Birth Announcement

Robert and Jasmin Robinson are happy to announce the birth of: 
Mattimeo William Robinson

Born August 7, 2011 at 4:16 am
9 pounds, 21.5 inches

"Due Date"

Today is my estimated due date, but alas, still no baby. I'm not worried about it though since most first time moms have give birth after their due date and anytime before 42 weeks is considered fine. I have been having lots of practice contractions all weekend and today which I think is a good sign. Sometimes they feel a little crampy, other times they just feel like my whole belly is as hard as a rock and pulled upwards. Fortunately they have been pain free.

I had an appointment with the midwives today which Robbie was able to come to. Everything is still going well. I gained yet another pound (which puts me for a total between 35-40 pounds of weight gain), my blood pressure was normal (108/68), and I my fundus height is measuring at a perfect 40 inches. Mattimeo's heart rate was going strong (it sounded like a galloping horse today) in the 130's. Even though I have been doing LOTS of posturing exercises everyday since my last visit, he still is hanging out with his back facing my left side. So I need to keep on working on getting his back to spin more towards my stomach. The midwife told me about a website that should give me more ideas of ways I can encourage him to spin (Spinning Babies).This site is pretty cool as it has suggestions of how to encourage your baby the move from any position, including breech babies. The position Mattimeo is in is actually a pretty great position (they think he is left occiput anterior), so I don't need to worry about it really, they are just suggesting I do exercises to encourage him to be occiput anterior which is even more ideal.

Diagram of how the baby is positioned in me right now (from Spinning Babies)

Diagram of how the baby is positioned in me right now (from Spinning Babies)

After my appointment, my Aunt Patrice came to visit with my step mom and sister, and she treated us to Otto where we had some delicious pizza. It was great to see all of them! My step mom has vacation this week, so it would be pretty awesome if Mattimeo decided to make his debut pretty soon!

Lastly, here is a couple of pictures of my other babies being snuggle bums (I don't want them to feel left out after all):

Theta really loves my sister Sam

Theta is in heaven cuddling with his Sam

Robbie was trying to look at a cookbook, but Pi insisted it was cuddle time instead

First Appointment

Robbie and I went to our first appointment today at Back Cove Midwives and we are really happy with how it went. We started off by spending about 20 minutes filling out paperwork about our background and such, then we met with one of the full-time medical assistants, Martha. Martha was really nice, and made us both feel extremely comfortable. We enjoyed water and sitting in a nice cushy couch while Martha went through our chart asking us lots of questions and telling us about how things work there. They have four midwives, one of which is always on call 24-7. They all have advanced nursing degrees in Nurse Midwifery. All of the births take place at the Birthplace in Mercy Hospital, where we will have the same private room for my entire stay complete with a day bed for Robbie, a jacuzzi, and fridge to keep snacks if we want.We are probably going to call about having a tour sometime soon so we can check it out in person. After talking about the birthplace, we carefully went through an entire packet of information, including prenatal screening options, nutrition plans, and information for what kind of medicine/treatment is safe to use while I am pregnant for various ailments (such as colds or headaches). I am excited to look through it all. After she went through everything with us, Robbie and I pelted her with our own questions, and we were very pleased with the answers we got. I am sure we made the right choice about where to go now, I already feel like I am in good hands. We finished the visit by having my blood drawn (to determine my blood type, amount of iron in my blood, etc.), giving a urine sample, and checking my blood pressure. My next visit on the 30th will be with one of the midwives, and that's when I'll have a complete physical exam, including checking for the baby's heartbeat, as well as setting up prenatal screenings and talking about more stuff we need to know. I am excited!

Estimated Due Date: July 25, 2011

(which makes me 8 weeks and 3 days along in my pregnancy)