Update

We went to a breastfeeding class this past Monday, which is the first of the classes we signed up for. The class was Monday evening and was pretty comprehensive. We learned some new things about how to ensure successful breastfeeding and the causes of some of the problems that women run into. Luckily, there is a lot of support for breastfeeding both in our CenteringPregnancy group and also within UCSF. A lactation specialist is going to come to one of our Centering groups. There will be a lactation specialist at the hospital to help if needed. My doula will also be able to help make sure the baby latches on correctly.

We had our CenteringPregnancy group last week and everything is looking good with me and the baby. They did a glucose blood test to check for gestational diabetes, which is normal to do at this point in the pregnancy, though its not anything that I am concerned about. The baby is developing at a good pace and seemed to be the right size for this point in the pregnancy. I am coming to the end of week 25, and nearing the end of the 6th month. Next month starts the 3rd trimester. Time is just flying by! Our next Centering appointment is May 20th.

Overall, I am still feeling good. I was having some indigestion, but that has passed thankfully. Hopefully, it doesn't come back. I have started sleeping with a pillow under my belly, which has helped a lot and I have been sleeping a lot better the last few nights.

I am feeling the baby move a lot more now, which is really cool. She is now kicking strongly enough that Joe can feel it. It's comforting to feel her move and know that she is doing ok in there. We are definitely getting increasingly more excited for her to be born and know that the next few months are going to go by really fast!

Doula

I decided a while ago that I was going to hire a doula for the birth and Joe and I found someone really great. We met with her this past Sunday and the three of us really clicked and felt really good about working together. For those who are not familiar with what a doula does, you can go here, http://www.dona.org/mothers/index.php. This is the national doula organization's site and they have all of the information about what a doula does and why it is beneficial to have a doula attend the birth. Doulas are trained in labor and birth and are cerified to do what they do. They provide extra emotional and informational support throughout the labor and birth. They do not perform any medical procedures.

We will meet with her again in July and then we will call her when I go into labor and she will come meet us and be with us throughout the birth through about two hours after the baby is born. She will also be able to assist me with breastfeeding and make sure everything is going right for me and the baby. Then she will do one post partum visit at home sometime in the first couple of weeks after the baby is born. She will be a great extra source of support for both me and Joe and will be able to help coach Joe throughout the labor as to what I may need depending on the point of labor I am at. She will be able to provide informational support and explanations about what is happening in labor as it is happening. This page from her website talks about the benefit to the dad of having a doula present, and this talks about the birthing experience.

Doulas are not covered by insurance, so this is an out of pocket expense, though well worth it. This was the last thing that I wanted to get set before the birth, so I think we are about ready to go. We have the first of our classes on Monday the 27th, which is the breastfeeding class. Then in May we have a parenting class, and then in June we start our birthing classes. Only a few more months until she is here!

Bump Watch

This is the start of week 24. Can you believe it? Right now the baby is about 1 1/4 lbs and at least 12 inches from head to toe. I am feeling her move regularly now and Joe has finally been able to feel it too, which is exciting. Now with only a few more months to go, we are getting very excited for her to be born. It seems much more real now than it did earlier in the pregnancy when August seemed so far away.

We have our next prenatal appointment Thursday morning. We are also signed up for a breastfeeding class the evening of Monday April 27th.

Baby Registry

I registered for baby stuff at Babies R Us. Joe's parents were in town this past week, so Louise and I went down together and registered. Here is the link. You can also get to it from the Toys R Us website.
http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2255957
You can search by either my name or Joe's name. If you choose to buy us something not on the registry or from a different store, please always choose the organic or all natural option whenever possible. There will be a shower in LA that I will fly down for. My mom will drive up for the birth and bring the gifts with her, but depending on the size of the item, it might be better to just ship it to me.

It was fun going down there and we picked up a few things while we were there. Joe has already put together one of the items, which makes us even more excited for her to get here....though we don't want her to come too early, so we are being patient.



It's hard to believe that we are already half way through month 6 - the time is just flying by, and considering the school work I still have to do, the next couple of months are going to go very fast.

Update

It's been a little while since I last posted because I have been really busy with school work.

I have been feeling her move more regularly, which is cool. It still feels like bubbles popping in my belly, but I can now feel it if I put my hand on my stomach. The problem is that whenever I grab Joe's hand to feel, the baby stops moving. So, unfortunately, he hasn't been able to feel it yet. I do feel her more in the evening and at night. I read that babies tend to move more during those hours because that's when you're still. All of the moving during the day tends to lull them to sleep.

Sleeping is still a bit of an issue. I am getting up at least one time during the night, and usually twice to pee, so I am never getting more than about 4-5 hours of sleep at a time. Even if I try not to drink much in the hours before bed, I still get up. I am also tossing and turning more since I can only be on my side and staying on one side too long makes my hip hurt and my legs get kind of crampy. A pillow between my legs didn't help me and those body pillows basically keep you on one side, so I don't think that's a great solution either. Basically, I just try to get the most sleep I can. My tossing and turning does wake Joe up some nights, but I guess we both will have to get used to less sleep in the coming months.

I have also been having some indigestion, which started just in the past week. Drinking ginger ale has helped some. They say to eat small meals throughout the day, but I tend to eat larger meals. :-)

Otherwise, I still feel good. I can still bend over and move around and am confortable. This week is week 23 and we are almost halfway through month 6, which is hard to believe. At the end of this month, we have our breastfeeding class and our next prenatal appointment. Stay tuned for the next "bump watch" picture.

Bump Watch

This is week 21, so we have officially started the 2nd half of the pregnancy. The first half went so fast and its hard to believe we are already half way there. I'm sure this half will go just as fast. The fact that I am pregnant while I am finishing my dissertation is making the time go even faster. At this point, the baby is fully formed, so now she just has to get bigger and put on the pounds. I have been feeling her move and it still feels kind of like gas and kind of like a fluttering. By week 24, we should be able to feel the baby by touching my belly. Joe is excited for that.

I have been sleeping ok. Some nights I am tossing and turning and getting up multiple times to pee and then there are nights where I actually sleep well. I have also noticed that I get tired much quicker when I am walking around and walking up the hills is getting harder. Otherwise, I am still feeling pretty good.

I am really showing now, which is cool. Looking back over the other "bump watch" pictures, you can really see how I've grown. It's exciting.

Update

We had our monthly prenatal appointment yesterday at the CenteringPregnancy group. We got our results from the last ultrasound, which were really positive. At the ultrasound, the technicians are only allowed to tell you the sex of the baby, they cannot give you any other information since they are not doctors. So, just in case there is something wrong with the baby, they wouldn't really be able to address it with you. So, we had to wait for the prenatal appointment to confirm that she is growing normally and everything looks ok. At the ultrasound they took many different measurements to make sure she is proportional and is growing properly, which thankfully she is. Not that we're experts but just looking at the her during the ultrasound, she looked really good to us. Her limbs looked proportional and her head looked like it was shaped correctly.

In the results I am referred to as "elderly" since I am 35 years old, which is pretty funny. The results showed that the placenta and umbilical cord look normal are in their proper place. The quantity of amniotic fluid is normal. The ultrasound also changed my due date from August 8th to August 10th, which doesn't really mean all that much. She'll come sometime around there either way.

At this prenatal appointment we got to hear her heartbeat again, which is always cool. The heartbeat sounds good and she is a healthy little girl. The CenteringPregnancy group is really cool. Joe and I both like it. It is supportive and informational. Yesterday we talked about common discomforts. It is nice to hear other women talking about experiencing the same things. Sometimes you think, "am I the only one this is happening to?" I gained 7 pounds this month, which the nurse midwife said wasn't too bad. I am hoping to stay in the 25-30 lb weight gain range, which is the normal range.

Sleeping has been getting more difficult and I have been having leg cramps. Luckily, they are not too bad, but they are annoying. I am only supposed to be sleeping on my side, and I like to also sleep on my back and stomach, so having to just stay on my side has been a little challenging. I think I may have to buy one of those pregnancy body pillows. I have also been having the craziest dreams! None of them have been about the baby actually, just really bizarre and random dreams. A lot of them are adventure dreams where I'm in some crazy situation. I used to have a lot of anxiety dreams (which might be because I've been in school and stressed out for the last five years), but these dreams aren't really anxiety dreams, so its interesting to see how my subconscious is changing.

Overall, I am still feeling good. I have been feeling the baby more and it still feels like a little fluttering. At the ultrasound she was laying sideways with her head on my left side and her feet on my right. Most of what I feel is on my right side where I think her feet are. By the end of April I should be feeling her more regularly and Joe should be able to feel her by touching my stomach. I've already bought her a couple of cute things. We haven't even thought about cribs, strollers, car seats yet. I think we'll tackle that in June.

Baby Pictures

This is a great shot of her just laying there. You can clearly see her spine. Isn't that wild?! You can also see the features on her face - her nose and her mouth.

This is an amazing picture of her with her mouth open. She might be yawning or she might be trying to say something - she is our daughter after all :-). During the ultrasound, she opened her mouth a few different times. It was just so cool to see her in action. You can also see the bones in her mouth. And her big round belly is so cute.

This is the "talk to the hand" picture. You can clearly see the bones in her hand and arm.

Here's the proof that she's a girl. This is the crotch shot looking straight up, her left leg is on top and her right leg is on bottom. The little blob to the left is likely her head.

This was probably the last ultrasound we are going to have, so we won't get to see anymore of her until she's born. Joe and I are already so excited to meet her. Luckily, times goes fast and we definitely don't want her to come too early, so I guess we'll just have to be patient.

Bump Watch

This is week 19 and as you can see I am getting bigger, and I'm just about at the midway point of my pregnancy.

Update

So, I think I felt her move yesterday. I was having these twinges on the right side of my belly and I'm pretty sure that was her kicking. During the ultrasound, we saw that she was in a breech position, with her head on the left side and her feet on the right. So, I think the twinges I was feeling on the right were her, which is exciting.

One other thing about the ultrasound that I didn't mention in my other post was that they were also able to see the blood flowing through the umbilical cord, which showed up as different colors showing the direction that the blood was flowing. It was pretty cool.

Looking at the new ultrasound pictures against the ones we had from January, you can really see how much she has developed and you can see how the shape of her head has changed. In one of the new pictures, her spine is clearly visible. All of her bones were clearly visible as they were doing the ultrasound. It is amazing how much detail you are able to see.

I'm starting to show a lot more and there's no doubt now that I am pregnant. I am still feeling good. Sleeping is a bit of an issue since I wake up like twice a night to go to the bathroom and I can only sleep on my side. I like to also sleep on my back and even my stomach sometimes, so having to only stay on my side is a little bit of an issue, but what can you do. Overall, everything is good. Joe and I are just very excited and are getting anxious to meet our daughter. We're sure the next four months will go by pretty quickly.