Feeling Triumphant!

I had another doctor's appointment today and was pleasantly surprised when I got on the scale. I gained less than a pound over the last two weeks. Yeah!! The couple pieces of cake I had at my niece's birthday party were probably a major contributor to that little gain. Worth it! :) I saw the doctor I like this time and he was very encouraging. He told me to continue doing what I was doing and that I was doing great! Made me feel so much better. The nurse, however, told me I should only be eating 1400 calories, max 1600. I was a little shocked by that, since that's what I should eat when I'm not pregnant and trying to lose weight. She said this as I was leaving, so I don't know what the doctor would have thought, but oh well. I think I'm going to ignore that advice and just do what I did the last two weeks: eat every couple of hours, drink tons of water, stay away from sweets and snack on tons of veggies and fruits. I started making a fruit and veggie plate in the morning. It has made eating healthy so much easier. Part of why I hate vegetables is because they are too much work, so getting them washed, peeled and cut all at once is really really helpful! I can't say I haven't had my weak moments over the last two weeks (birthday cake was just one weak moment), but I really feel like I didn't go crazy! I'm going to keep working at decreasing my sugar consumption. I didn't have dessert much, but I did have it more than I should have.

On another note, I just think it is completely fascinating how the doctors can tell if the baby is head down or not. It was a little crazy having him squish down where her head was at. This might sound stupid, but it made me feel like he was "closer" to my baby than me...since he could knowingly feel a specific body part. I still am not sure what I feel when I feel it. I mean, since she is head down, I know that the nudges I feel at the top of my belly are feet and things like that, but he got to "hold" my baby's head. Ha, this sounds insane.

Aaaaand I am officially planning to not get an epidural. My decision has absolutely nothing to do with me being against them, or wanting to be "all natural" with delivery. It was made after watching a video at our birthing class of someone getting an epidural. I got so much anxiety while watching it, that I knew I would not be able to relax going into my labor if I knew I was going to get one. I fully believe that the more fear/anxiety I have, the more painful it will be. An epidural scares me more than any pain I anticipate that I will experience...even after having a long talk with my doctor about their safety. For the record, I do not doubt the safety of an epidural, nor do I think they are for weak women, the idea of one just seriously scares the crap out of me. While in labor, I intend to get as far as I can without one, and then if my contractions are painful enough to overpower my fear of an epidural, I will consider getting one, no shame. So for the next 7 weeks, I will be practicing relaxation and breathing techniques like crazy! Just one more doctor's appointment in two weeks then I'm on to appointments every week. Seriously insane!!