It's 5:30 a.m. I've been up since 2:30. What better to do than update my blog? It's truly amazing the things that run through your head when you are wide awake at 3 in the morning. We've had so much going on, I can't make my mind stop long enough to think about sleeping. Incidentally, Bebe is up with me, so at least I am not alone. Or maybe she's just mad that I'm not asleep! I like to wonder what she thinks ... "go to bed, woman!"
Our house is getting ready to be turned upside down. We (well, Steve) finally got Bebe's room painted, and it is beautiful. Her bed linens came in, and cousin Linda is working on a fancy window valance. I have cleaned out closets, cabinets, drawers, basically anything not actually nailed to the house. I cannot wait to get her furniture, but we have one more tiny project to finish before we go pick it up. We are replacing the carpet throughout our whole house. Yes, the whole darn thing. The installers will be here Monday, which means I have 5 days to get lots of stuff packed up and put away. Well, really 4. I have a feeling I won't be worth much tomorrow! It's all very exciting stuff, but I am ready for it to be done. It will look great and I will be thankful we did it all in the long run. But right now, I am tired, which is ironic since I can't sleep!
Physically, I am doing okay. I am almost 9 months pregnant for goodness sake! I have thankfully had a relatively easy pregnancy. I still have backaches, and spend many evenings laying on the heating pad. Tylenol PM has become my friend, though obviously not tonight. The only other interesting change of note is that I have apparently developed a case of pregnancy related carpal tunnel. It feels very strange, but I've become accustomed to it. We will surely bring it up with Dr. Fields when we see him Friday.
Friday I will get the best birthday present ever ... I will once again get to see my precious child. We had an ultrasound at 28 weeks, and Friday I will be 35 weeks. I can't wait to see how much she has grown! From the looks of my belly, quite a bit. They will check her estimated size, weight, position, and all of that good stuff. Then we'll start talking about the big day. What I thought would be a never ending pregnancy has gone by amazingly fast. I had twinges of sadness the other day thinking that pretty soon I'll have to share Bebe. It has been nice, and very overwhelming, to have her to myself for the past 8 months. As my friend Becky's 2 year old daughter Hannah observed, my belly is her home. I like that thought.
I think I'm now going to make a vain attempt at sleep. I have somewhere I must be at 10:00, so my alarm will be going off in a few hours. Sweet dreams to all!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Childbirth 101
Well, we had quite an interesting weekend ... we attended our all day marathon childbirth class on Saturday. Being a woman and avid reader of What to Expect When You Are Expecting, I was prepared for the day. More than anything, I wanted to actually see the birthing facility at St. Mary's so I would have peace of knowing where I would be when the big moment arrived. Steve was not so excited about it. His initial reaction ... as long as Dr. Fields knows how to deliver the baby, why do we need to go learn about it?
First off, there were some hard-core couples in the class who brought sprial notebooks and had them filled by the days end. I took all of my notes in the blank spots of a handout they gave everyone about local pediatricians. It was all the room I needed. I had to side with Steve on that one. When I'm in the birthing suite, I don't think either of us is going to be flipping through the loose leaf trying to remember what the nurse said. We'll just ask ... she'll be right there for goodness sake. The guy sitting next to us (definately a note taker) actually asked "How many unnecessary c-sections are performed in this hospital?" Really? What did he expect to hear? "Sir, I would guess that at least half of all surgeries performed here are completely unnecessary!" It takes all kinds, I guess. Steve was rolling with it all until the dreaded video. He was pretty pumped that everything to that point was just drawings. But after lunch, that all changed ....
Steve has now decided that he will camp out in the waiting room circa 1976 and wait for the doctor to come out and say "Congratulations! You have a healthy baby girl!" He also pointed out, quite wisely I think, that if the childbirth video were shown in high schools we could drastically reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. He's probably right. I must say, I was not all that thrilled with the video either. Can I wait in the waiting room with Steve?
The best part is when the nurse started talking about how some doctors will now allow the father to help deliver the baby. That is, once the head is out and the cord is tended to, the father can actually pull the baby the rest of the way out. (Steve is getting paler and paler as this discussion continues.) At this point, and I am NOT making this up, Steve raised his hand and asked "Can we get a discount if we do that?" The nurse was a little caught of guard and the note-taking dads shot us a few looks, but it garnered quite a chuckle amongst the other couples in the room. Boy, I sure hope we are as lighthearted about everything on the big day! I know it will be stressful, but Steve and I like to laugh. A lot. So I'm hopeful that we'll get some nurses who will laugh right along with us.
We survived the day. My apologies to any of my note-taking friends out there. I think the less I know, the better. When it comes to the minute details of childbirth, I have decided that ignorance is bliss.
First off, there were some hard-core couples in the class who brought sprial notebooks and had them filled by the days end. I took all of my notes in the blank spots of a handout they gave everyone about local pediatricians. It was all the room I needed. I had to side with Steve on that one. When I'm in the birthing suite, I don't think either of us is going to be flipping through the loose leaf trying to remember what the nurse said. We'll just ask ... she'll be right there for goodness sake. The guy sitting next to us (definately a note taker) actually asked "How many unnecessary c-sections are performed in this hospital?" Really? What did he expect to hear? "Sir, I would guess that at least half of all surgeries performed here are completely unnecessary!" It takes all kinds, I guess. Steve was rolling with it all until the dreaded video. He was pretty pumped that everything to that point was just drawings. But after lunch, that all changed ....
Steve has now decided that he will camp out in the waiting room circa 1976 and wait for the doctor to come out and say "Congratulations! You have a healthy baby girl!" He also pointed out, quite wisely I think, that if the childbirth video were shown in high schools we could drastically reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. He's probably right. I must say, I was not all that thrilled with the video either. Can I wait in the waiting room with Steve?
The best part is when the nurse started talking about how some doctors will now allow the father to help deliver the baby. That is, once the head is out and the cord is tended to, the father can actually pull the baby the rest of the way out. (Steve is getting paler and paler as this discussion continues.) At this point, and I am NOT making this up, Steve raised his hand and asked "Can we get a discount if we do that?" The nurse was a little caught of guard and the note-taking dads shot us a few looks, but it garnered quite a chuckle amongst the other couples in the room. Boy, I sure hope we are as lighthearted about everything on the big day! I know it will be stressful, but Steve and I like to laugh. A lot. So I'm hopeful that we'll get some nurses who will laugh right along with us.
We survived the day. My apologies to any of my note-taking friends out there. I think the less I know, the better. When it comes to the minute details of childbirth, I have decided that ignorance is bliss.
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