Click here to hear the Heartbeat 🙂
(x-posted in my journal)

I heart the heartbeat finally… no.. the pregnancy isn’t a figure of my imagination… there really is a baby growing in there…

The midwifes always looked on my right side whenever trying to hear the heartbeat because of my inverted uterus I was told… However, I found it right in the middle and heard it perfectly well…

Xavier was sitting next to me so I took his watch and was able to count the heartbeats… so the heart is beating strong at 160…

Xavier and Colin both had slower heartbeats at around 130 so it was a bit weird to hear it going so fast… Wonder if that old wives tale is true… faster heartbeats are supposed to be more common in girls 😉
(x-posted on my pregnancy blog)

I just now realized that in going unassisted I may get the chance for the Water birth that I dreamed about with the boys. With Both boys I laboured in the Water for periods of time. In both cases it was after my labour had stalled…

With Xavier I was transfered to the hospital and all hope of anything natural went out the window. All except for the C-S which I refused and fought. With Colin, I got out of the tub and tried other things to get him to descend. The tub was also not ideal. It was a “spa” tub but the water wasn’t deep enough to cover my tummy, the bottom was slippery, hard and uncomfortable. I layed down on the bed. got into a position that was to help Colin turn and was at the same time very comfortable. After 20 hours of labour, I was also tired…. I fell asleep while I went through transition, waking with each contraction, sleeping between…

When I woke up and was asked to move by one of the midwives, I felt him shift inside and was Immobilized. My body took over completely and I just tried to catch my breath. My water birth was again not possible.

This time I want a Water birth. I was thinking that it wouldn’t be possible since my tub in our home is tiny. Non-Pregnant I find it too small to comfortably take a bath.

I was reading about UC water brth today and found a great tub that would make the water birth possible.

• CONSTRUCTION: made with extra thick PVC, La Bassine is strong and durable. Using upright chambers construction instead of multi rings means easy access for cleaning with no hidden place where bacteria can fester and very strong supportive walls that can stand up the weight of a birthing woman. Inflatable pool are easier to set up and thanks to the air provide much better insulation than rigid birthing tub, keeping the water warm for longer without the need of heating system. The inflatable floor and walls provide great comfort when adopting any position, especially leaning on the wall or kneeling on the floor.
• SIZE:our La Bassine birthing pool is a little nest where cradled in warm water you will feel in your own world. The outer measurements are 165cm(65″)/135cm(53″), which allow you to set up La Bassine even in a small hospital room or a tiny flat. The inner measurements are 115cm(45″)/95cm(37″), large enough for you to float and relax between each contraction and for your midwives to reach you and your baby very easily.
  It requires much less water (around 100 gallons) than most other pools and therefore weights far less (important if you live in a flat or you are not birthing on the ground floor). The pool will fill using your normal hot water system in about 30 minutes.
• DEPTH:our La Bassine is considerably deeper than other standard inflatable paddling pools used for waterbirths. It’s 25″(65cm) depth will ensure that you belly stays under water when adopting an upright position. Supported upright positions in labour such as kneeling, sitting or squatting have been recognised by leading specialist to be the most effective, least painful and safest way to give birth naturally. Water, Thanks to its buoyancy effect, allows you to adopt any of these positions effortlessly, leaving you all the energy you need to push your baby out.
• SHAPE:the oval shape of La Bassine cuts down the volume of water required compared to a round pool of the same diameter.
• COLOR: La Bassine is a dark blue color – there are no motifs or distracting colors, just a deep relaxing blue.
• INTERNAL HANDLES: two sturdy but un-obstructive plastic handles are on hand if you feel the need to hold on firmly while pushing.

The price isn’t too bad… 115$ +S/H but still a lot more then we have…

We decided to tell the family this weekend. The reactions were mixed… My mom was happy, Simon’s dad was happy… Simon’s mom wasn’t… well… she maybe is but I didn’t hear it… Simon called his mom and I picked up the other phone and listened in…. he told her and she said something like… “Oh no… not for real?” Ughh… I hung up and it seems she was a bit happier after.

She doesn’t see the kids on a regular basis and when she does she doesn’t have a good idea of who they really are and how good they really are… she is a very nervous person at times, well, most times and doesn’t like mess etc… when she comes over with Simon’s sister the kids, well Xavier gets really excited and he is just a handful at times, and Colin of course just wants to be with me in my arms…. she seems to think that he is like that all of the time and she has been saying negative comments about having a third for a while now…

My mom also knows that I will be going unassisted and has no problem with it… she said that she would be there… but no… that would makes me even more nervous…

I also told Simon’s dad’s GF and his grandmother about the UP and they had little opinion but it was at least positive…

Anyways… they know….