Friday, March 31, 2006

Hits for + Pregnancy

Interesting - I get several hits a day of people searching for information about positive pregnancy test results and sometimes for false positive pregnancy test results.

It's just interesting to see what people are searching for.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Pre-registration Complete

At our baby classes they gave us forms to complete ahead of time to pre-register for admission. So I filled those out and got them turned in. Now I don't have to sit there filling out paperwork while I am having contractions.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Nesting?

Someone asked daddy a couple weeks ago is I had started nesting yet....

His response was, "I think she's been nesting her whole life."

I don't think any of my "nesting instincts" have been out of the ordinary for me so far. I guess we'll see in the final weeks when it is supposed to really get kicked into high gear.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Birth Plan

I think I am finally read to have the final draft of our birth plan and give it to the doctor next week at our our appointment. I like this birth plan because it's simple & easy to use. I just printed off the whole thing and made notes on it to ask the doctor whatever questions I had and now I will just go in and fill it out. Actually, if you enable cookies on your computer it will save it for you, but I had done it previously on the laptop and we just put a new harddrive in it. It doesn't take long to check the boxes anyways.

Fuction of Frequent Urination

It dawned on me as I was getting up for the 3rd time in the middle of the night, that maybe the function of frequent urination during pregnancy is to prepapre you for all the times you will need to get up in the middle of the night in the beginning to breastfeed.

We have a daycare now.

Finally - our search has ended. It's not like we were searching for a long time, we just wanted to be very thorough which meant doing a phone interview, home interview, & each of us did observations at the daycare, and following up on references. Overkill? I don't think so. This is my little girl we are talking about.

Anyways - we decided on the one that does Spanish lessons as part of her curriculum.

We signed our contract & gave a deposit to hold our spot. It's just such a relief to have that done.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Back Issues

Ok - we've made it to starting week 33 now. I checked out the link to Pregnancy Week by Week on the sidebar and apparently the baby is supposed to be getting in the head down position this week. I think she was doing it all last night! I had the worst backache last night and no position would get rid of it. I tried sleeping on each side, then back, then back with knees up, and nothing worked. After struggling for several hours to get to sleep and stay asleep I finally had to break down around midnight @ take 2 Tylenol. I really don't like to take anything at all, but I did & it helped. And everytime I got up to go to the bathroom she just felt so low and so heavy (must have been the apple pie I made yesterday, or maybe the rhubarb {frozen} coffeecake muffins I made for breakfast yesterday, or the banana bread I made Friday night {yes, the link is the recipe I used, but with a few modifications, but has to be some of the best banana bread ever!) I guess I have been in baking mode, but I don't think I will today.

Anyways - back to the back issues. So, I was at this conference for the better part of this past week and on the way up to the Cities on Thursday I started getting this awful back pain that resemebled the pain I had when I had Sciatica (which was totally not fun.) I got to my first session, which was my favorite session (the DBT one) and struggled through it. I was NOT going to miss any of this one! After the first session I found some Tylenol to buy and took that, and just like when I had Sciatica, the Tylenol did nothing (Aleve worked wonders for my Sciatica, but can't take that when you are pregnant.) So, I struggled through my 2nd session (which was probably my next fave, Thursday morning had good sessions for me, other sessions weren't as interesting) until I could meet Andy for lunch & move around a bit more. I then called the doctor (out to lunch), but the nurse told me to go lay down for a half hour to try to get the baby to move because her position may be causing the pinching of the nerve. W/O looking too stupid I found some place at the conference to lay down for a half hour before the next session started. Luckily, it's a big hotel with lots of comfy chairs & couches in the bar area. And guess what, she moved and the pain when away. But not last night!

Last night she would move, but it didn't get better. Although I am not convinved it is from her completly. I think it might be a sore back from cleaning & doing laundry. I start to get a really sore back when I mop the kitchen floor (not so much from sweeping or vaccuming, just mopping), so that might have something to do with it. Maybe that means I shouldn't mop anymore during this pregnancy. Hmmmmmm......I don't think daddy would like that. He already doesn't like that he's in charge of trash because he HAS to be in charge of the litter box right now. He was even more helpful the first trimester when I was too sick to do stuff, so he picked up more, did the dishes, etc. But once I started feeling better and was cleaning myself, he stopped helping out.

The only jobs he HAS to do right now are cleaning the litter box & carry in the 5-gallon bottles of water (for the water cooler). Oh, he does have other things he does that I don't ever do, like plowing the driveway (which hopefully doesn't need to be done anymore.) The worst backache I think I got this pregnancy (besides the sciatic stuff the other day) was after I thought it would be a good idea for me to shovel the sidewalk to the dog kennel. I was so sore and exhausted by the end of that. I would have never thought it, but because of the position you are in shoveling you are putting a lot of pressure on that low back and you are bent so that there is even less space for your lungs.

Ok - enough about backaches. Time for some breakfast.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Can't Come up with a Title

I had such a hard time trying to come up with a title for this post. I just wanted to show you something daddy thinks is funny. He likes to go to t-shirthell.com and laughs at the sayings on their t-shirts. They even have a whole section dedicated to t-shirts for the baby. Now, before you click on the link I have to tell you, you MAY be offended. The shirts on this website are not all cute & everything. To give you a sampling of what some of the shirts say: "My daddy drinks because I cry", "I can kick your baby's ass!", "They Shake Me!", (This is the one I think is funny -- "All Mommy Wanted was a Backrub") and it goes on & on. You may get a good chuckle out of it. The daddy really wants to get one of these shirts for the baby to wear, although I told him that the only time the baby can wear it is when she's at home or he is taking her out. Can I help it if I want my baby to be all cute & lovable, not mean & vulgar?

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Crying in the Womb

The other day daddy said,"Wouldn't it be weird if the baby cried in the womb?" I remembered reading somewhere that they do and told him that. Then he said, "Wouldn't it be weird if you cuold hear them crying in thewomb?" Yes, I think that would be kinda freaky.

I don't remember where I read it, so I had to do an internet search on it. Here's a study on Discovery. Here's a video of a baby crying in the womb. There is a commercial that plays first. The video describes the chin quivering; I wonder if that is this one movement I feel that I couldn't quite place. It feels just like that - a quiver. Actually, quite often I feel this quiver before she gets hiccups most often. I wonder if this has anything to do with one another. Maybe when she cries she takes in amniotic fluid (which is normal), but in a way that irritate the diaphram. Irritation to the diaphram is what causes hiccups in people. So, maybe the amniotic fluid taken in when she cries then causes her to hiccup. Here's a study on fetal hiccups in baboons that kind of addresses that topic.

Or the quiver could be a sneeze, I guess babies do that in the womb too. Here's a video of a baby sneezing in the womb. Or maybe she takes in too much fluid when she yawns (they do that too). Here's a little video of a baby yawn.

Here's a funny little *fake, I presume* video (with fake sound, of course) that illustrates sometimes what she feels like she is doing. Ok - I am way off topic now.

The only time quadruplets would be fun...

Daddy sent me an email with the above subject line and the following video link. Check it out!

She Totally Kicked Me In the Lung.

So, yesterday I am at this conference and I'm at the afternoon keynote speaker (who is supposed to be motivational, but really wasn't) and she's a very loud woman. I think her loudness scared the baby because I felt this jab, then sharp pain accompanied by a gasp for breath. Ouch! Then the baby decides she wants to leave her foot lodged in there - I don't think so! That hurts. So after applying a little pressure to that spot she moves around and finds a new place to sleep (or try to sleep with the loud woman talking.)

She also hates me wearing a seatbelt for long car rides. Going to work is fine, but once the car ride gets much over 10 minutes long she keep kicking & punching against the seatbelt, no other place, just against the seatbelt. It's not even tight. When I loosen it (so that it is barely providing protection over my lap), she stops, but then it gradually tightens back to by lap/lower abdomen and she starts kicking again. I guess the girl likes her comfort. Like mother, like daughter I guess.

I was hard to sit all day listening to speakers. Each session was 1.5-2 hours long. I got up about halfway through each one to walk around, stretch, and go to the bathroom. And today, I'll go do it again. I was thinking of asking to go to one a month from now, but if I am getting a sore back now (from the awfully uncomforatble chairs & prolonged sitting) and I still have 8 weeks to go, I can't imagine what 4 weeks would feel like on those chairs. Today my first session is on DBT, so I hope I learn something new about working with Borderlines.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Yummy Mummy & Other Baby Shows

You know there are lots of baby shows out there on tv, especially Discovery Health Channel. Some can be scary to watch, like Babies: Special Delivery. Some I have no interest in, like Runway Moms or Baby, Baby (neither is directed towards my target market.) I like watching Birth Day occasionally, it depends what the episode is about. And I haven't really had a chance to watch House of Babies. I am sure there are others out there I havn't checked out either.

I've Tivo'ed a few episodes of Yummy Mummy and I kinda like it. It is certainly very cheesy with it's cartoon background, but the information presented is current, up-to-date, and what young "hip" moms want to know. It really does feel like it's target audience is for the woman in her mid 20's - mid 30's, who is a mom, especially the working mom. Today the show was about teaching your baby sign language before they speak, which is something that interests me, as well as buying a properly fitted bra, handling tantrums, & keepin romance in your marriage after you have kids. Plus the show is only a half hour long, so with zipping through the commercials, it's easy to fit the 20 minutes of show in. In the Midwest it airs @ 11am & 2pm.

Fetus/Baby Hiccups & Tracksy

So, I've been watching how people fnid my blogs through Tracksy. And the most common search that leads them to our baby blog is on hiccups and the baby/fetus.

I know in the beginning when I was noticing the hiccups I did a search too because I was concerned. Was it normal? How often was normal? Why were they hiccuping? Is hiccuping a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, what I found out is that it is normal. Some babies hiccup, some don't, some hiccup often. No frequency seemed to be normal or abnormal in everything I read. Baby girl usually gets the hiccups 2-3 times a day and I haven't really been able to relate it to anything I do. There is no known cause for the baby hiccups and it's neither good nor bad. So, just enjoy the hiccups because it's a chance to feel your precious little one moving inside of you. I also fnid it's a good time to have people feel her moving. Sometimes it feels awkward for people (& me) to have someone sitting there with a hand on your belly waiting for her to move (and of course she seems to know that they are waiting for her to move and she won't do it - but the moment they remove their hand she'll kick) and with hiccups they can feel some movement right away when you start feeling that rhythmic beating.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

The Third Trimester (All the Changes)

Ok - here is a "real" belly shot. I must be getting brave to actually put a picture of my belly out for all to see. Although, honestly, I was thinking about how with all the changes that happen to your body while you are pregnant and all the exams (which will now only increase more for me), you just can't be modest anymore.

In the picture you can see my Linea Nigra, which is supposed to run from your belly button to your public hairline, but on me it runs up too. Not sure about that. When I was at my parents' house a 3 weeks ago, my mom wanted to check out my belly and commented that I got it too, not sure if she was referring to the line moving up & down or just having the line. Oh well. It's supposed to go away after delivery. An apparently (if you look at the picture) my line doesn't run exactly straight, not sure what is normal. But I don't really care either.

Baby girl has been moving A LOT today. I think she's trying to make more room in there.

So, the heartburn continues to get worse. Oh joy. But lately the thing that has bee annoying is my sleeping. For over the last 2 weeks I have woke up before my alarm clock. Usually it's only 30-45 minutes early, but today I got up to pee @ 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. Bah! So, I surfed the itnernet, then took a bath, then watched a Tivo'ed baby show and finally fell asleep on the couch @ 6am and stayed that way until 8:30am.

Back aches have become more frequent, & shortness of breath has been kicking in. I really noticed the difference in my breath when I was at the Meditation Center today, I just can't do the diaphramatic breathing I did before - it's all shallow breathing now. Braxton-Hicks contractions are picking up, although I notice them more in the evening.

I noticed some colustrum dried up in my bra one day about a week ago, but none since then.

No swelling yet, but that will probably come in a few weeks. For some reason, my constipation has been better the last week, but I am sure that will come back again. I keep thinking I am seeing the beginnings of stretch marks, but then the next day it's gone. So far the only stretch marks on my body are the ones I got as a teenager going through puberty.

For most of the pregnancy, I believe I have been relatively emotionally stable. But the last couple of days I must have gotten a hormone surge as my body temperature feels warmer, I feel more irritable, and today on the way back from the center there was a sappy love song on the radio and I just cried. I felt awfully silly crying, because I was not sad. I was happy & grateful. And I just couldn't stop the crying until the song was over. I probably should have just changed the channel.

Oh - and the frequent urination has become more urgent at times. Before I was able to know I had to go pee and get there in 10-15 minutes. Now it getting to the point where I have to go NOW!! I've had some leg cramps a few times, but it goes away when I point my toes.

I haven't had an itchy belly lately, but I think that is because I have been using lotion again. It was itchy before and once I put lotion on my stomach it felt better, so now I just keep it lubed up. No hemorroids yet, hopefully this phyical change misses me. I got extra belly hair, it's only fair that I am spared the hemorroids. I have not noticed any changes in skin pigmentation, but fatigue has increased. Any changes I missed?

Saturday, March 18, 2006

2nd (of 2) Baby Classes

Today was the 2nd of our all-day Saturday baby classes. We started out the morning learning a bunch of stuff that we need to know about caring for a baby during the first few weeks. We heard about buying a proper car seat & getting it installed properly (we can bring it to the cop shop or the Amazing Newborns Clinic to have them install it if we want to make sure it's done right or we can try to do it ourselves if we are confident we can do it right.) We also learned about the ECFE classes offered & the Amazing Newborns Clinic (every Tuesday). So, that was our morning session.

The afternoon session, daddy became a comedian. He helped liven the mood, as our group is pretty quiet, but I secretly wonder how many people there were taking him seriously and felt very sorry for me. The afternoon session was at the hospital and we learned all about the tools (& got to pass them around & touch them) used to help monitor you & the baby, the help with delivery, to give you medicine, to clean out the baby's mouth & nose, etc. We also learned all about feeding options & spent a lot of time talking about breastfeeding. The instructor for the afternoon session is a ob/gyn nurse & is the lacatation consultant at the hospital.

The we got the tour of the hospital. The birthing rooms are very nice and it's just amazing what that bed can do. There are 4 birthing rooms and 1 c-section delivery room. The C-section delivery room is very sterile & bright, not as homey as the birthing room. The waiting room is just a very short walk down the hallway from the birthing rooms (& you can use your cell phone in the waiting room, so daddy can go there to call whoever he wants to call -- for support, to fetch him a sandwic, or whatever.) We saw the nursery & the after-care rooms. All the babies get a knit hat that some ladies' group in town knits & they have bath&body works products in the rooms for moms to use & keep. Dads don't get any presents.

We went to check out the cafeteria, coffee shop & gift shop. The hours are all of those are not extensive. The food in the cafeteria is cheap and will do the job (I suppose.), but it has been mentioned several times that we can bring in our own food or have pizza delivered. I don't even think the gift shop & coffee shop are open on weekends.

As for visiting hours (in case some are wondering), they are 11a-1p & 3p-8p. (I think it ended at 8p, but I definitly know that visiting hours are not available from 1-3p - except daddies can be there.)

Another Picture


Finally.....I got another picture of my belly taken. Here I am, at the very tail end of 31 weeks, tomorrow I start 32 weeks.


I'm not wearing dark, so there should be no excuse not to tell I am pregnant. If you can't tell now, then I think you need to get your eyes checked.

I just got my hair cut & dyed yesterday, so I wanted to have that in the picture as well. Got my eyebrows done too.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Unmentionables

If you've been reading this blog all along, you know that I really enjoyed Jenny McCarthy's 2 books: Belly Laughs & Baby Laughs. I enjoyed her candidness, even though it may have seemed crude at times. She talked about things people just don't talk about or you won't find in one of your baby books. And for some reason I feel compelled to share some of my own experiences with you, even the ones others won't talk about. Because to be honest, almost everything that would seem odd when you are not pregnant, if pretty normal. I talked about belly hair earlier, but today I am going to talk about nipple conditioning & shaving (legs & pubic hair). **I can't wait to see what kind of searches are brought to my site after this post.**

Let's start with nipple conditioning. What is it? Well, it is rubbing your nipples & airing them in preparation for breastfeeding. Now, I said preparation, so this occurs before the baby comes. I hadn't even thought of this until I bought some of that nipple cream Kristin told me about and I read on the package about conditioning your nipples with the product before the baby comes. Now I have heard some horror stories of breastfeeding, and w/o getting into gory details, let's just say I would like to avoid any pain, cracking, masititis, bleeding, & anything else bad that could happen to my breasts. So, I've been reading. I like to read, especially non-fiction, which I know may make me a little weird, but I learn a lot. So, I'm conditioning my nipples. Actually, I've been doing it for a few days now and I have to say that they have become softer & the dryness has gone away. But I must say, I've read that you should not stimulate/condition your nipple for too long, as prolonged nipple stimulation is said to bring on contractions (something to keep in mind if I hit 40 weeks and the baby seems content staying in there.) So, to help support my choice, here's a study that was done. There is actually a lot of studies out there supporting prenatal nipple conditioning. If you want to check them out, here you go. I feel strongly that I want to breastfeed and I want to make it a pleasant experience.

Ok - next topic - Shaving.

Shaving my legs is getting harder & harder to do. You would think I would have just given up by now, considering that it's winter & no one besides the daddy sees my legs anyways. Well, honestly, I don't like body hair all that much; it kinda grosses me out. And I hate the feeling of when your leg hair gets a little long and rubs on your socks or pants. So, today I attempted to shave my legs. It's only a little difficult to do the front & the inside because you can move your leg out away from your body. It's when you are trying to do the back & outside that it gets tricky. You try turning your leg in and it gets rammed up against your protruding belly and can be quite uncomfortable. I may have to throw in the towel soon on the leg shaving, or buy an electric razor and ask the daddy to help me out (it's for his benefit too, who wants to be scratched by leg stubble in the middle of the night?) I don't think he would be comfortable (nor I) having him go at my legs with a regualr razor.

Now, trimming up pubic hair is darn near impossible. I remember the days when I was younger and the bush was in it's own neatly confined area & I didn't have to do anything. No one tells that when you get older that it starts to spread. Why can't anyone tell you thin stuff? In college I had always wondered why people got bikini waxes, I mean, C'mon, did they really hair hair growing outside their bikini line? Well, the answer to that is apparently YES. Now, get pregnant (a time when your hair & nails grow at a very rapid pace), add 10 years to that college age when things were neatly confined on their own, and you have one hairy mess below. And it's not like you can see it to do anything about it. You can try a trimmer and hope you don't leave too many bald spots from getting too close, or maybe grab a razor & mirror (not that you can really bend over too far to use the mirror anyways) and try to shave back that bikini line. But honestly, it is never going to look as pretty & neatly kept as it did before (even 3-4 months ago, when you could still kinda see & could bend over a little.) Husbands - you're just going to have to deal with the jungle down there, and if you can't, then I just guess you won't get any. And do you really want that considering you are supposed to wait a minimum of 6 weeks after birth to have sex? I think not. You know - you never see birth videos where the mom has a nice tidy area, defintlity to stripper lines or neatly carved out shapes, just full on hairy bush.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Today's Doctor Appt.

Everything looks good. Still on track for 5/21, unlike all my other pregnant friends who keep getting their due dates pushed up.

People have been commenting that my stomach doesn't look big enough for 31 weeks & I asked the doctor about that. His response was that my uterus measure just where it should be right now and that because I am taller than many women I have more space for the uterus to spread upwards rather than outwards. He said there is still some space there to go upwards for a couple more weeks, so I may not see my stomach really sticking out far until after that.

I'm going to appointments every 2 weeks now, for the next 3 weeks. And then after that it will be weekly appointments until the baby comes.

I asked if I get another ultrasound before the baby comes and I heard a "No, unless there are some complications or the baby doesn't seem to be growing anymore, but so far she looks good and is on track so there is no need." So, I just get to hear her heartbeat every time. It was around 130 bpm this time.

Shower Update

Invites are going out. The time was changed to a little bit earlier -- it's @ 2pm now.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Who's Moving In There?

Even though I'm at 31 weeks, the baby still moves around a lot. I think she still has enough room to do flips in there. It's really weird to see my stomach sometimes because you can see her moving all over the place. It's actuually kinda freaky. I keep waiting for Larry (cat) to be looking at my belly and see her moving around and starting chasing her or swatting at her.

Online Codes for Baby Stuff

I have been getting a lot of hits from people searching for information about what they are going through in their pregnancy. So, I thought, I would compile a list of online codes to get $$ off stuff. Thanks to Tim's recommendation of Tracksy, it's been interesting to see who comes to my blogs and how they get there and just what they are searching for when they come. Actually, I got all this stuff from Currentcodes.com . I am not endorsing any of these, just thought it woud be nice to post.

Ababy.com : M101 = $10 off $100, EWS06 = 10% off $100 or more
Babies R' Us : 913689 = $5 off $25, 914996 = Free Safari Umbrella Stroller w/ purchase of $75+
Baby-wise.com: Free shipping on $79+, $4.95 flat fee for under $79
Babystyle.com: FREESHIPPING = Free s/h on $75+ (new customers), CUSOON = $15 off $75+*, BABYJEL = $10 off $35+*, PORTER = $5 shipping w/ purchase of Stuffed Animal Chair
Babies Travel Lite : DHD333 = $5 off
Baby Age : BEDDING06 = Free s/h on bedding $99+, BED0605 = Free s/h on bedding $50+
BargainChildrensClothing.com : FreeShipbc75 = Free shipping on $75+
Bunny Creek : CC10SAVE = Free s/h on $50+, CJSPRING = Free s/h on $60+
Children's Place: SMA36 = 15% off
Disney : DISNEYFAIRIES = 10% off, MICKEY10 = 10% off*
Dreamtimebaby.com : babyship = Free s/h on $99+, wintership = Free s/h on $99+, summership = Free s/h on $99+, freeteddy = Free "2" plush bunnies w/ $99+
Gap.com : FREESHIP = Free Shipping on $50+, FREE100 = Free Shipping on $100+
Greatbeginningsonline.com = gbbaby = 15% off
Jockey.com :BABY5 = $5 off $25+, BABY10 = $10 off $50+, BABY15 = $15 off $75+ (these have to be on baby items)
Jordan Marie : NEWBIE = 15% off (new customers), AFF1 = 10% off 1 item
Old Navy : SPECIAL = Free Ship on $50+
One Step Head : babysave = 15% off $75+
Target : Go Here for link for 10% off
The Baby Outlet : YG05 = 5% off, Currently Free s/h on $99+
Tiny Tot Dress Shop : TT10OFFAF =$10 off $100 or More, TTFRSPAF =Free Shipping on $50 or more, JANTK15 = $15 off $100 or more, TTJUN10DOL = $10 Off $100 or More, TTJUN10PERC = 10% Off $50 or More, TTAFF15S = $15 off $100 or More, JANTK10 = $10 off $75 or more

There are plenty more out there, I just don't have time to put them all in right now. This can ne a starting point, or it could be I typed this all in for nothing. Guess I'll see when I look at Tracksy later.

* Certain restrictions apply

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Stomach Hair

The daddy was making fun of me for some excess hair on my belly, some of it quite long. I have to admit I am kinda self-conscious about it, and like other comments I saw posted online, was afraid the doctor thought I was a freak.

I had read that because of the extra hormones during pregnancy, women tend to grow excess hair on their stomachs, nipples & faces. Oh great. But I really didn't think much of it until one night when daddy was laying his head on my stomach talking to baby girl and commented on it.

So, back to the internet to see just how normal this is. It's not like a have a hairy man's chest or anything, just these blond hairs (some are getting long.) You can read others' comments here @ Babycenter. Here's an article about hairy nipples; I'm pretty thankful I don't have that. Here's a blog that someone actually posted a picture of their hairy belly. Here's another blog of someone who struggled with a hairy belly. At babycenter I answered this question about excess body hair and the results were that 67% of people had excess hair (39% belly, 14% all over, 6% chin, 3% nipples, & 1% mustache).

So, why post about it if I feel self-conscious? Well, I figure that in order to get over it I need to face it as an issue and then help others understand that they are not weird or anything, but it is normal and does occur. I am not exactly fond of body hair (except head & pubic areas) on anyone, so it's kinda annoying.

1st Day of Baby Classes

Yesterday we have a 6 hour baby class, our first of 2. Our final baby class is next Saturday.

It was mainly a lot of review and confirmations for us. Although, I have to say that it did cause me to question my thoughts on what medicines to use or not use. I think we'll just go with the flow and do what we want at the time -- maybe I'll need something, maybe I won't, maybe I'll need more. I am not going to set the expectation either way.

We talked about the stages of labor & phases within the stages. Nothing new there for me, as I have been doing a lot of reading. Also practiced breathing & massage techniques for daddy to do on me. And we watched several videos - they were decent & tasteful.

The nurse doing the class was trying to make it more interactive, but no one beside daddy & I were really asking questions or making comments. Actually, no one really seemed all that thrilled to be there, or maybe they were half scared out of their minds that they are going to have a baby soon.

I can't remember what we do for the 1st half of the class next Saturday, but during the 2nd half we will tour the hospital and meet with some staff and also meet with the lactation consultant.

31 weeks today - we're getting there.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Delivery Positions

So, as the days draw nearer & nearer I am starting to prepare myself for labor & delivery. We start our baby classes this Saturday, but we don’t visit the hospital until next Saturday. I know they don’t do water births at our hospital, so that is out.

I’ve been looking up information on positions for a vaginal delivery. I will talk to my doctor more about that next week, but everything I have read says that you are more likely to tear or need an episiotomy when you lie flat on your back. I have also read that delivering flat on your back also can decrease the blood supply to the placenta, it can be harder to breath because of pushing against the diaphragm, and labor may take a little longer because you are fighting against gravity when the baby travels through the birth canal. This one is the best for fetal monitoring.

I don’t really like the idea of hands & knees position, as it makes me uncomfortable to think of my butt hanging there in the air in the doctor’s face. But I understand that they may have to ask me to get in that position if the baby is in the posterior position & they are going to try and move it.

I’ll have to find out if they have a squatting chair or squatting bar there before I even know if squatting is an option. But squatting is supposed to be advantageous because you are working with gravity and your pelvis is able to widen more.

Another option is lying on your side, which is what I am leaning towards trying. Daddy would have to help support my top leg. The advantages of it is that it take pressure off the perineum, helps ease backache, lowers blood pressure, and helps maximize blood flow.

You can also kneel during delivery, although I think I may want more support than kneeling offers.

I would have to find out what my options are with having an epidural. Would that limit my choices on what position I could deliver in?

I wonder why it is that on TV & in the movies they always show a woman lying on her back, or on her back but at a 45 degree angle. You never see the other position options, not even on the baby delivery shows on Discovery.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Upcoming Shower

I have been asked by a few people when the shower is (apparently they haven’t been reading the blog from it’s creation) and thought I better post it again.

It is on Saturday, April 8th, 2006 @ 2:30pm. My friend Rebecca is throwing it at her house and is working on the invitations. They will be arriving in your mailboxes soon. It will be a dessert tea, so come ready to eat a variety of things that may include a decorated cake, various cheesecakes, tiramisu, and other tasty creations. I am not a games person, but there will be one game that Rebecca will have you play – pretty harmless one.

As for registries, check out the side links on this blog. We are registered at Target, Babies’r’Us, and Baby Because (online vendor).

So, hopefully that clears up any confusion. I am pretty excited for it – not because of the presents – I’m excited to sit and eat desserts and talk. I couldn’t think of any other way I would want to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Any other questions?

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Darn Kids!

Baby girl decided it would be fun to do gymnastics at about 5:50AM. And she couldn't do them quietly; she had to make sure she woke mom up. I kept thinking she would settle down, but Noooooooo! She kept at it for a good 45-50 minutes, until I finally got up and decided to do laundry & dishes. Then she quieted down, maybe once she's born either daddy or I will have to wear her around the house (got a Snugli carrier & a sling, we'll see which we like at what time) as we try to keep up on household chores.

Lower back is pretty sore & tired today. I think it's from all the cleaning I was doing yesterday for our fondue party.

We're at 30 weeks now. So, she's about 3 pounds and getting close to being 15 inches long. We won't have our next Dr. Appt until 31 weeks, actually on my birthday. The scheduling desk was like, "Oh, you don't want to come in here on your birthday do you?" And I was like, "Well, I can't think of a better thing to do on my birthday than get to listen to my baby girl."

It's almost 8am now and she's doing her gymnastics again.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Braxton-Hicks & Other Stuff

Ok - I've decided I really don't like "What to Expect When You Are Expecting". I went back to reading it again, as there are some good questions in there that are answered. But I gotta tell you, as a first-time mom I was completly freaked out & worried about how much it talks about death. The first trimester I was so scared of having a miscarriage from how often it was brought up in the book. No other book I have was it brought up so much. I gotta tell you, it scared the be-jeezes out of me. I put that book aside for several months and picked up some other ones, which I liked so much better.

My favorite so far is called From Here to Maternity by Connie Marschall. I thought the information was presented clearly and simply. I have some other good books too.

But I apparently didn't learn from the first trimester and went back to reading WTEWYAE, and it is still to morbid for me, even in the 3rd trimester. It may be a good book for some, as it did answer some really good questions, but I attribute having much more worry that I should have because of reading it.

Anyways - I have been reading about the Braxton-Hicks contractions recently and now that I know how they feel right now, I know that was was going on. I just thought the baby was just pushing against my abdomen for a while. But nope - it was BH contractions.

The baby has hiccups right now......she gets them a couple times a day.

All Prepared for Leakages

Ok - bring in on! I'm prepared for various leakages. I bought several different disposable nursing pads, plus have some cloth ones. Got some of the nipple cream Kristin mentioned I should get, as well as the stool softener she suggested. And bought a A Pea in a Pod sleep bra, which I have worn a couple of nights and seems very nice (I think I'll get another one of these, but I might try another brand to see which I like better), got 1 nursing tank (like this one, but in white - daddy seems to think this is how all tank tops should be made) with the quick release, and bought a bunch of maxi pads. I bought one regular nursing bra online, and I still need to see how that fits with some pads in it, then I'll decide if I want anmore of that kind/size, plus I need to see how big my breasts get when my milk comes in.

Anything else I need for myself to be prepared?

A Baby Book

You know -- I couldn't really find one to register for, but I have one now. My godmother bought us a whole bunch of gifts, which included an Anne Gedes baby book. So, now I don't have to hope I get one or end up rushing out later on to buy one. She also gave us a snowsuit, 2 cute Carter's outfits, a hooded towel & washcloth set, and this eating/drinking set (includes cooler, couple of bottles, a tippy cup, a snack/sandwich container, & a spoon and fork.)