34 week checkup.

So my appointment this morning was great. It made me feel even more confident about everything than I did before! I just can't be in active labor on a Monday or a Wednesday because that's when my midwife is working in the office. :) But she gave me her direct contact numbers so that we could reach her when this baby is ready to go! She is the BEST midwife EVERRRR.

I brought in a rough copy (it was all wrinkled and had some spills on it) of our birth plan just to discuss a couple of changes I made to it from last time...

• I asked about frequency of vaginal exams during labor, mainly because I am hoping to avoid them in abundance after my water has broken. A check every 2-3 hours is what I expect and that is cool with me.
• I asked about delaying a saline lock until later on in labor because it was pretty sore and kind of annoying/distracting last time (I got it right away). But since I plan on laboring at home for as long as possible, I could potentially go without one at all if I get to the hospital complete!
• The last thing I brought up was about how I was doing more of the Hypnobirthing thing this time around (I did Bradley last time) and that active, forced pushing is not a part of the routine in Hypnobirthing. It looks as though that will work out just fine and dandy, especially with this being my second birth. So unless I really feel like pushing, I think I am going to try focusing on just relaxing and "Birth Breathing" the baby down to ensure a "relaxed, gradual descent".

Basically, she said whatever I wanted to do was cool! I'm really looking forward to this experience being a smooth and spontaneous labor. I never got to experience laboring in the comfort of our own home last time!

I also found this great article on the 3rd stage of labor: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/275304-overview

Very informative!