Lethal Combination

Last Tuesday we had our final childbirth class. Of course the finale to this brief education into the world of having a baby is a video of an actual birth. I'm sure we all saw "The Miracle of Life" in high school biology class and it was gross then, but now it's just so much more relevant now. The following evening we did the tour of the maternity ward of the hospital. It's very nice. Actually, all I could think about while I was there as how impressed mom would have been. No sterile hospital waiting room like the old days. They have a beautiful lounge with a cappuccino machine, computers, WIFI, and a small kitchen. I could just picture my mother in there with a coffee and her book, not reading but talking to every other person in there. I'm sure she'd have their life stories before she left(and have given them mine in return, of course).

Anyway, this combination of the birthing video followed by the tour of the place where I will actually deliver this baby was a little bit frightening to me. I guess it just made it all seem so...real. I've enjoyed being pregnant so far and haven't really given a tremendous amount of thought to the baby actually coming out. Well, at least I know I can get a cappuccino after the delivery.

30 Week Picture

30 weeks - I can't believe it. Some days it feels like I am way past 30 weeks, but overall I'm still really enjoying being pregnant. Actually I feel like this picture is a little bit deceiving - I'm not really this big. I think it's the shirt. The third trimester has been more anxiety prone than even the precarious first trimester. I guess my trip to labor and delivery got me more shaken up than I expected. Other than that one little incident everything has been going very well. Nighttime is my only really bad time of the day. I tend to get cranky and uncomfortable. Too bad for John this is mostly during the time he is home. Hmmm, maybe that's not just a coincidence - only kidding.

I'm Normal

I just got word that the results of my 3 hour glucose test were normal! Wooo Hooo! Let me tell you that test was not fun. I got to the lab at 7:45am for my 8am appointment and there was already a line. How is it that I had to wait in a line when I actually had an appointment? I finally get in and the woman explains to me that they will take a fasting blood sample and then another sample every hour for the next 3 hours. So she draws my blood and then gives me the bottle of glucola to drink. After I finish she sends me off to the waiting room with the advice "try not to throw up because then we have start all over again." Super. Now, when I did the one hour test I didn't think it was that bad. This time around I still didn't think the drink itself was that bad, but the after effects were a little different this time. I proceeded to sit in the waiting room and try to read my book. At first all is well, then about 30 minutes into my wait I started to feel very ill. I assured the tech that I would be fine and wouldn't get sick - at this point I'm starting to doubt that promise. Finally I leaned my head on my hand and closed my eyes and that seemed to do the trick. While I continued to feel sick to my stomach for a little while longer, it got better as the morning went on. What did not help was the fact that they had to keep going back and forth between the same two spots for the blood draw because my other veins "were not cooperating". Stupid stubborn veins!

The moral of the story is that taking the 3-hour glucose test really sucks! But I passed, so it was all worth it. Yay!

29 Week Picture

My trip to Labor and Delivery over the weekend has certainly not stopped this little girl from moving and growing. We're both getting bigger by the week and she is still as active as ever. As a matter of fact the one fun part about my trip to the hospital was that we could both see and hear her kicking the fetal monitor. I guess she didn't appreciate the invasion of her space. No grass is going to grow under her feet!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there. It's a tough day for this mom-to-be. It's nice to be celebrating my "first" mother's day and to think that this time next year I will be celebrating with our daughter. Unfortunately that is overshadowed by one very significant absence. It's hard to describe what it's like not to have my mother to call and say "Happy Mother's Day" or send a (late) card to. But the truth is I miss her like this every day, Mother's Day or not. Today it just happens to be right there in my face. We celebrated in our own way, but it's just not the same without her. It's still hard for me to even believe she is gone.

All of this is made even more difficult by the circumstances surrounding the start of my very first mother's day. My day started out in the Labor and Delivery department of our hospital. I called my doctor for a small amount of bleeding on Saturday evening and she sent me to the hospital to get checked out. It turns out I was having some pretty regular Braxton Hicks contractions. They were not painful, as a matter of fact I couldn't feel them at all. The concern was the frequency and regularity of the contractions. So after a lot of fluids and a quick shot to stop the contractions I was released from the hospital at about 12:30 am on Mother's Day. I was relieved and glad to go home and go to sleep (and see my dogs!). It's times like these that I wish I could call my mom. She would have know exactly what to say to put me at ease before I even called my doctor. I miss her so much. Happy Mother's Day mom!

28 Week Picture

So, I'm a little behind on posting the pictures, but it's been a busy few weeks. Here I am at 28 weeks - I really cannot believe how fast July is approaching. We started our childbirth classes this week, which has been interesting. The teacher is a labor and delivery nurse that used to work both for my doctor and for the hospital where I will deliver. She is fantastic - very much the kind of nurse mom was. She was truthful without trying to scare us and she was very frank about everything. I like her a lot. We have two more classes and then we "graduate". I guess that means I know all that I can know in order to have this baby, right?

In other news I go in for my 3-hour glucose tolerance test on Monday. I've got a good book to read while I wait and some knitting to finish for a certain set of twins that will arrive shortly before our little one. Say a prayer that I pass this test!!

27 Week Picture

Somewhere in the craziness I can't seem to find my 26 Week picture - oh well. This is me from last week at 27 weeks. I am starting to learn my limitations. For example, when my cell phone rings and it's on another floor of my house and I run to get it - I WILL be out of breath when I answer the phone. I am also not as agile as I was before I got pregnant, as was evidenced when I tried to prop myself up on a low wall outside the Air and Space museum. I was a little too front heavy to push myself up high enough to sit on that wall, but I certainly gave it a shot.

The baby is moving constantly! I can now feel what body part is poking me - like her little arms and hands, legs and elbows. It's pretty cool. Not too much longer and she'll be here for real!