I just now realized that in going unassisted I may get the chance for the Water birth that I dreamed about with the boys. With Both boys I laboured in the Water for periods of time. In both cases it was after my labour had stalled…

With Xavier I was transfered to the hospital and all hope of anything natural went out the window. All except for the C-S which I refused and fought. With Colin, I got out of the tub and tried other things to get him to descend. The tub was also not ideal. It was a “spa” tub but the water wasn’t deep enough to cover my tummy, the bottom was slippery, hard and uncomfortable. I layed down on the bed. got into a position that was to help Colin turn and was at the same time very comfortable. After 20 hours of labour, I was also tired…. I fell asleep while I went through transition, waking with each contraction, sleeping between…

When I woke up and was asked to move by one of the midwives, I felt him shift inside and was Immobilized. My body took over completely and I just tried to catch my breath. My water birth was again not possible.

This time I want a Water birth. I was thinking that it wouldn’t be possible since my tub in our home is tiny. Non-Pregnant I find it too small to comfortably take a bath.

I was reading about UC water brth today and found a great tub that would make the water birth possible.

• CONSTRUCTION: made with extra thick PVC, La Bassine is strong and durable. Using upright chambers construction instead of multi rings means easy access for cleaning with no hidden place where bacteria can fester and very strong supportive walls that can stand up the weight of a birthing woman. Inflatable pool are easier to set up and thanks to the air provide much better insulation than rigid birthing tub, keeping the water warm for longer without the need of heating system. The inflatable floor and walls provide great comfort when adopting any position, especially leaning on the wall or kneeling on the floor.
• SIZE:our La Bassine birthing pool is a little nest where cradled in warm water you will feel in your own world. The outer measurements are 165cm(65″)/135cm(53″), which allow you to set up La Bassine even in a small hospital room or a tiny flat. The inner measurements are 115cm(45″)/95cm(37″), large enough for you to float and relax between each contraction and for your midwives to reach you and your baby very easily.
  It requires much less water (around 100 gallons) than most other pools and therefore weights far less (important if you live in a flat or you are not birthing on the ground floor). The pool will fill using your normal hot water system in about 30 minutes.
• DEPTH:our La Bassine is considerably deeper than other standard inflatable paddling pools used for waterbirths. It’s 25″(65cm) depth will ensure that you belly stays under water when adopting an upright position. Supported upright positions in labour such as kneeling, sitting or squatting have been recognised by leading specialist to be the most effective, least painful and safest way to give birth naturally. Water, Thanks to its buoyancy effect, allows you to adopt any of these positions effortlessly, leaving you all the energy you need to push your baby out.
• SHAPE:the oval shape of La Bassine cuts down the volume of water required compared to a round pool of the same diameter.
• COLOR: La Bassine is a dark blue color - there are no motifs or distracting colors, just a deep relaxing blue.
• INTERNAL HANDLES: two sturdy but un-obstructive plastic handles are on hand if you feel the need to hold on firmly while pushing.

The price isn’t too bad… 115$ +S/H but still a lot more then we have…

Of course there is always the other recomended but cheaper option

We decided to tell the family this weekend. The reactions were mixed… My mom was happy, Simon’s dad was happy… Simon’s mom wasn’t… well… she maybe is but I didn’t hear it… Simon called his mom and I picked up the other phone and listened in…. he told her and she said something like… “Oh no… not for real?” Ughh… I hung up and it seems she was a bit happier after.

She doesn’t see the kids on a regular basis and when she does she doesn’t have a good idea of who they really are and how good they really are… she is a very nervous person at times, well, most times and doesn’t like mess etc… when she comes over with Simon’s sister the kids, well Xavier gets really excited and he is just a handful at times, and Colin of course just wants to be with me in my arms…. she seems to think that he is like that all of the time and she has been saying negative comments about having a third for a while now…

My mom also knows that I will be going unassisted and has no problem with it… she said that she would be there… but no… that would makes me even more nervous…

I also told Simon’s dad’s GF and his grandmother about the UP and they had little opinion but it was at least positive…

Anyways… they know….

Symptoms: tired, bit of nausea, bit of breast soreness (very slight)

Weight: -

Urinalysis:

• Leukocytes: neg
• Nitrate: neg
• Protein: neg
• Glucose: neg
  
• Blood: neg

HB: -

Well… I talked to the head midwife and she said that the other midwives see no problem on seeing me only at 20 weeks if I am accepted then….

So I have to call in July (the 5th to be exact ??) and they will tell me if they have space for me… I told her that I really am OK with going solo and told her that I am going to keep an eye on things and she thought that it was really cool… I told her sorry for last week and told her that I really didn’t want to put her in a rough place, it was just that I really am OK with a UP and she said that there wasn’t a problem and she became really friendly…

Well, this afternoon I have to call the Birthing Center in Nicolet (the one that put me on the waiting list) to see what if I will be able to see someone at least once. Like I explained here the head midwife is going to ask if someone can see me once before 20 weeks. They have their weekly meeting this morning so she will be able to tell me this afternoon. I tried to call her yesterday to say that I hadn’t wanted to put her between a rock and a hard spot last week when I told her that if they couldn’t take me then I would be going unassisted…and that I really was OK with itand was ready to do so… but she wasn’t there.

I think that I would like to go for a sonogram like I did with the boys at around 20 weeks… It wasn’t really the fact that I wanted to see if everything is ok (though that is a bonus) it was just amazing that we could look inside and see our baby… it just made it even more “real” (for Simon also)….

Even if I don’t get in with the midwives I think I will seek one out anyways..

Ughh….I hate waiting…

So it has been a week since we found out that #3 is on the way but only a handful of friends (and a few mere aquiantances) know about it.. oh and anyone that happens to read my blog But, we haven’t told any family yet and I don’t know when we will…

With the boys everyone in the family knew right away… I mean the test wasn’t even dry yet and they knew…. but this time I just feel like waiting a bit…. Maybe it is to spite my mom, maybe I just want to wait a bit…. maybe it is just that I just don’t want to answer questions… I mean there was enough questions around nursing through pregnancy last time, that this time Tandem nursing during pregnancy… well I just rather not tell… going pretty much unassisted? Yeah… that will be fun to talk about with them….
So, I feel like waiting until I am showing and then just let them notice or tell them if they haven’t. I think I would rather tell them in person this time instead of over the phone to be able to see their reactions. I saw my mom the day we took the test and would have told her but Simon didn’t want to do it in front of everyone that was there (her boyfriends sister and neice are staying with them for a few months while the neice get an operation)… Anyways… I wonder when the time will feel right but for now I like having this little secret….

Thinking about it more and more…I think that I am very ready and happy to be going Unassisted throughout the pregnancy… I talked with a Pharmasist this morning and talked about ordering some Urinalysis strips and she called me back just now to make sure we had the right ones… (I got the Multistrips that Test for proteins, blood, glucose etc) I have my BP cuff and stethoscope that my mom gave me a long time ago when she got her new fancier one and I was talking to a great friend of mine on MSN while she was reading my last post and she exclaimed that she has a Doppler to give me!!! YAY!!!
I am not the kind of person that will get scared by going unassisted. It will more likely make me feel like I have more control over the whole situation, resulting in an ever more empowering pregnancy and birth, which I truly believe is something that Women have lost with such medicalized births.
I will also be starting a Pregnancy journal to record the pregnancy. It truly is the beginning of a new journey

OH… We told the boys yesterday morning when we saw the line come up on the test… I explained that first the leaves will come back on the trees, then it will be summer and Xavier’s Birthday, then Colin’s Birthday, then the leaves will fall and it will be Hallo’een and then the baby will be here… Xavier’s Response? “I want a lot, a lot of Candy” (for Hallo’een)