Durban Doula Pregnancy Diary Week 18

Week 18 of the Durban Doula's Pregnancy Diary!

I was wondering how I was going to find something to write every two weeks, but even with a third baby (6th pregnancy, but more but that later) there is always something happening!

Well one of the most exciting things about the last few weeks is that we won a birth photography package from Sarah Jane Photography, a photographer based in Hillcrest here in KwaZulu-Natal. The prize includes a full birth photography package and a mini-maternity shoot and from the pics I've seen on her Facebook page and website, this is going to be amazing!

Sarah Jane Photography

Getting good photos is important to us, but not something we can usually afford. My hubby struggles with memory issues, which means photographs are almost a necessity when it comes to big events, so we we are so excited about winning this prize!

So two weeks to go until our scan, and in the interests of budget babies, I'm going to a private sonographer (i.e. one not attached to a hospital or franchise) and this scan is going to cost me less than my first scan with my first daughter over seven years ago... Giving birth and having babies doesn't have to break the bank!

Introductions

This week I popped in with Arlen Ege, my midwife in Pietermaritzburg, on the same afternoon that I went to visit my most recent client. All is good so no worries! I'll have my next checkup with my backup, and then back to Arlen again after that.

In case you're wondering why I am seeing a midwife so far away from me - 45 minutes' drive - Arlen was there for my second daughter's birth and I honestly couldn't imagine inviting anyone else to be there. I work with Arlen reasonably often as a doula, more often than I do with any other midwife, and we know we work well together and I feel like there is a mutual trust there which I really appreciate. 

So alert!

So about that client - I linked to her first VBAC birth story in my previous post, and she had a second successful VBAC on Monday morning this week! It ended up being an unintentional, unassisted home birth but mom was absolutely overjoyed! Full story on my blog here.

via Wikimedia Commons

According to various internet sources, our littlest one is the size of a bell pepper now - although if baby was supposed to be avocado sized last week, I'm not sure what's happening! Maybe in Ameria the bell peppers are huge and the avos are small, because here in South Africa the avos are usually bigger than the peppers! Actual measurements do help though - so we know that baby is probably just over 14cm long from crown to rump and weighs just under 200g... And this little one is particularly active! I have been feeling definite baby movements quite regularly for the last 2 weeks now, and I am absolutely loving it!

So next time you hear from me, I'll be chatting about how having babies doesn't have to be as expensive as people generally believe, and of course I'll be sharing some updates from our scan! See you then...

(In case you missed it, find Week 16's Pregnancy Diary here.)