35/35

35 weeks along with 35 days till D Day! With 35 days to go we have almost everything ready. I have washed all clothes, towels, blankets and bibs. All I have left is washing his bedding, installing the car seat,packing Cole’s hospital bag and packing my bag. I’m leaving Cam to fend for himself and he’s also in charge of making sure we have the camera and video camera with us. This past Sunday I went to Babies R US with my mom and bought the last of all the essentials we needed for Cole’s arrival. Knowing that we have everything is such a relief and lets me think about other great things like Episiotomy! HA!

When I think of going into Labor there is this feeling that comes over me, I know it’s going to hurt but my competitive nature has me thinking I can do this! Maybe I’m in complete denial about the magnitude of pain I will be in but that’s what epidurals are for right? While I understand some people’s belief to go all natural I’m not opposed to getting some pain relief. This brings me to birth plans...

I receive weekly emails from numerous baby websites telling me each week what to expect that week, how the baby is growing and suggestions on things to do to get ready for baby. This week it says finalize your birth plan in writing and make sure you tell your doctors how you hope/want labor and delivery to go. I started thinking about what I want and don’t want to happen when the day actually happens to come.

I’m hoping to do most of early labor at home. I want to feel comfortable and not be hooked up to any unnecessary monitoring. Depending on the time of day I go into labor this may have to be changed, we are about 40 miles away from the hospital and during rush hour traffic can make the trip take about an hour and a half. So to avoid me going into active labor in the car I will head to the hospital earlier if needed.

I have a few things made up in my mind before the big day. I want Cam to be by my side at all times and I plan on having my mom with me too. They are the perfect team and the two most important people to me to help me get through this all. I don’t want any kind of Systemic medications, which is narcotics and its often given to take the edge off the pain. I feel like the disadvantages out weigh the advantages, it can cause unpleasant side effects to you (like nausea and drowsiness), it’s not always very effective and the biggest thing for me it can affect your baby’s heart rate and make your baby less alert at birth.

Besides that my plan is to have no plan. To be open to whatever works best at that moment to help me deal with the pain. I’m not trying to be wonder women; I want my labor to be as pleasant as it can be. Taking each contraction one at a time till I feel I’m ready for the epidural. I hope to make it to about 5cm before getting an epidural so my labor has had time to progress.

If I have one fear it is of tearing, I have heard that during labor most women (with epidurals) actually don’t feel any tearing. It’s the days after that can be painful. I hope this is true because with so much going on between contractions, pushing and everything else it seems like a knockout punch right near the finish line.

I feel anxious and excited about when our little man will decide to make an appearance but that's also the fun part! :)