The Last 6 Months Saga part 1

So, it's been sometime since I've updated this blog and I regret that I haven't as so much has occurred since last I wrote. For starters, two weeks after I had surgery I got pregnant, and am now 21 weeks along. The issues that arose due to the surgery seemed to have waned, but of course those due to pregnancy came with full force to replace the others. For starters, I got a very bizarre rash all over my abdomen. I wasn't sure if it was due to my surgery as I read that sometimes the glue they use to sew the scar can cause a reaction, however this rash was really bad and didn't sound like it was from that. It went away in time thank God and didn't come back. The itchy skin I had formerly experienced from last year did come back in October and I was suspicious if I didn't have bugs in the house or some other pest because I was going nuts itchy all the time. I'm beginning to wonder if I don't have sever fall allergies to whatever pollens are in the air and as a result, cause me to get these very weird skin reactions. No one else in the house has the itchiness that I get, so I am not inclined to believe that it's bug related. But then I thought that it might be from my candida. Given that I am pregnant, I could not stay on the candida diet that Dr. Ericson had me on, and he advised I not be on it as well actually, so I ate a lot more carbs to keep me going. My energy levels fells dramatically and I was more tired than I had been since my last pregnancy. The worst symptom I experienced being pregnant though, was the nausea and vomiting. This time around, I threw up not during the morning so much as in the late evening and night. It was as though a surge of energy came flush into my face and forced me to hurl everything that was within me. I'd never felt anything like it before- it came so unexpectedly and made it harder especially when I wasn't in a good location to vomit. Most of the time I was fine since I rarely left the house, but I was also sick longer this pregnancy than with the last two which I couldn't figure out. Like I said to my friend Julia, if this baby isn't a girl, than I have no hope of having an easy pregnancy. 
My mood was not bad all in all, though like always, my husband and I had our occasional bouts. My children kept me distracted and I loved being there to play and watch them grow, but mostly I just loved holding them and rocking them while I say songs. I know these days with two are slowly coming to a close, so I've wanted to make the most of this time with Maria and Dominic. People tell me three kids is the hardest, and right now, that's not something I can even fathom so I'm taking it one day at a time.
This pregnancy I returned to my former obgyn (the one who delivered Dominic) and stayed with them for about three months. I had an ultrasound performed at about 10 weeks to check the gestational age because the docs didn't believe me when I told them how old the baby was. Apparently I looked larger than normal, however I was using my iphone's iperiod app to track all temps, period, sexual interactions, etc. So I knew the exact day that I conceived from. It was the last week of August and I remember thinking that that was a very bad time to be having relations. In fact, we were looking at a little butterfly struggling to fly on our patio when he started making advances. Apparently, I brushed my hand across his bum in such a way that he took that to me I was interested-lol. The things men think amazes me!Anyway, they did an ultrasound on me and saw that I had a sack of blood next to the baby. They weren't sure what it was so I had to go back in a few weeks to have it done again. I was on my way to Las Vegas the week after so it was crucial I check to see if it was a hemmorage or just attachment bleeding. Fortunately there was nothing there the second scan so it was fine. It was so neat seeing my little baby looking so much bigger the second time around. I was giddy looking at him/her. Tom and I decided not to find out what the sex is because we really don't need to and it's more exciting not knowing I think.
So after I got back from Vegas, I started thinking more about my options to vbac since this is crucial for me and I want it more than anything. Having asked my obgyn what they thought (not very favorable), and considering the fact that the one doc I transferred there for was going on sabbatical, I thought it might be a good time to look into transferring practices to a more favorable vbac practice.
I called around to a few places and spoke with the secretary about my desire to vbac and asked if their doctors were favorable to people like myself. There was one office very nearby who said yes and hence I called over to Gynob to have all my records transferred. However, once I went to my first appointment and spoke with the doctor, expressing my desire to go naturally, he told me that I would only be allowed to wait until 39 weeks and then they would make me schedule a routine section. The only way he would support my going naturally past that, would be to have a high risk pregnancy specialist agree to it, but that would require my sitting down and pleading my case at another office in the city and I felt this was not cool. Why should I have to defend my desires when everything I had read up to that point showed that the risk for rupturing was so low and there was little reason for me to have to undergo all of this to get a natural labor.  Plus the nurse at this practice was so pushy and challenged me on most everything I told her I wanted. She was not anyone I wanted to work with and knew it was time to get out of there.
I didn't know where to turn at this point  and prayed about what to do. It came to mind that I should try contacting the Pittsburgh doulas to see what they recommended since I trusted them to work to defend my choice for a vbac. Beth and I spoke at length and she gave me numbers of people who had tried to vbac as well as references to docs in the area. The one name she gave me was one of a lay midwife who performed home births. I didn't think I'd have much to do with her, but as you'll soon discover, she actually has been more significant to me than one would imagine.