Charles and Christy’s Weblog

In our Bradley childbirth class this week, we were discussing postpartum life.  Our instructor pretty much said that I should expect to spend two weeks in bed recovering, sleeping, eating, and bonding with the baby.  Then, she said, I was unlikely to even leave the house for another two weeks (except for doctor’s appointments) as we all continue to recover from the birth process.  This was shocking to me… not that I expected to be right back at work… but I was picturing myself up and around, getting stuff done, answering emails, and finishing grants between nursing and naps.  Clearly, I just misunderstood the scope of recovery and bonding.  This is tough for me because I’m one of those people who doesn’t slow down.  Honestly, I’m 38+ weeks pregnant and haven’t really slowed down but I have a feeling it’s going to be different after the baby is born.

Another silly tidbit I thought I’d share to reveal my pregnancy/baby misconceptions… when I bought nice maternity pants, I had them all tailored so that I could wear them with my normal heels.  Now I know how silly this is as the only shoes I want to wear are not heels and the hem of my pants are dragging on the floor.

I’m sure I’ll come up with other examples to share…

So, I never gave the resolution to my last post. In the end, the midwife clinic decided we would be a good match for them, and we’ve been to a couple appointments. It was immediately obvious that this was a better fit for us in terms of birth and postpartum philosophy. During one appointment, the midwife even had Charles comes over and try to identify baby parts through my stomach… nothing like that had ever happened at the OB’s office. We’ve also identified a great hospital (WoodWinds) and backup hospital (St. Joe’s) for the big event. Both hospitals have waterbirth suites that we intend to use. Both our midwife and our doula have copies of our birth plan (preferences, really) and, even though we still have a few Bradley classes to go, I think Charles and I have a good sense for what to expect.
Tomorrow, I’ll be at 38 weeks. I’ve been doing my best to stay focused on work and baby preparations but this is certainly getting more difficult. I don’t know if it’s a hormonal/physiological change that’s making me a little more distracted or if I’m just giving myself that luxury. Don’t get me wrong… my group has submitted 4 papers in the last 6 weeks… it just takes a lot more effort for me to stay on task. I really have this feeling that my main job right now is to eat well, drink a lot of water, exercise, and sleep the best I can.

My little sister Pam had her baby boy on Monday… because she was due before me, I think I could keep thinking of my birth as being far away as long as hers hadn’t happened yet. Now, I know that it could be anytime… and that’s weird. I pay attention to each little change in my body and wonder if this is the start of the series of events that will have us bringing a baby home. I wish I could stop doing this because I really do want to relax and just accept the events as they come. Maybe I can back in touch with my “Zen” attitude this weekend…