This week mom is 15 weeks preggers with me and I just graduated to the size of an apple. It seems that just in the last two weeks people have been telling Mom she's getting her baby bump. She certainly knows it's there and her pants know it's there too. Buttoning the top button is a thing of the past.
Mom's friend Connie who is a professional photographer is taking pictures of Mom and I every two weeks to do a progression series. Connie takes such good pictures and Mom highly recommends her if you need photos taken http://www.constanceavellinophotos.com/
Here's our first professional portrait. I can't wait to see how Mom grows on the outside while I grow on the inside! This is me and Mom at 14 weeks.
These past few weeks Mom and Dad have been struggling to make a very, very big decision. You see Mom is wanting to insure she has the best opportunity to have a natural birth for me. She wants to avoid having an epidural, getting drugs like pitocon and especially a C-section. Because of this recent decision her and Dad have been trying to figure out where the best place will be to give birth.
Originally Mom and Dad were set on delivering me at St. Joes Women's Hospital. Both of them were born there and it's a specialized hospital for delivering babies like me. The problem Mom has realized is the majority, 98% to be exact, of women who deliver at St. Joes end up getting an epidural. Also 30% of women who come into the hospital end up delivering via C-section. Although it's probably the best hospital to give birth here in Tampa, Mom is concerned with those statistics.
In an effort to make the best decision for the safety of me and Mom they decided to look into a few other options. One place they visited was Labor of Love. This is a birthing center located in Lutz. It's actually the only one in Tampa. At Labor of Love Mom and Dad would deliver me with the help of a midwife. The birthing center has two "apartments" for their delivering families. When Mom goes into labor her and Dad (and family too) would occupy one of the apartments. Mom would have free rein and be able to walk around and go wherever is comfortable for her. At Labor of Love they are big advocates of natural deliveries and unless they need to send you to the hospital everything is done there without using drugs to help.
One nice thing about this place is Mom could do a water birth if she wanted. Although not common in the US, water births are easier on the delivering mommy and perfectly fine for baby. Most women who do water births say they are more comfortable than laying in a bed.
Here's the back porch where Mom and Dad can go to relax if I'm not too painful during labor.
The one and only concern Mom and Dad have with delivering at a birthing center is the possibility of an emergency. Although they deal with delivering babies all the time if something wasn't to be right Mom and Dad would have to go to the local hospital to deliver me. They have full confidence in the ability of the midwives to determine if I wasn't coming correctly but it would still stink to have to go through that after everything.
Because of this concern Mom and Dad are going this week to visit with a practice of midwives that actually deliver at a hospital. This midwife group allows Mom and Dad to decide what method of birthing is right for them and sticks to their birth plan as best they can. They deliver at Tampa General Hospital and if there was an emergency they are backed by USF doctors who will do the C-sections if necessary. Although Mom isn't too excited about delivering at TGH it might be the best compramise for all that they're looking for when delivering me.
Hopefully after their tour of the hospital and meeting the midwife group next week they will be able to make a decision and we can move on to more exciting stuff like picking out my furniture and room decor.
I know Mom and Dad are having a hard time with deciding about my birth and just like them I'm going to be faced with a big decision too. My big decision is whether or not to wear my UF onesie or my USF onesie. Now that I have both I can see this is going to be very difficult! These aren't my exact ones but since Mom is blogging away from home they'll have to do. I guess you'll have to help me choose when you come visit...
This weekend I'm visiting with my soon to be Great Grandmother, Biscuit Nonie. Nonie lives in Naples with my Great Aunt Susan so Mom and Dad don't get to see her much. I've heard Mom tell her at least five times this weekend that's she's pregnant and each time Nonie gets so excited. I guess having dementia does have its perks, Nonie gets joy everytime she find out she's going to be a great grandmother again. It's sad but Mom is so glad she's still around to share in the joy... over and over again!
I guess I'll sign off for now, I'm excited because I get my outside picture taken later this week. It'll be cool to see if I've grown from the outside so stay tuned.
xoxo
Baby Donut
Courtney - I am having so much fun following the "Donut's" progress reports! As for hospital statistics, feel free to ask the folks at St. Joe's how much they allow the moms to make their own decisions. The rate of 30% c-section actually sounds low to me. I know the hospitals I delivered at were probably a lot higher. And although I chose to have an epidural and probably would have never gone into labor without a smidge of pitocin both hospitals allowed me to make those decisions and nothing was forced on me at all. Of course I was paranoid about an emergency and would have had a tough time not delivering in a hospital, but I also think it is awesome when people deliver at home or birthing centers successfully. Just remember as you weigh the odds - St. Joe's may be super excited to have a mom who wants to go all natural! Labor and Delivery nurses are the best and that's who you will be spending most of your time with anyway.
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