Ack!! So much has been going on in our lives. We have been so busy! I am super busy at work and we had our baby shower so we were getting the house in order... But the what's new section will cover the last 3 weeks!
"Wow your baby is about five pounds now so if you wanted to get an idea of what it would be like to have him or her on this side of your belly, simply carry around a bag of sugar, don’t shower for two days and keep asking your husband if he thinks what ‘the baby’ is doing is normal or should you call the doctor. That should give you an idea of what the first few weeks are like with an infant.
Seriously though, this is a good time to talk about those first few weeks if you haven’t done it before because they can be tough.
This is your first time being a parent and your baby’s first time being a separate person, so there’s a steep learning curve to say the least. Oh, let’s also add a tsunami-like wave of hormones that hit you just after giving birth that will often leave you weepy and temperamental – imagine a ramped up PMS with teary long distance ads on loop.
The best advice that I can give you is to live in the now. If you start worrying about sleep habits, baby books, keeping up with a schedule, you’ll drive yourself crazy. Just get through the day and do what makes the most sense for you and your family -- if that means lying on the couch watching a tv marathon while breastfeeding and eating ice-cream, do it. Here’s a post I did on What You Need to Know About Newborns that may help a bit too.
I always think it’s unfair when people tease first time moms about being hyper-reactive. You don’t know when you can be lax and when you have to snap into action -- you’ve never done it before. I mean it’s not like you can’t just start over if you fuck up your practice baby.
I remember reading something about watching a baby’s fontanel (soft spot) on their head and to call an ambulance it if looked sunken. I was constantly saying to my husband, “does that look sunken?! I think that looks a little different than it did yesterday.” So when I end up going to my Mother’s Group that was put on by public health a few weeks later, I ask the nurse about my son’s fontanel that I had been diligently watching. She tells me that if my baby’s fontanel is sunken but it would be one of the last symptoms indicating that my baby was sick and dehydrated – poor feeding and dry diapers being the first – and that I shouldn’t bother watching it because he would be really sick long before his fontanel would sink. Er, okay. Glad I wasted all that perfectly good hysteria on something useless. I felt stupid but fuck it, I could have just as easily been right, so figure out the new ropes with reckless abandon, and don’t worry if people make fun of you. After all, you may want to hang onto that practice baby for a while." -Pregnant Chicken
Size/Info: At 34 weeks they say she is19-22 inches long and 4.7-4.9 lbs (but at my 32 week ultrasound she weighed 4.4 lbs). She is the size of a cantaloupe, a pineapple, a basketball hoop, a baguette, a large bag of potato chips or a baseball glove. Right now, her main job is putting on fat so she can regulate her body temperature once on the outside! 99% of babies born at this stage can survive outside of the womb. Huge milestone! Now while she is awake and moving she keeps her eyes open most of the time. She has her own immune system in place. Antibodies are being passed down to her as her immune system continues to develop. She drinks up to a pint of amniotic fluid a day! She should be putting on about 1/2 lb a week now (which will put her right around 8 lbs at our guess date (I'll explain that terminology later).
What's new this week? Or rather over the last 3 weeks... I had my final ultrasound with maternal fetal medicine. They did a growth scan and a biophysical profile (BPP - this is where they check baby's heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid) and everything looked wonderful - including my amniotic fluid. So, they officially released me with instructions of twice weekly NSTs and once weekly BPPs with my normal provider. Since I see a midwife, her office does the NSTs and my original OB, Dr. B, does the BPPs. It is SO wonderful to see Dr. B again!! I really love her so much - if she'd only let me have a water birth! Janet has been super wonderful as well and I am still really excited to have her. I know that she will be okay with me refusing vaginal checks during my "birthing time" and letting my body give birth without any medically necessary interventions.
Okay, so what is the deal with my terminology... guess date, birthing time?! Well we started our Hypnobabies birth classes and they change a few words around that may have a negative connotation. For example, labor sounds like hard, miserable work. And while giving birth is no walk in the park, Hypnobabies teaches that with the proper techniques (hypnoanesthesia) that I can have an easy and comfortable childbirth. So we are going with it! We have class for 6 weeks and we go over basic pregnancy and childbirth info but then we also learn the Hypnobabies techniques. Every day I have to listen to a 45 min Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations track, a 20 min finger drop technique (this is how you enter a state of hypnoanesthesia) and then during the week we alternate between a 45 min Deepening Your Hypnosis track or a script that Jason reads. This script Jason reads to me changes every week and takes about 35-40 min. Jason takes me through entereing hypnosis and then introduces key words that we will use during our birthing time such as RELAX and PEACE. We have 3 more classes and then we will continue to practice until this girls birthday. This is a big time commitment everyday and Jason has been so supportive despite how busy we both feel right now.
We had our baby shower 2 weeks ago. Kim, Valerie and Shannon organized and hosted the shower at our house. We had amazing soups and quiche, a keg of beer, beautiful flowers that we are still enjoying and an wonderful group of both men and women at the shower - although quite a few men decided that a baby shower was no place for them... and they missed out!! It was so wonderful to have so many of our friends together at once. Kim, Laura and Jeanne (Jason's 2 sisters and mother) were there and it was so special for me to have their love and support. I really lucked into an amazing loving and supportive family! They just sent me flowers for my 34 week milestone. I had a beautiful crown of flowers to wear for the shower and Kim made my favorite cake in the whole world... yellow cake with chocolate frosting with layers of frosting in the middle (I think 3 -4 layers) SO DELICIOUS. What I wouldn't give for a piece right now! It was a wonderful shower!!!!
The day after the shower, we went up to the Mesa with the Stringfellow's to get our Christmas tree. I did manage to get sick after the shower and actually missed a day and a half of work. That was miserable. Every time I sneezed I peed a little. So annoying. And I am still recovering from the cold. We did get the tree decorated finally and it is so pretty.
Work has been really crazy for me. My counterpart at work moved to a different position so I took on both of our work. They are trying to plan for my upcoming absence so I am suppose to be training several other people to take on parts of my job. This is eating up my day. I am running around like crazy and can barely get everything done. It is so exhausting and I am really ready to be done.
I received some really beautiful flowers from Laura and Kim (Jason's sisters) for reaching 34 weeks. It is a pretty big milestone as mentioned above 99% of babies born at this point survive. They have been so supportive and loving and I am very thankful for their friendship, love and support. They have been my go-to when I have any questions.
Symptoms: The Braxton hicks have drastically decreased. I don't remember if I have mentioned my sleep troubles but I think I have developed an apnea and it is making me MISERABLE. I have cried more in the last 3 weeks than I have my entire pregnancy. I am having a lot of pain low down from her moving around and she sleeps at night up on my ribs. Acid reflux is ever present and my hands and feet are swelling. I can't wear my rings anymore and socks cut off my circulation. ugh.
Food Aversions: None really.
Food Cravings: Chocolate milk, broccoli, fizzy water and COLD water.
Fitness: Other than running around like crazy al over the hospital at work, I've done some prenatal yoga. But I mean really, who am I kidding?! I have been doing pelvic tilts every day so pregnancy fitness, I guess?!
Bump: Growing growing belly!! 3 weeks worth of pics and the same dress twice! I guess I really like that dress! (Thanks Elaine!)
Medications:
7:30am: 1 mg prednisone (last week on predinsone!!), 40mg Lovonox injection in the belly
9am: 1 Prenatal and 2 DHA
7:30pm: 40mg Lovonox injection in the belly
Baby Preparations: Man oh man do we have so many clothes! We have been gifted so many that I swear she won't wear the same thing twice! I have organized the baby's dresser and closet after the shower. Two of the guy friends at the shower gave us very generous gift cards so we went and bought a stroller and a bunch of little things we needed. I am so grateful for all the gifts (we received some great home-made blankets) but I do think that it is weird that some things were claimed off of the registry and then we never received them... so with a VERY generous gift from Jason's parents, we were able to purchase most of the other stuff we still needed. There is this one thing that I am still trying to convince Jason that we need and it is called an Owlet Monitor. It is basically a pulse oximeter that goes off if her oxygen saturation drops below a certain level. I know it seems like overkill but I am a worrier and I do think this will give me peace of mind. I have also been starting to think about life after birth. I mean we are going to have a person that completely relies on us... I think we'll know what to do but what if we don't?!?? I need a good parenting book for what to expect month by month for the first year... any suggestions?
