A few weeks ago, my doula Lynn had me make a relaxation oil. She asked if I had my pendulum, which is a tool you use during energy healings to read a person's chakras, etc. She said we can use it to ask yes and no questions. So when you first start, you ask your Spirit Guide (or Guardian Angel) to show you what a yes is on your pendulum. Mine was a strong up and down in a straight line. Then you ask to show a no, and that was a counter clockwise circle. That day, we asked how many drops of each essential oil to add to the bottle, it was really wild! I had never seen the pendulum used that way before.
Early this morning, I asked my Spirit Guide if I could ask questions about my birth (after confirming what the yes and no answers looked like), and I got a strong yes. Later I asked if I could share this information with others, and again I got a yes. Lynn had told me on Monday that she had an intuition that today was the day for the girls, which finally prompted me to do this questioning.
So here was some of what I asked and what I was told:
Can you see the future? (strong yes)
Will I give birth today? (a weak yes)
Will you (Spirit Guide) be there? (Strong yes)
Will Thomas be there? (a pause, then yes)
Will the girls be healthy? (yes)
(Again) Will I give birth today? (a weak yes)
Will there be any problems with the birth (no)
I was pleased with the answers, a little puzzled about the weak yes, but thanked my Spirit Guide for answering them.
Then I went downstairs and finished sewing the purple bonnet:
I was able to bring the two bonnets to my NST visit, where the tech nurses love looking at my project. The babies passed the NST, but it was difficult finding their location. Baby A's heart beat was about 125 and Baby B's was 140. I had one six-minute long contraction during the test! My blood pressure remains normal at 114/71. While I was doing the NST, Lynne, the NP, came in and said I needed to pick a date for induction, either this coming Friday, the 26th, or next Tuesday, the 29th! I was surprised, but not surprised. She said I could talk to my husband before making a decision. (I was already thinking Friday...)
Then I had a scheduled ultrasound, with a different tech for the first time. This ultrasound was just for a limited scan where they measure the fluid levels around the babies and check the blood flow through the hearts and umbilical cords. Right away she had problems measuring Baby A's fluid pockets. She asked me if there was any history of low fluid there, and I said no, they both always had a good amount. But she could see the membrane wrapped around the baby with barely any fluid. She was able to get a profile shot of Baby A, and we watched as A opened her mouth and swallowed and stuck out her tongue. Baby A is still in the same head-down position.
Baby B was back to laying on top of A, from side to side across my uterus, otherwise known as transverse position. Her head was facing inward, so the tech couldn't scan it at all. I asked if she could find a hand or foot, so this is the picture she printed of B for us:
These are presumably the last ultrasound pictures we will have our girls. Next images of them will be of what they actually look like! Can't wait!
The cord doppler exams went really well, they had strong flow from the placentas. And their hearts were good and strong. Then the tech left Mary Anne and I in the room while she went to get the doctor.
The OB confirmed that there was only that one pocket of fluid by A's face, otherwise she was completely wrapped up by her membrane. She did not like the look of it. I asked her where the fluid went and this is how she explained it: The placenta has stopped providing nutrition to A, and thus she has nothing to urinate, so is not adding back to the fluid in her amniotic sac. This explains to me why A's growth seemed so different at the last ultrasound -- suddenly she was behind B in size, whereas all along she had been a week or two larger, and instead of measuring several weeks ahead, she was measuring just on schedule. But when I asked about that at my last appointment, I was told it was nothing to worry about! I'd heard babies slow down in growth at the end, so I dismissed it, too.
Then the doctor said that we needed to induce right away. Either that afternoon, giving me a chance to go home and get my hospital bag, or the following morning. But she needed to check with the other OB who was in charge of the L&D admissions.
After the scan, I had an unscheduled office visit with Lynne. She checked my cervix, Baby A's head position, and did another membrane sweep. There was, sadly, no change to the cervix or Baby A, so still 1 cm dilated, and still -2 position. So much for visualizing my cervix opening with each surge I've been having the past few days!! Lynne then told me to appear at L&D tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. to be induced. They will use pitocin, which can cause very hard contractions, and requires you to be hooked up to an IV. Many people who use pitocin end up needing an epidural to deal with the pain of these extra-hard surges. So this has me worried.
I asked if we could do anything else, like break my waters to induce. They only like to do that if you are already in labor but have stalled. This is what happened with Thomas. I was stalled at 8cm dilated when they broke his waters. Apparently, it isn't the force of the water coming out that induces you, it is a hormone that gets released when your bag of waters breaks that tells your uterus it is time to expel the baby. Learn something new every day! With Thomas, he was born thirty minutes after we did that.
So this gave me less than 24 hours to try to induce labor naturally. I called Lynn, my doula, to discuss our options. And of course I first let Tim know that we were scheduled to induce tomorrow. Ready or not, the babies will be here tomorrow!
Lynn has suggested drinking a tincture of blue cohosh and black cohosh, natural herbs that Native Americans have been using for ages. I did a little research with Dr. Google ;) and decided to go for it. Mary Anne and I also did some errands that got me walking a little bit, and we went around the block for a walk in this beautiful weather (60s and sunny). Walking is supposed to help induce labor.
When Lynn arrived with the herbs in liquid form, we used the pendulum first to talk to my Spirit Guide. We asked if each one would be safe and timely for me to use, and the answer was yes. I asked if I was to drink it once each hour, and the answer was yes. Then we used it to find out how many drops of each were to go in the tincture (a small glass with a large gulp of water and the drops), so that was really interesting!
So I started drinking the tincture at 3:30 p.m., and my understanding is I am to continue drinking it hourly until I feel I am going into labor. Sometimes it doesn't work, but that's just the way it is for all these natural methods.
Other women have suggested these various natural methods, all rumored to help with inducing labor naturally: drinking castor oil, walking, having sex, eating "labor cookies" (a special recipe), eating spicy food, getting special acupuncture performed, driving on bumpy roads, using acupressure or having a foot massage. I am passing on the castor oil because my body already is clearing out on its own -- sorry if TMI. The acupuncturist was closed today, so that was a bummer. I did print out the acupressure points and am hoping Tim will use them on me in a little bit.
So that's the story. Who knows what the next blog update will be! Wish us all well and say your prayers! Thank you!
Oh, and here is my last weekly belly shot -- 38 weeks -- taken last night:
1 comment:
Thinking of you today. Can't wait to see pics of the two little ones.
Hugs,
Susi
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