Thursday, July 22, 2010

Ivy's here!

6 comments
Jenni here--Baby Ivy arrived today at 1:05 pm. Mommy, daddy, and baby are doing well! She was 7 pounds, 5 oz and 19 inches long. Robyn succeeded in her all natural birthplan.

Pictures and birth story to come (unless you can get on her Facebook where I've tagged pictures).

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Doulas and Natural Childbirth

0 comments
I had mentioned previously that I desired to have a doula for Ivy's birth, but didn't know if it would be possible due to our finances. Well, I am excited to say that with a lot of prayer, David recently booking more work and our Bradley instructor Mandi working on her certification: this wish and desire of having a doula will become a reality! I am absolutely excited!!! :D

Prior to becoming pregnant I had no clue what a doula was. It wasn't until after David and I decided that we wanted a Natural Childbirth and doing some research, did I become familiar with the concept of having a doula. Since, then I have realized that I wasn't the minority in not knowing what a doula is and in fact most people don't know either. Thus the reason for this post.


What is a doula?

A doulas job is to provide the mother with physical, emotional and informational support before the birth and through out your entire labor.

Your nurses and Dr. have many patients that they are helping and are not able to be with you the entire time. David will be the entire time and I know he will be an awesome coach. He has learned so much from our Bradley classes (I am already so proud of him), but he has never actually been through the process of being a coach yet. When it comes down to it having someone there that has experience is so very beneficial!


Benefits to having a doula:


According to DONA International:

Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily.

Numerous clinical studies have found that a doula’s presence at birth

* tends to result in shorter labors with fewer complications
* reduces negative feelings about one’s childbirth experience
* reduces the need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps or vacuum extraction and cesareans
* reduces the mother’s request for pain medication and/or epidurals


American Pregnancy Association states:

"Other studies have shown that having a doula as part of the birth team decreases the overall cesarean rate by 50%, the length of labor by 25%, the use of oxytocin by 40% and the request for an epidural by 60%."


Websites that I found useful and educational:

Dona International

American Pregnancy Association

Doula.com



Sunday, July 4, 2010

One Month

0 comments
It's been awhile, I know. But, before I go into updating you all, I just have to say that as of today 07/04, we are a month away from my due date! Wohoo!

Back to the updating. :)

The last several weeks have been busy. Our Bradley classes are going well. We are learning lots. We have also been working on Ivy's room. This has required re-organizing of our entire apartment and many bags of stuff given to Good Will. Ivy's crib is assembled and her bedding arrived this week. I also washed her blankets and NB clothes. We only have a couple of things left to buy in preparation for her arrival. The stroller also arrived and I love, love, love it! I had my shower a couple of weeks ago which was fun, but has also left our place looking like a war zone. I was also sick thanks to my wonderful co-worker, hmmph. Thankfully the cold didn't last long.

And now the most annoying question of all, "How are you feeling?"

Other than the cold I had, if you had asked me recently how I was feeling, I would have said great. But now, not so much. I still think I have had it pretty good compared to a lot of women though. The swollen feet started at about 34 weeks. I was actually still wearing heels up till this point, but once the swelling started, I had to say goodbye to them. I have been trying to keep my feet elevated as much as possible, but that doesn't work so well when you are at work.

I had grand plans to work right up till my due date. Well, I decided this last week to leave earlier than originally planned. I now have officially 2 weeks left before my maternity leave starts. Yay! I seriously don't know what I was thinking when I hoping to work right up to the end. Especially when thanks to the state of CA, I get 4 weeks prior to Ivy getting here and if I don't use it, I loose it.

I think that's enough of an update for now. Hopefully soon I will have an updated belly pic for you all to see. Until then I leave you with a picture from my shower that I stole from my friends blog. Thanks Jenni! :)



Followers

 

Bliss ~ Félicité Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved Baby Blog Designed by Ipietoon | All Image Presented by Online Journal