cute little pond on campus - and enjoyed the beautiful 70 degree weather!  I picked up some amazingly juicy burgers from a burger shack (which was totally a pregnant craving, but Hugh didn't complain at all!!), and we ate them in the sunshine with our sweet tea.  Afterward, the boys decided to play a little and I grabbed a few photos.  It was such a fun lunchtime treat!

*In case you were wondering, Hugh worked through Spring Break since he is a 9 month faculty.  From what I understand, they pretty much work like an administrator would during 9 months of the year (Spring & Fall semesters), meaning that when the university is closed and the administrators are all gone, he is also "off" (but he doesn't get off just because the students do).  And then during summer, he is "off" unless he has research projects he needs to work on (which is ideal for part of the summer) or unless he teaches a summer class as "extra" work. 

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Around Our House: progress

We have been busy little beavers trying to get our house ready for a certain little girl's arrival this spring.  I haven't been blogging about our progress much because it has been incremental, and I feel like every "goal" we set ends up becoming 5 separate projects..  haha!  Such are the joys of owning an older home.  But the good news is that we can both see progress being made, and we have been staying under budget on most of these projects by doing some to all of the work ourselves.

One thing that has really helped us (especially me!) stay focused on the most important projects (as opposed to the fun or crafty ones that I'm so drawn to) was a little meeting we had around a month ago.  We sat down with a budget and a list of projects that we wanted to accomplish and worked through which should be given priority.  This made our decisions about what to tackle first so easy!  Some of our high priorities were necessities (thanks to our home owners' insurance requirements).  A few of our projects became priorities because of health-related reasons (for instance mold), and a few became priorities because of our family's goals (like having an international student live with us).

Anyway, now that we've had a month of concentrated efforts toward these priorities, I thought it was about time to begin posting about our progress.  We are certainly not professional DIYers, but I am so proud of how far we've come thus far!  Hugh has especially stepped up and learned a thing or two about the art of being a handyman, which has saved us many pretty pennies already.  Of course, I've been slightly limited in what I can do because of pregnancy, but even just organizing projects and gathering tools and supplies keeps me busy enough... not to mention cleaning up after said projects and keeping the house running.  ;)

I've been trying to take photos as we go (trying being the key word..), so I hope to start posting about the progress around our house soon... stay tuned!

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