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Week 20 ~ June 15, 2004
~ Halfway there!
I had my third midwife appointment last week, and brought Charon with me for the first time. She did a really good job, and was so patient waiting to meet the midwife. In the waiting room, she played with all of the toys and entertained everyone. We brought some books into the examining room, and read those while we waited. I had the last appointment of the day, and the midwife came in to tell me she had one more person to see before me, letting me know it would be just a bit longer.
Charon introduced herself, and I was so proud of her, talking about how she would be a big sister. The midwife showed Charon how the Doppler worked, and let her help with it. Charon said, "That's Penguin's heart!" We then signed up for a routine ultrasound in the next couple of weeks. I have to call to make the appointment. I've considered opting out of the opportunity to have an ultrasound, as it's not required, and I've read that ACOG (the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) recommends ultrasound only if there's a good reason to have one. They recommend against routine ultrasound for a normal pregnancy.
But, I am hoping that the ultrasound will help me to feel more confident about this pregnancy. We are foregoing other forms of prenatal testing (Quad-screen test, amniocentesis), so having the ultrasound is our one way of peeking inside to see that all is well. I have been feeling better about the pregnancy, now that I can feel the baby moving, so I'm not sure I need to do this anymore. But, I'll sign us up for an appointment and see how I feel in a week or two.
This past week was spent getting ready for our first big family trip. We decided this summer to tackle the 7-hour drive to meet some of my online friends, other moderators of StorkNet's message boards. The longest drive we've done as a family has been five hours, and all of our trips since Charon have been to see family. I love to travel, and I've been itching to explore a new city, so we decided to go for it this summer, before we have a little baby again. (Charon hated the car as a baby.) She did really well on the drive; I had to stop both ways for a hot fudge sundae fix.
We were able to meet two other moderators, Susan and Chelsey. It was great to be able to visit with them face-to-face, and they were both exactly as I pictured them. Susan has a four-year-old daughter, Susy, and she and Charon became fast friends right away. She also has a little baby named Sam. Pete played with the girls a lot so that Susan, Chelsey and I could visit together. It seems strange now not to be able to call them up anytime and say, "Hey! Wanna meet for lunch?"
Speaking of message boards, I've been meaning to participate more on my Stork Deliveries board. I lurk often, but I need to take the time to reply to posts. I remember when I was pregnant with Charon, I did many internet searches, looking for information about pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. I think the first thing I found on StorkNet was its birth stories. I was interested in reading some real-life experiences with birth, and this was just what I needed. I read one or two each day while thinking about what I wanted and hoped for with my own birth experience.
And then I found a link that brought me to StorkNet's message boards. More of just what I was looking for - women sharing stories with each other. I peeked into the Stork Clubs, where women who were pregnant and due during the same three-month period could post questions and ideas and thoughts to each other, comparing notes and worrying and celebrating together.
For a long time, I just lurked on the boards and learned from these women who shared and grew together and became close to each other. I tried their morning sickness remedies, considered the questions of prenatal testing, tried to guess who would give birth first, and last, in each group. I went to the breastfeeding board often, before and after Charon's birth, and it was an incredible resource that I know helped me to breastfeed my daughter successfully. I looked into the Attachment Parenting forum when I began to realize the way I wanted to parent Charon, and found lots of great ideas and recommendations that helped me to follow that path. On StorkNet, I even learned enough about cloth diapers to tempt me to start using them when Charon was ten months old! I loved them, and will use them from the start with this baby.
The other day, I was thinking about how I'm not really worried about giving birth or breastfeeding or parenting a newborn this time. I know that's because I've done it once before, but I also know that everything I've read on StorkNet - on its message board and also in its wonderful content - has helped me to grow tremendously as a parent. What a great resource, and what an amazing way to connect with other parents.
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