New Midwife

I was told that when I found the right midwife I would just *know*. I didn't really believe anyone who told me that, but now I see they were right. It wasn't until after we'd left the office that I realized a tremendous weight of fear had been lifted from my shoulders. I no longer felt that this baby was going to be born in the hospital. The odds of him being born at home went up a huge amount.

I'll call her M. She was understanding, compassionate, knowledgeable, and proactive. She gave me names of a chiropractor and an acupuncturist. She agreed that I probably didn't have pre-eclampsia last time - just hypertension. Unfortunately, unlike pre-e, PIH can repeat in subsequent pregnancies. She suggested ongoing acupuncture in addition to Brewer's Diet.

M also suggested chiro care and yoga to strengthen my core and align my pelvis in case it's gotten wonky from years of sedentary lifestyle (my description, not hers).

She even said that, should I "risk out" of homebirth in the end, I could likely stay at home to labour as long as possible and if the baby was born at home, so be it.

I told her that I was so afraid of be treated like crap in the hospital that if I showed up before I was 8-9 cm dilated, I knew my labour would stall. I also told her that the only place I could see myself comfortably labouring in the hospital was if I locked myself in the bathroom. She got it.

I feel like my chances of having this baby at home have gone up from about 15% to about 80%.

In other news, we've hired a very experienced doula, E. I've known her for over a year. She knows the whole story surrounding Hippo's birth (my 13 mo old ds) and how much I want to avoid another c-section.

I'm thinking of actually writing a birth plan this time with the idea that, if I have a clear focus on what I want to happen, the likelihood of it happening the way I want will go up. Make sense? Maybe not. But it can't hurt to articulate what I really, really want.