2 weeks to go

We are just two weeks away, which is kind of hard to believe. We did a tour of the hospital recently, so now we know where to go and what the room will be like. Luckily I am pre-registered so we just have to go up the labor & delivery, which is on the top floor of the hospital. The hospital in on top of a hill, so there are great views :-). The rooms are spacious and there is a pull out sofa, a TV, a mini fridge and a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. We can also control the temperatutre and lighting in the room. I have started getting stuff together for when we are ready to go to the hospital. I got the baby's stuff ready and have a few different outfits and blankets for her. Today I got some water and juices, and snacks to bring to the hospital for us.

Our next prenatal appointment is Thursday the 30th. I have been feeling pretty good and have slept well the last couple of nights. I think the baby has dropped, which they say happens anywhere from 2-4 weeks before delivery. I have noticed in the past couple of days that I can breathe easier, especially when Marley and I are walking uphill. I have also noticed that my indigestion has eased up a bit. Both of those were discussed in my baby books as signs of when the baby drops.

Joe and I are getting very excited and its hard to believe that she is going to be here so soon. We are so excited to meet her and she what she looks like. I think she'll stick close to her due date.

She moves pretty regularly and I can tell that she's more cramped in there. I don't feel her kicking really as much now as I feel her whole body moving from side to side. It also feels sometimes like she is trying to stretch out, so you can see bulges on either side of my belly. It's really cool. I am trying to remember what it all feels like because she won't be inside me much longer.

This weekend we are goin g to install the car seat, so that we can have that ready. That's really the last thing we need to do, otherwise we have everything else ready for her.

Week 37

Today starts week 37. Here are pictures of the baby's crib and the dresser/changing table. You can see how many clothes she already has. Today I got her clothes and things together to take to the hospital. I am also starting to get my things together, so that it'll all be ready to go and it will be one less things for me to think about.

I had a prenatal appointment this past Thursday, which went well and the next one's not until the 30th.

Today we went to get the stroller/car seat. We also got a play pen that has a bassinet and a changing table, which we are going to have in our room for a little while for when she sleeps in our room. It also folds up for easy travel, which will come in handy. Now I think we really have everything. The only thing left to do is to install the car seat base, which we'll probably do next weekend.

I am feeling pretty much the same. I am not sleeping well and am having indigestion, which also affects my sleep. Aside from that I am still doing a lot of walking and feel pretty good. The baby moves around a lot, so I feel her most of the time. Joe and I are just getting more and more excited to meet her and see what she looks like. Only a few more weeks.

9th Month

Today is the first day of week 36, which starts the 9th month. We are in the home stretch with about 4 weeks to go. As you can see, I can have gotten pretty big. This week we are going to get the stroller and car seat and that should round everything out. I think we have everything else we are going to need (at least for a little while).

We met with our doula again yesterday to reconnect and to discuss how everything will play out once I go into labor. We really like her and are glad that she is going to be a part of this journey. We'll call her when I go into labor and then stay in touch with her until I am in active labor which is when she will come over. She'll come to our house, go with us to the hospital, and stay with us until 2 hours post partum.

We found a pediatrician, which we are happy about. We met with her last week and feel really good about her and the practice. Here is the website. She is just what we were looking for, and is close by. There are pediatricians in the hospital who will look over the baby after she is born and then we will see our pediatrician probably a day or two after we leave the hospital. We'll call before we're discharged to set up the appointment and the great thing is that she will do a house call, so we won't have to take the baby into the office when she is only a couple of days old. I want to keep the baby home for the first week before taking her outside.

We have our next prenatal appointmet on Thursday. We are now going every two weeks. Everything was good at the last appointment - the baby's heartbeat sounded good and she is in the head down position, which we are happy about. I feel her moving most of the time, which is reassuring. Mid afternoon is when she seems to be napping because that is usually the time that I feel her the least. She is a pretty active baby, so it'll be interesting to see how that translates when she is out of the womb and has more room to move around. It is really cool for both of us to feel her and to watch her. Jyst looking at my belly, you can see her movements. In the evenings, Joe and I will just sit and watch her for a while in amazement. We are so excited to meet her already and see what she looks like.

My biggest issue now is sleeping. Not only is it hard to just stay on my left side, but I am getting up usually twice a night to go to the bathroom, which is obviously disruptive to my sleep. I will wake up sometimes with leg cramps or because my left hip is aching. I have pillows propping me up, but its still not the most comfortable. Sometimes I can feel the baby moving in the middle of the night, but its usually not enought to keep me up. I guess this is all just a warm up for the lack of sleep we are going to have in the weeks, months, and probably years to come. Otherwise, I am feeling pretty good. I am still walking a lot even if I have had to slow my pace down a bit. And I am also still eating really well, even though I get some indigestion.

Moving right along

We had our last birthing class last week. June just flew by - we had the birthing classes every Thursday in June and it just went by so fast. We really enjoyed the class and I think we feel pretty ready for the whole thing. The class was really good and there was an emphasis on natural childbirth, though she did go over medication options. There are actually more options than we thought. We figured it was either an epidural or nothing, but they offer nitrous as well as the opiate Fentanyl, which was pretty surprising. It is pretty interesting how willing they are to medicate laboring women and that seems to be the default. They are basically throwing medication at you. I am still committed to an unmedicated natural childbirth, but it is always good to know what our options are. We are going to fill out a birth plan that will go in my chart that will detail what I do and do not want during my labor. This way the medical staff will be clear on what I want and what I expect from them.

We had our prenatal appointment yesterday and luckily I only gained about a pound in the last 2 weeks. Our appointments are now every two weeks until delivery. Can you believe we are only 5 weeks away?! It's hard for us to believe. The baby's heartbeat sounded good and strong and she is really moving around a lot. I am measuring a little big, but it doesn't seem to be an issue. I think we are going to have a good sized baby.

Overall I am still feeling good. Sleeping is getting harder, and I am thankful if I can sleep through until 3am – I’m usually in bed by 11. Generally I am getting up about twice a night to go to the bathroom and by the 2nd time, it's hard for me to fall back asleep again. I am supposed to just sleep on my left side, and have woken up with cramps in my legs and hip. I guess this lack of sleep is just practice for what's to come.

We’ll get another bump watch picture up soon. I am really big now.

Update

We had a prenatal appointment last Thursday. I only gained about four pounds in the last month, which was good. My weight gain has slowed a bit. I would say that I've probably gained about 40 pounds so far, which isn't too bad. Joe and both thought that the baby was already head down because of the movements we were feeling, and after the nurse midwife checked me out, she confirmed that the baby is head down. She has been moving around a lot and I don't feel so many kicks as much as I do just movements now that she's a little more cramped for space. When she's moving around, you can feel what we think is her butt sticking out towards the top of my belly. It's pretty trippy. The other night when I went to lay down I felt something sticking me in the side, which I'm pretty sure was her elbow. Based on pictures of what the baby should look like at this stage, we are trying to figure out what body parts we might be feeling.

At each visit, the nurse midwife measures my belly just to make sure the baby is developing. She measures from the pubic line to the top of the uterus and the distance in centimeters should correspond to the number of weeks in the pregnancy. So at 32 weeks, I should measure 32 centimeters. I measured about 33 centimeters, but she didn't seem to be concerned about that and didn't really have anything to say about it, so either the baby is a little bigger or maybe I just have a little extra fat around my belly.

At this centering group we talked about the stages of labor and when to call and go to the hospital. We talked a little about breathing techniques and what some of the options are for medication if people want it.

Up until now, we have had appointments every month and starting in July, we'll have appointments every two weeks as we approach the due date. We're only 6 weeks away! Our next appointment is July 2nd.

Baby Shower - SF

We had a baby shower here in SF on the 2oth which was fun. We had it at our house with friends. We held it on a Saturday afternoon, and had a lunch of catered deli. We got some more good presents and some new cute clothes for the baby. She isn't even here yet and has quite a wardrobe.

I have been so busy with school, so it was nice to see friends who we haven't had a chance to see for a while. We also got back in touch with our friend Ben who we worked with at Cacheon (the company where we met) and he drove up from Santa Cruz, which was great. It was a really nice afternoon. I put the pictures online, so you can view them here.

The furniture came a few days before the shower, so I was able to get all of her clothes organized and put away. The delivery people set up the crib and the changing table/dresser came in one piece. Her room is coming together and I think we have pretty much everything we need. The only thing left is the stroller, which I will get in the next week or so. I also still have to get some of the crib decorations, like the bumper and the bed skirt - nothing critical, but we want her room to look cute. :-)

Baby Shower - LA

I flew down to LA last weekend for the baby shower that was thrown by Elana, Aunt Ellen, and Aunt Susan. We had a really great time. It was at Susan's house, which was really nice and comfortable. Elana planned a few activities, which started with everyone having a chance to decorate a onesie. Then we did a "guess my girth" where everyone chose a length of string and whoever got closest to going around my waist won. The winner was Riley, Justin and Stephanie's 4 year old daughter. The other activity was a word search of all baby related words, which Karen, Jonathan Ephraim's wife won.

We had lunch of chinese chicken salad that Susan made which was great and then (my favorite) noodle kugel. We got a bunch of great presents and lots of clothes to add to the baby's large wardrobe. Then to top it all off, we had cake. It was a great afternoon and we all had a good time. I have the pictiures uploaded to a web album. Click here.

We have the SF shower this weekend, so I'll be sure to post those pictures as well.

Update

I haven't posted for a while because I was really busy finishing my dissertation. I finished it and gave it to my committee.

Look how big I'm getting. This week is the first week of month 8. Just 2 more months to go.

Everything has been going well with the pregnancy. We had out 2nd birthing class last Thursday. We went over breathing techniques, positions during labor, and massage to help with pain management. We practiced breathing techniques for the various stages of labor and talked more about how things would progress. Then we did some massage techniques focusing on the lower back. We also watched a film of women giving birth, which was pretty amazing. It definitely makes us excited for when our baby is born. We're enjoying the birthing class - it's a good group of people and we like the woman who teaches it. She is the same person who taught the parenting class we took.

The baby furniture came yesterday and it looks really good. We got the crib and dresser/changing table. I am going to get the mattress tomorrow, so after that, I'll take pictures and post those. The baby already has so many clothes, so I organized all of them and now they are waiting in the dresser for her.

I feel her moving most of the day everyday now. She has her cycles and is active during the mornings and then mellows out during most of the afternoon and then is active again in the evening. She hasn't woken me up during the night moving around at all, which is good since its getting hard enough to sleep as it is. Feeling her move around is really cool, and Joe is amazed by how strong her movements are.

Tomorrow is my next prenatal appointment and our third birthing class.

Birthing Class

We had our first birthing class last night. It is a series of four classes that will run every Thursday through the month of June. We can't believe we are already at this stage. The baby is due 2 months from Monday, which will be here before we know it.

There were about 8 couples in the class including us. To each class, we are supposed to bring two pillows and some snacks since the class goes from 6:30-9pm. For the first class, we talked about physiology and what physically happens with the mother and baby during labor. We talked about the stages of labor, how long it lasts on average, what to expect, when to call the doctor, and when to go to the hospital. We are lucky that we are just a 5 minute drive to the hospital, so we will likely be able to spend a good amount of time at home before we need to go to the hospital. This class focuses on natural childbirth. They had two classes and while they cover the same basics, this one emphasizes natural childbirth and incorporates relaxation techniques and a little meditation which will help with pain management.

For the last 40 minutes or so we watched a video of a woman in labor and delivering her baby. Joe and I are definitely getting more excited as the days go by. It's hard to believe that in a couple of months we are going to have our baby.

The baby is getting bigger and now weighs somewhere between 3 and 3 1/2 lbs. I feel her moving very regularly and where I used to feel kicks here and there, now I feel her moving around and changing positions. Sometimes a part of my belly will bulge and we're not sure if its a foot, a knee, and elbow, or maybe even her head. We can even watch my belly and see her moving. It's really trippy! Joe can feel her moving more often now, which is great. We will sometimes push back on my belly if she is moving around and she'll sometimes respond, which is really cool.

We got a crib and changing table/dresser last weekend, which will come in a few weeks. I am looking forward to finally being done with school so I can devote time to getting her room ready.

Update

I have not been posting much lately because I am finishing my dissertation and that is taking up pretty much all of my time.

I am feeling pretty good. Some of the tiredness from the first trimester is coming back. It may be partly due to how I'm sleeping and I'm probably not getting the best sleep right now because even though I am using pillows to prop my belly up, it's still not the most comfortable. Plus, I still get up at least once a night to go to the bathroom, so that's interrupting things.

I am definitely getting bigger and I'll post a bump watch picture soon since its been a few weeks. I do feel larger these days and getting around is not as easy as it used to be. Not only have I gained wait, but my lung capacity is diminished since my internal organs are all misplaced. Just going up a flight of stairs leaves me breathless and I've had to slow down my normal walking pace to, well...normal. :-)

I turn in my dissertation on June 8th and then have my defense on the 25th, and am really looking forward to being done so I can put all of my focus on the baby and getting everything ready for her arrival. We are going to look at baby furniture this weekend, which should be fun.