Holy kittens it's been much longer than I thought since I last checked in!
Reiko, thanks for the encouragement about baby positioning! My "women's group" last week (part of our childbirth classes) ended up just being me and the midwife I hadn't met properly yet, but it was awesome, and she said "hey, I'm happy to check positioning if you like!" and we confirmed that this kiddo was still head-down. (Our midwives are mostly fairly experienced & pretty quick with palpating for position, but the most experienced one doesn't do many appointments because she has a day job at one of the hospitals in town. But she's been a midwife for almost 50 [!] years.)
Plus I've been having acupuncture adventures to keep them head-down, including my first moxibustion. So weird how much I will happily go along with at this point. Sure, put some herbs on my toes and light them on fire! Sounds great!
So glad your blood sugars have stayed good, and sorry you've had all that bonus stress this time! But I had to laugh a bit about your super-motivated DH; our midwives said it's super common for partners to funnel
their nesting energy into house projects & I keep seeing how true that is for a lot of people (same thing at our house!).
chel, what a mess maternity leave is, huh? My friend got 8 weeks off (unpaid), and her company made a BIG deal about how generous they were being, covering her benefits while she was out. Sorry you have to deal with so much crummy bureaucracy. Crossing my fingers the timing works out just right with his arrival/your leave timing! And happy belated birthday!
I'm actually getting paid for my whole 90 days out, which is SO generous from a US perspective (and so absurdly small compared to the rest of the world). Working in tech is bizarre. And yet I have friends at other tech companies who've gone "oh, that's all?"
Agcam, we're supposed to have "clear protein drinks" on hand for our homebirth, because they'd still let me have them if we had to do a hospital transfer, and you gotta have fuel for all that work (although we're vegan and every clear protein drink I've found is whey-based, but hey, they work for most people). Anything you can get down easily that packs a big nutritional punch is great! And there are tons of options if you want to try some of those beverages.
re: perineal massage, I've alternately heard that it's a godsend and prevents tearing, and also that it does nothing to prevent tearing. Who knows. Seems like it can't hurt? (Still haven't done any!)
and re: positioning, I've been told to sit forward (no slouching! no leaning back!), do cat/cow stretches, lean forward from the hips on high tables/counters. Basically anything to get the front of your belly down/forward, because baby backs are heavier, so will tend to get pulled down by gravity. (I'm sure Spinning Babies has some more thoughts/recommendations on this, but their disorganization is so overwhelming to me that I can only take so much of their website.)
ricschick, hugs to you. That's so tough having your dad so much further away, especially at such a time of transition.
Wicky, sending you and that little baby lots of good thoughts! Hope you're both doing well.
Agcam/Chibi, having the weird overpathologized ultrasound a few weeks ago + talking to a bunch of friends/professionals helped me learn about how third trimester measurements are notoriously difficult/inaccurate/imprecise (especially of baby's body parts; I'm sure it's true for other things as well). I basically will put on my best unimpressed face if anyone tries to scaremonger me about measurements being "off" within the standard margins of error again. Maybe I'm erring on the wrong side here, but I get mad when people get determined to stress out pregnant mamas! I've been feeling extra protective of myself & other pregnant folks lately, harumph.