prayer requests for healing, labor, and delivery

first, an update. ive developed carpal tunnel syndrome of pregnancy. my poor fingers, palms, wrists, arms, elbows, and shoulders are swollen and sore. after i wake up, i sometimes can hardly move my hand or fan my fingers at all. ive been dropping everything! (including my drink all over the conference room at work.. what a mess, and i really wanted that drink too!) last night, i slept with two wrist braces, and that seemed to help a lot. im also itchy all over, which is sooo uncomfortable and frustrating. there's no rash, it's just a horrible itch not relieved by showering or lotions. the doctor did a blood test to make sure this wasnt bile being released from my liver. he didnt think it was, but just to be sure.. also, we thought we werent gonna have any more ultrasounds from the two vessel cord, since her size at 31 weeks was completely on target at the women's center. my regular OB though still reccommends another one at 36 weeks. i am confident that she is growing just fine, so it will be nice just to see her on screen one more time! im also going to have weekly appointments from now on. we completely skipped the "every two week" status and went straight from every 4 weeks to every week! i will have a non-stress test (baby monitor) every week from now on. these last 7 weeks hopefully will FLY by with weekly appointments. she passed her first NST with flying colors. she didnt like being stimulated, but she reacted just as she should!


since way before i was ever pregnant, i planned to deliver my babies without the use of medications or interventions. my mother did it, with all 3 of us. (and we were all in the 8-9.5 lb range!) when i was 23, i had gynecological surgery at the same hospital where i was born, and we mentioned to the surgeon (my OB/GYN) how i was born there and my mother didnt use pain medication. he was shocked. he said "wow! that is almost UNHEARD of in bergen county" (lol, poor bergen county. for those who dont know, it's considered a rich/spoiled/snooty/snobby suburb of new york city). my mother did it, and millions of women did it before medications and interventions even existed. all other living beings other than humans have medication free deliveries. i simply believe that it is do-able. i am prepared for it to be the worst pain of my life, a pain i have never experienced. but do-able. i will have suffered thru ailments, some worse than others, for 9 months here, for the safety and health of my daughter. why should i make an exception on the day she's born, simply for my benefit? i also saw a video in nursing school of a baby born without the use of medications or interventions. the baby was placed on its mother's chest, and practically CLIMBED up to her breast to nurse. it was a strong, non-medicated baby and i want that. i am also not passing judgement on any mother who believes or chooses differently than me. every mother chooses what is right for her, and there are benefits to using interventions during the birth of your child. it is just something i have always hoped i'd be able to do. my fear is that i will pass judgement on myself if something changes and i do choose medical/medicinal intervention during my daughter's birth, but that's a whole 'nother story.

with all that said, i have researched each intervention and medication the pros and cons, and ways to cope if you opt against using them. we're taking a class on labor preparation and delivery, and im preparing john the best i can, too. i have spoken to a few L&D nurses who say it's invigorating to have a mother who's trying to deliver medication and epidural free. im doing "everything right", i supposse, and also trying to keep open the option, without the guilt, if i decide on that day to use interventions after all.

the best laid plans... right? at almost 33 weeks, my sweet kathlyn is still breech. while speaking yesterday to our OB, he said how they typically wont deliever a breech baby, there are too many risks. so, that means either a c-section, or trying "version", or manually flipping the baby from the outside. i said to him "that's very painful, isnt it?" and he said "well, we'd use a spinal." ::sigh:: i suppose i should have said "well i wasnt planning on having one...", but i didnt. and i supposse if im planning on delivering her without one, then we can attempt to turn her without one, too. but, because anyone who knows me knows that im a worrier, i worry that they'll turn her, which will be painful for me, she'll flip right back around (because that happens!), i'll need a c-section with an epidural anyway. and once you have a c-section, it's more difficult and risky to ever deliver a baby vaginally after that (again, that's another story). will i EVER get to deliver a baby vaginally, and naturally, like my mother did? so far, not a single one of her 6 grandchildren has been delivered vaginally.


anyway... my prayer request is for this baby to turn on her own. i believe mother nature is powerful, and that babies are "suppossed" to be head down before they deliver, so i need that force to cause her to just turn naturally on her own. turn baby turn! i would also ask for prayers for me, that i will be able to deliver her without intervention or medication, as i've always desired. prayers too, that im not too disappointed in myself if it doesnt workout, for whatever reason, be it c-section, conversion, or just not being able to bear it on my own.

first and foremost prayer.. A HEALTHY DAUGHTER. after all.. no matter the means, that is the end result, right???