Friday, January 17, 2003

32w1d- Woohoo, we’ve made it into the 8th month!!! I have been craving fruits such as bananas and fresh peaches. I almost can’t make it through a day without my breakfast OJ! Also, this week’s hit has been cookies and cream ice cream. I just finished off the carton tonight! Hey, it’s calcium right??

Complaints: I get really sore hips from sleeping now and one hips likes to play games with me now by giving out or stiffening up when I need to use it! I also get a period of shortness of breath every other day or so. Sometimes it goes away quickly- sometimes not. My Labor Prep instructor said to pull your arms over your head for a bit- it’ll expand your ribcage. It seems to help some. I have definite high and low days in terms of energy. And the low days are sinking lower. I am starting to panic that things will not be ready in time! I also get faint occasionally. I almost passed out this morning and I was just standing at my bathroom sink clipping a fingernail! I am also outgrowing most of my maternity clothes- I have exactly 2 pairs of overalls, 3 pairs of stretchy knit pants, 1 pair of white jeans, and 1 pair nice pants left to wear. Selection is limited but I keep reminding myself that I have only 8 or so weeks left to go.

Positives: Brendan has been very active and he is much easier to feel. Even Darrell has felt him some more. His favorite kicking spot is now under my left boob! It tickles there- but I bet it won’t for long!! I *dream* of holding him all the time. I can’t wait!!!





I recapped my last few months for a girl on our board and thought it was worth keeping here:

22 weeks- marked the end of M/S for me plus a routine of sorts for movement- I have felt him every morning & evening after that, for the most part- still mostly bubbles and rolls.
23 weeks- played music for him and he rewarded me with great kicks!!
24 weeks- Had my 1 hr GTT
24-29 weeks- Feel more serene and calm about motherhood and delivery
25 weeks- 3 hr GTT & 100 day countdown began, car seat classes finished
27 weeks- LBB must have grown a lot this week since I had a weight jump- 6 1/2 lbs!!!
27-28 weeks- Had some menstrual-type cramping, not heavy but enough to notice.
28 weeks- First baby shower, Movements are much stronger now- no more bubbles!!! OB appts now every 2 wks
29 weeks- My calmness ends and I am touchy and sometimes grouchy, hips begin to hurt from sleeping on them.
30 weeks- I started having a few queasy mornings per week, noticed that the kicking is pretty high up now, have obvious high or low energy days
31 weeks- Get kicked under my boob now! Periods of breathlessness start- maybe 1-3 hours every other day

I have started painting M&M characters on the nursery walls. I plan on having Yellow & Red playing baseball over the crib, Blue hanging out by the window and Green holding out her hands “introducing” BRENDAN spelled out in colored wooden letters over the twin bed. I may or may not put Orange over the changing table- we’ll see. I just got Yellow penciled in a couple of nights ago- I can’t wait until I can put some paint on him, but I fear messing our nice walls up!! Oh, well. I can just paint over him again! These pics were taken from an M&M coloring book- I modified a couple, but only slightly. I am using a little projector than DH bought me to shine the images on the wall- a challenge to say the least!





We had our first “Preparation for Labor” class at the hospital last night. I enjoyed it immensely, Darrell said he was a bit bored. Our instructor, Pam I think, was nice, knowledgeable and often downright funny- a great combination! We got a booklet of most of the info we’ll discuss throughout the classes and a plastic wrapped package with a few freebies (Purell hand sanitizer, Lansinoh breast pads, Lansinoh breast cream, Huggies diaper, coupon for A&D diaper rash products) and magazines. I signed up for a free subscription to Lamaze Parenting- that’ll be good. We went over signs of labor and relaxation techniques this session. So, we spent some time on our blanket doing essentially what we learned in the Healthy Pregnancy class. But I think the practice helped. We loved the music she used, by a guy named Helpern. I may try to find a CD of his music. We also watched a couple of introductory videos and spent some time getting to know the other couples. It seems to be an interesting group!

I found out that I am due first! That’s neat. Two others are due on March 14th, one at the end of March and several couples are due in April. I seem to be the biggest of us all too. During a break, one girl asked me all kinds of questions about the M&M theme and how I was doing that. I promised her pictures, so I hope to have at least Yellow fully finished by Thursday. I have to set reasonable goals now- I get tired really easily. We have 4 more 3 hour sessions that break down like this:

Session 2: Labor and Delivery, breathing & coping exercises
Session 3: Hospital Tour (& I think pain medications)
Session 4: Potluck dinner & Postpartum Recovery, review & practice
Session 5: Newborn Baby care

I look forward to going to them, especially the tour. I really hope to see inside the NICU and the various LDR rooms available to us (i.e.- what is the difference between a private room, a deluxe private and a suite).

I had my 32 weeks Dr. appointment today. My blood pressure was good and I lost another 1/2 lb (gulp- I *SWEAR* I had oreo ice cream every day for the last 5 days!) I have gained a total of 9 lbs. now. I measured 1 week further along than 2 weeks ago, so I am now 33cm (she said this was fine). She thinks he is head down (yay!), lying with his back to my left side and between 3.5 to 4 lbs. She didn't think he was a big baby, for which I am thankful. Even if he comes out 10 lbs, I will labor thinking he is average in size and weight and "pushoutable". :o)

I did learn something interesting- she does not induce for large babies- only for real problems or if you go beyond 42 weeks!! She says 10 to 15% of her patients go late (which is after 41 weeks to her). Even if you're diabetic, if the baby isn't estimated to be more than 9.5 lbs, you are on your own! So I believe it will be a real possibility that I will see beyond my due date!

The bad thing: I told her I came really close to fainting this morning and she was not sympathetic AT ALL! Darrell and I agree that his Dr. is NOT a nurturer. She basically said, "Well, you're pregnant!" Like I don't know this?! I swear I could be on my knees holding this baby's head inside of me and she'd tell me- "Well, you're pregnant!" Argh! Just a little vent there, I was just concerned and she didn’t do much to alleviate my worry.

I was supposed to take the 3 hour GTT again and get checked for anemia- but I got to the Vampire's office at 11:20 and they close at 2:00- not enough time by 20 minutes. Guess where I'll be on Monday! :o( Oh well, I have felt really badly today anyway- I think I have an intestinal bug. Nausea and fatigue were me today! Strange, because yesterday was a perfect day.

What I am looking forward to in the near future:
My labor classes
My breastfeeding class, though it isn’t until February sometime
Getting a dresser and filling it with baby clothes
Another shower or two with my family and Darrell’s work
Receiving a toddler car seat from Darrell’s work
Cleaning out the junk we have been storing in just about every room here
Finishing the painting and decorating in the nursery
Writing the thank you notes for my first shower
Experiencing a few Braxton-Hicks contractions

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