29 weeks

This week we had a photo shoot with a woman we found on Craigslist who was begging for people to be her subjects.  "I'll give you a collection of images for free, all you have to do is show up!"

This is not one of those shots, but it is why I was dressed up.  I'll post those shots once we have them.  She was finishing up her classes, her portfolio, I think another job, and has an eight-year-old at home.  So we told her no rush.  :)

 Smothering Brisco with my love.  Am I ready for motherhood, or what?

 We spent some more time outside cleaning up a bit and clearing some dead stuff.  I picked what I hope were a few weeds.

 Sun dog!

I had my glucose tolerance test and came through it with no problem.  I didn't like the feeling after drinking the gross Sprite-like drink, and we stopped at the store to get me some almonds afterward.  The only foods I had with me were a granola bar, an apple, and my PBJ, none of which sounded like something I wanted (more sugar).  You want a result less than 130 and mine was 83.  So yay for that!

I'm in the process of switching providers.  I want a natural birth and want to avoid a C-section, and our doula recently found out that my current provider has a C-section rate of above even the national average (33% is the national average, my current providers are at 39%).  The place to which I'd like to switch has a rate of 14%, 76% of deliveries are done by certified nurse-midwives (in a hospital, with OBs present, so not to worry), and it has the bonus of being about twice as close as where I would have delivered with the other practice.  I've got a meet-and-greet next week, but the closer-to-home aspect has almost entirely locked in the choice already.

And speaking of our doula Caitlin, there have been some questions about what that's all about.  You can see her website here if you're interested.  We had dinner with her the other week and have been corresponding by email quite a bit.  I probably wouldn't have decided to go through with switching providers if not for her, and I definitely wouldn't have found out about the C-section rates.  When I asked at my (current) provider, they said it was "low."

We also started a childbirth education class last week, which will meet four more times.  It's from 6-9, which frankly is late for me, but I'll do my best.  Last week, we got home, I needed to eat, and then my foot decided to take half an hour to stop cramping before I could go to sleep.  It was probably 10:30 by then.  The horror.

We've got the department picnic on Saturday, and the baby shower on Sunday.  That's a lot of activity for me!  I'm making a pineapple upside-down cake for the shower, but we're undecided about what to make for the picnic.  Andy says maybe biscuits, but we had also discussed cornbread.  And then I saw a recipe for a rhubarb pie, so really, it's anyone's guess.

I'll try to get back to updating again actually during the correctly-corresponding week.