Preparing for Baby #2's Birth

Well, here we are: my last day of daycare this week and thus, my last full "work day" before our new baby comes. Sure, technically he could come a week or so after my due date, which would mean I'd have a few more daycare days before he arrives, but I'm pretty much closing things down this week so I'm calling today my last real work day (plus I taught my last yoga class on Saturday!). 

As my due date draws nearer, I've been getting lots of questions about preparing for birth this time around: how I feel going into it again, what I'm doing differently to try and avoid the traumatic experience that I had last time, etc., so I thought that for my final post before baby (which is what I've decided this is...), I'd share my hopes + dreams for this labor--obviously something I have ABSOLUTELY no control over, which I'm even more aware of now...

Just like when I was preparing for Charlie Mae's birth, I hope to have an unmedicated birth experience this time; I want to be able to feel and remember everything that happens in my body, both good and bad.

So in order to set myself up for this experience as much as possible, I (or we) hired an amazing doula (shout-out Lindsay!). I am confident that having her with us during labor will make us much more comfortable throughout the entire experience, no matter what happens. And I'm hopeful that all of the tools she has in her toolbox will allow for more mid-labor troubleshooting that could help us avoid what happened last time around. 

I also really want to labor in the water. I spent 3/4 of my 36-ish hour labor with Charlie Mae in the shower, as it was one of the only things that provided me any sort of relief from my back labor, so I've changed hospitals to a hospital that, while further away, has a birthing tub.

My hope is to labor in this tub as long as possible and then get out only to push. While I would LOVE to have a water birth, I've been advised that this might not be best for me since I had an episiotomy last time (considered a 4th degree tear and makes me more susceptible to tearing again).

Another aspect of changing hospitals is that it feels like a clean slate and a fresh start. Although I don't blame anyone or anything about the hospital where I had Charlie Mae for how traumatic her birth was, it was traumatic for me nonetheless, and I think going back there might be a little triggering. Going somewhere that looks different and has a completely different staff feels like a chance for a re-do, which is mentally something I needed to feel before jumping back into this big physical journey. 

I've also been listening to only positive birth stories similar to the birth I would like (on The Birth Hour) to help with my confidence and get me back into the birthing mindset. I've been doing my Spinning Babies exercises multiple times per day to get my currently-posterior [AGAIN] baby to turn around inside the womb. I've got my hospital bag mostly packed and my checklists read to go. I'm starting to feel ready! 

At this point, I'm getting really excited about meeting our little guy and once again, trusting that my body can do this--especially now that I've done it before, birth trauma or not. Positive thinking is what I've got to hold onto now and I'm holding on with all my might. 

Thank you SO much for all of your love + encouragement throughout this pregnancy (and as I mourned the loss before it). I can't wait to share our new baby with you once he's here!!!

​Stay tuned on social media for updates and I promise to share here on the blog ASAP after he's born :)