A few weeks ago, I was starting to get a little panicky because I didn’t have a doula. The one I worked with when I had Emelia was incredible. Seriously, she’s one of the best. And she’s also a Hypnodoula which means she is certified in Hypnobabies, which I’m doing again with this pregnancy. I assumed when I got pregnant again, she would be right back with me, but it turned out, she was a lot busier this time around with a new job and after a while, I realized I needed to find another.
Which…is hard. I mean, this is a person who plays a major role in your birthing time and I needed someone I felt safe with, who also understood the Hypnobabies process because it’s very different, being a doula supporting a mom who is using Hypnobabies.
I started looking around and my acupuncturist had given me a name. But I was realizing specifically finding a Hypnobabies-trained doula was probably my best bet. Then I saw my friend Jo was listed as a Hypnodoula on the site. I knew she had become a doula in recent years (my former doula was also hers as well) and it was a delightful perk to see she also had that extra training.
I met Jo 7 years ago as my La Leche leader when I would attend meetings with baby Olivia. I attended for quite some time and think Olivia was about 2.5 when I stopped going. We’ve stayed in touch throughout the years, periodically running into each other or meeting for coffee. This summer I saw her at a booth during a festival doing henna and she gave Olivia a henna tattoo. She also paints and did a few paintings for me to give to my best friend and her mom when my friend’s dad passed away.
I asked her if she was still taking clients and she said yes, and I asked her if she would pretty please be my doula and she wholeheartedly said yes. We met for coffee last week to catch up and talk it through and I’ve officially hired her and feel like a huge weight has been lifted. Jo is amazing. She has this calming presence, that if she’s there, everything is okay.
My former doula, Aileen, taught me how to speak up and advocate for myself when I was hospitalized with Emelia. Considering I think I’ve been doing a fine job pushing back and questioning and advocating for this pregnancy, I feel confident that I can do it again. And I’ll need Jo’s sense of calm and reassurance this time around. I’m excited about it. I mean, how great that I can have someone in the room with Chris and me whom I’ve known for years and trust? It’s going to be a good thing.
I’ve been chugging along with my Hypnobabies self-study course. I started it at 25 weeks and it’s a 6-week course. I purchased it with Emelia and it’s good for life, so all I had to do was email them and they reactivated my account so I could get started. It helps a lot that I’ve been through it once already. I’ve been struggling to fit in the hypnosis tracks I need to every day, and I’m trying to get better at prioritizing them.
OB appointment
I met with my favorite PA for an OB check-up again on Tuesday. My BP was 125/82 so that was a relief. I told her how 1/2 hour to an hour after taking my morning and afternoon doses, I would feel really weak and shaky. I always take my BP at night after my last dose, but she told me to start checking in the morning and then an hour after my medication to see if I’m dropping too low. It would be possible to decrease my morning dose if I was falling too low.
Let me tell you, it’s much harder doing it in the morning when the kids are home. One morning, I was resting on the couch for 5 minutes and then took my blood pressure. Emelia chose that moment to fly up the stairs and screech for a snack while Olivia came in from outside and repeatedly called, “Mom. Mom! MOM! MOM! MOOOOOOMMMM!” while I deep breathed and waited an eternity until the cuff deflated and gave me my reading. Sonofabitch.
I gained two pounds this week, back now to my prepregnancy weight. We also talked about starting the thyroid medication and I’m like, “Another medication, I guess,” and she laughed and was like, “Yeah you’re going to be a lot healthier once you have this baby out of you!”
Truer words, man.
We’ve been having a slew of snowy weather and Monday the kids were in their school daycare program, but we needed to pick them up earlier Tuesday for the impending snowstorm, and then they were off Wednesday and Thursday, making it damn near impossible to get anything done. It didn’t help that this was the week I happened to have two source interviews, but luckily, they were good and distracted with the TV, so I didn’t get interrupted.
Consignment sale
During all this snow, I also went out to the kid’s consignment sale because Olivia needed an almost all new wardrobe because she doesn’t stop growing, and Emelia didn’t have a lot of Olivia’s 4T hand-me-downs. I got a ton of clothes, but also a bunch of baby supplies and toys, a My Brest Friend nursing pillow, a changing pad, and a bunch of shoes. I was honestly really concerned about being there with nowhere to sit down and a potentially really long line to wait in with the COVID fatigue episodes I always have, but it went okay. I brought a water bottle and left my coat in the car, so that helped. Plus I scored a lot of really great stuff.
Baby blanket progress
The blanket progress. It’s coming along and looking beautiful. Pokemon loves frantically kicking me in the sides as I crochet at night.
Yesterday, we had another Parent’s Night Out through the girls’ school, so after dropping them off (they were excited beyond reason to go. While they were eating McDonald’s beforehand, I chimed in that I was also excited and Olivia wrinkles her nose at me, “Why? You won’t be there.” Clearly, she doesn’t understand Mom and Dad are having a kid-free evening out to dinner and talking without being interrupted.
We ended up going to Mansetti’s where we haven’t been in years. My glucose was 127 an hour after eating pasta and bread and salad, but when I checked for the 2-hour post-prandial, it was still 126, and it’s supposed to be under 120 two hours after eating. Which isn’t terrible for a (very) high-carb meal, but ugh.
