Baby on the way!

It has been ages since I've blogged.  I took July and August off to focus on family, and then in September our family had some surprising news, and I didn't really feel like blogging until it was time to share the news.  You guessed it, we are expecting our fourth!  

Quite a surprise I must say.  I've been using Natural Family Planning, and apparently didn't realize the effects of possibly being close to Menopause (I am 37) and throwing my schedule off so drastically by attending births.  I hadn't had any real signs of Menopause, maybe a tiny variance in one cycle, but I know it can strike at any time.  It isn't like you get a notice in the mail announcing "Heads up Menopause is around the corner, expect cycle variations!"  When we had sex I had ZERO fertility signs, plus it was six days before the earliest I've ever ovulated.  I know NFP says seven days to be safe but I had been charting for quite awhile and never ovulated before day 19, and usually not until day 21, so I felt safe.  And six days should be ok, I mean sperm only lives 5 days (at best!).  But then I went to two crazy births, back to back, one of which was very long, and I noticed a shift in my cycle. This little person was determined to come into our lives, and we are excited to become a family of six!

Looking back, I think this baby has many lessons for me, the biggest being that I can't plan everything.  I had neatly planned out the completion of the PEP process and the latest date I would take my NARM exam (I had planned to take it by August of 2012).  I was also going to finish my Birthing From Within certification.  Now everything is up in the air, and that is ok.  While I can, I am plowing full speed ahead with the PEP process.  I have been on a roll with daytime births (five in a row!) and at 13 weeks on Wednesday, I am feeling like I am about ready to handle an all-nighter again.  Finishing up the PEP process will depend on whether or not families are willing to let me attend their birth with a newborn for part of their labor.  I am just not willing to be away from a newborn for any length of time until they are at least 9 months.  And of course I will be taking four months off (my last 4 weeks of pregnancy, and the first three months).  So I might not take the NARM exam until February of 2013, and that is ok.  It is good to be forced to be flexible, I am learning my lesson (smile).

So I am "due" end May (my third May baby, although this one might come in June) and I am using my good friend and fellow student midwife as my midwife (with preceptor present of course so it counts!).  I think it might have just been my husband and I (with a knowledgable friend nearby if needed) if I wasn't a student midwife and 110% committed to students.  We NEED more midwives in our area and I will be honored to be submitted as a "Continuity of Care" birth (at least 3 of the births attended by CPMs need to be women that have been seen by the student over the course of a pregnancy for at least 4 prenatal visits).  Oh and of COURSE we are having the baby at home.

Last week I attended the birth of a ten pound baby, no suturing needed!  I have been at quite a few births with nuchal hands (left or right hand up by the face), in fact, I have been wondering what is up since we are not the only ones seeing so many nuchal hands.  Each birth I attend blows me away and reminds me how incredibly amazing women and their partners are.  It fires me up that CPMs are legally authorized to attend home births in only 27 states.  Women NEED access to midwives and home birth should be an option, in EVERY state.

Well, my little one calls so I must run.  We are in the process of weaning (she is two and a half, and I have a hard time nursing while pregnant), down to three nursings a day.  So I need to help her work through the fact that we no longer nurse after nap...  I hope that IF I have any regular readers left, that all are well.

Peace

 

Comments

[Erica Rose]

I'm still here! Congrats on the upcoming arrival, that is wonderful news ;-)

[Erin]

I don't think I've ever commented before, but I love your blog and am so happy for you and your family!

[Birth Without Fear]

Congrats! That's so great you are expecting again! :)

[Kat]

Thanks!!! Funny, if you had said I would have four kids five years ago, I would have said you are out of your mind. Just goes to show, you never know where life will take you :)!

[sara r.]

Congratulations! I just found this blog, but I wanted to say that :) I have a 10- month old and am wanting to pursue midwifery very badly, but having a hard time figuring out how to do it with a secular job and a baby. Do you have any suggestions?

[Kat]

Hi Sara! My advice would be to be patient (easier said then done :)) and if it is meant to be, you will find a way. I have been on this journey since my second was born, five years ago, and it wasn't until last year that things, rather unexpectedly, started to fall into place. Maybe start thinking about how you might be able to switch to a part-time secular job and then do doula work or teach childbirth classes as a way to get into birth work but still make money. I think being on-call is the toughest part of being a midwife (and what turns many away) which is why I suggest going the doula route. It is a way to earn money and decide how you feel about living life on-call. When you are ready to take the next step, you might take a midwifery apprentice workshop (there is a great one at The Farm in Tennessee) and then market yourself as a birth assistant to local midwives while still doing doula work on the side for an income. Also, as a doula, you will meet many pregnant moms and might hook some of them up with your local midwives, and those midwives will appreciate the clients and be more willing to take you on as an apprentice.
It definitely takes many sacrifices. Our family essentially lives on one income so that I can be a midwifery student, which means I can't afford much childcare for the kids and am constantly bartering with friends (and owe many friends many favors!) and of course we don't go on vacations or go out to restaurants, only buy clothes at thrift stores, etc. etc., but it is worth it to be following my dream and my husband is completely supportive which makes it all possible.
Just my two cents. Good luck! Hope some of this is helpful.
warmly,
Kat

[leona]

lol..i'm sure your fourth and unexpected one will be the one who will bring you most joys, just to prove you, as yourself well have said, that you can plan everything, and often strange yet amazing things happen when you least expect. :)

[Janna]

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[how to become a midwife]

Congratulations but its been a while now, your child must be nearly one.

[am I pregnant calculator]

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