32 Weeks

I can't believe I'm 8 months pregnant already! The time sure does fly. We had a wonderful weekend with our first baby shower on Sunday. We had a terrific turnout, more people than we expected. I was a little worried about the superbowl, but most people complimented us on our timing - they were able to swing by our house on the way to their other parties.

We had a lot of fun, and the baby got some much needed items. Dustin and I also got some Target giftcards so we were able to buy his dresser with those. Assembling it is my project for today. I'm excited to be able to start putting some of Southern's clothes away. I've already started washing the smaller sizes.

And my mom got us his crib! Yay!!! It was shipped to the store yesterday so we just need to go pick it up. Putting it together will be my project this weekend while Dustin works on grad school.

Here are some pictures from the shower:

Me with Simon, Dustin's godfather, who won the ribbon game

Me with the co-hostesses (and the best friends ever) Tasia and Jessie

31 Weeks

Well Dustin and I finally did it. We graduated! :)

Our final Lamaze class was last night. Over the past month, with all of the classes we've taken, we've learned so much. Now we're just waiting on Southern to make his appearance so we can put into practice our new knowledge!

I'm meeting with two of my girlfriends this evening, Tasia and Jessie, who are throwing us our first baby shower this weekend. They're going to get some decorations and food, and they invited me along for the ride. It should be fun! We're having this shower for all the family and friends around this neck of the woods. My aunts are throwing me another one in Yoakum later on this month. Yay!

When Tasia and Jessie asked me for possible dates, I gave them this Sunday's not realizing that it was Superbowl Sunday. Oops. I don't keep up with many sports on TV. I like to watch certain tennis players, and I love me a good Spurs game... but that's about it. Needless to say, I don't think they were aware of it either. Oh well. The shower's from 2-5 and it's come-and-go. So if anyone has a Superbowl party to go to, they should have enough time to swing by our house and still make it.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! :)

Hospital Info Update

So we got to tour the birthing center last night during our Lamaze class. I'm a bit dissapointed. I had heard all super good news about it, and it was very nice up until the point of actually having the baby. Let me start at the beginning...

We met in the front lobby. You walk through the front door, past the gift shop, and you see an elevator right in front of you. It's called Elevator 1. Don't take this one! It doesn't go to the 2nd floor where the birthing center is. Keep walking to your right. You'll then see Elevators 2 and 3. Take one of these to the 2nd floor. As soon as the elevator doors open up, the waiting room is to your left through a door. It's a small L-shaped room with chairs, two water fountains, and a bathroom. No TV. So if you're one of the people going to try to tough it out waiting for the baby to be born, bring a book or magazine or something. The only other doors in that main hall lead to the birthing center and to the operating room for c-sections.

When the time does come and you're able to see Southern, you follow the hall straight ahead of you when you get out of the elevators. It has double doors that are locked. You'll have to ring the doorbell (on the right wall), and tell whoever lets you in who you are and who you're there to see. If you are under 14 years of age (the teacher last time told us 12, but the official sign on the door says 14), you will not be allowed in at all. The nursery will be to your right once you're in. The labor and delivery suites and post-pardum rooms are down this hall as well.

The labor and delivery suites are nice. They're big rooms with a table and chairs, an easy chair that folds into a bed for dad, a TV, large windows, etc. Very comfy and big enough for visitors, which is ironic because I don't think I'll be up to hosting any visitors at that point! When it's time, the doctor comes to the room and delivers the baby. Then it's the golden hour. Then baby is taken for his bath and shots. I clean up and am moved to a post-pardum room. This is where I was disappointed. Yuck. They're your typical small hospital-feeling room. The labor and delivery suites feel like hotel rooms, and there are seven of them. The post-pardum rooms are not that way at all. There are three private rooms and three semi-private rooms (meaning two patients to a room!). It is first come, first served. So there's no way to know which one I'll be stuck in. The nurses on duty said that on most every day, all the privates are filled up and they start putting new moms in the semi-privates. Bummer. Also, there is no place for dad to sleep in the semi-private. He gets one hard, wooden chair. Which also mean visitors will have an uncomfortable time visiting, especially when there's a roommate with visitors. :(

Sooo Dustin and I decided that whoever wants to come visit, come on. Just stopping by for a short time to say hi and to see the baby will be fine. (Just not everyone at the same time!) And for the key people who want to see the baby right away (parents and siblings), we'll just have to call when we're getting close so you don't have to wait in that cramped waiting room too long. You can see Southern after the golden hour and swing by the room for a bit. Then Dustin can call with the good news to everyone else later. And we'll plan a trip to Yoakum sometime within that week to show him off to family there. That way, we won't have to worry about people dropping by the house when it's a mess and we're trying to sleep. I'm sure we'll be doing nothing but napping and feeding those first few days back at home. I can never sleep in hospitals, especially if I'll have a roommate and my husband sitting upright in a chair all night!

As for my mom and Carly, we don't mind you guys stopping by the house. I'm sure there will be times when Dustin wouldn't mind sharing diaper duty! ;)

30 Weeks

Last night we went to our Caring for Mom/Caring for Baby class. Dustin was super sleepy and didn't feel like going, but this class ended up being the most interesting one so far. The same lady that taught our breastfeeding class last week, the lactation consultant for the hospital, was the one who taught this one. She's very smart and fun to listen to. I'm hoping Southern will come during normal business hours so we'll get to work with her at the hospital! The class went over things we need to watch out for health-wise with me post-pardum and all the things we need to know about the hospital. She suggested pre-registering. I did that when I went in for my dietitian appointment, so I'm already set. And she talked about caring for our babies once we had them home.

She also went over the visitor's policy and security. Apparently that floor is tight with security. So anyone coming to visit will be asked who they're going to see before they'll unlock the doors for you. Also, no children under 14 will be allowed in at all. (Sorry to those of you with kids under 14 wanting to visit. You'll just have to come without them.) They put matching numbered arm bands on mom and baby so no babies get in the wrong families. They also put alarm sensors on the baby's ankle. It will trigger the alarm if the baby gets too close to the stairwells or exits. When the alarm goes off, all the doors are automatically locked and the police are notified. Also, everyone that's allowed to work with your baby has a different colored name tag than the rest of the hospital staff. So all the moms can feel secure giving their baby to the nurse knowing it's the correct person for the job. They encourage in-rooming, which is what I wanted, and the only time the baby is taken to the nursery is for his first bath and shots, and during shift changes at 7am and 7pm. The nurses going off-duty let the nurses coming on know the particulars about the babies they are in charge of, and then they bring them back to the rooms.

I'll be in a birthing suite during labor and delivery. Then once the baby is born, the hospital has what's called the golden hour. So for all the people wanting to see the baby right away, you'll have to wait. Sorry! During the first 60 mins or so of the baby's life, it will just be mom and dad with him. That's the time for bonding and the first breastfeeding session. After that hour, the baby is taken to the nursery. This is when all the people waiting can see him. Dustin will also be able to go out and watch. I'll be using that time to shower and get cleaned up. They'll also take me to another room at this time. The nursery has a whole wall of windows, so everyone can watch the nurses bathing Southern and giving him his vitamin K shot. Then they'll bring him back to me in our new room.

Visiting hours are from 10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm. From 2-4pm is what they call 'rest and breast time'. It's siesta time for mom and baby as well as a guaranteed time for the baby to feed in private. Also, they recommend that not all of the family and friends come visit right away. Obviously, I'll be super tired. And the baby will be just getting used to his new world. I'll be in the hospital for 24-48 hours, so this should allow enough time for people to spread out their visits a little. We'll want our parents and siblings to be there right away though... Or should I say Southern's grandparents and aunt/uncle?!? ;)

She also taught us how to swaddle, diaper, burp, and bathe the baby. We got to practice on little plastic babies. So cute! And we just happened to get a boy baby so that was good. We were taught the 'peak and cover' technique when changing a baby boy's diaper. She said that most people aren't taught that and have to live and learn with the sprinkler system effect! haha :) So I'm glad we got that lesson a little early.

It was so much fun. That class made me so excited knowing that our baby is almost here. I want him now! The Lamaze classes, however, leave me with a 'now why didn't we just adopt' feeling... watching those crazy videos, talking about how much pain labor will be, possible emergency c-sections, IVs, pelvic bones stretching, possible tears, etc. But this class reminded me why women go through all of this work. I'm so excited to meet our little guy :)

We have another Lamaze class tonight, by the way, but this one should be pretty interesting because we get to tour the birthing center of the hospital. Hopefully there won't be any women screaming in pain while we're there!!

29 Weeks

We had a short visit with the doctor today. We were in and out in about 40 minutes. They recorded my weight and blood pressure. Then the doctor came in to measure my tummy and listen to the baby's heartbeat. My tummy measured out at 30 and a half, and the heartbeat was 144. She said that we'll do my last sonogram during my next appointment. I'm excited!

I'm going to make an appointment with the dietitian this week. We have two childbirth classes this week as well. On Wednesday, we're doing the breastfeeding class, and on Thursday we have our second Lamaze class. We're supposed to read some chapters in our Lamaze book before then, so we'd better get on it.

It should be a nice week for us. Dustin has testing at school so that means no after-school tennis practice. And then Friday is a teacher workday, so he'll be able to get stuff taken care of in his classroom. Then it's a three-day weekend with MLK day. Yay!

There are some pretty important birthdays this week too. So we'll be headed to Yoakum sometime this weekend to help celebrate. Happy birthday to my favoritest godmother and my most beautiful mom!! :)

28 Weeks: Update

We got home from our first Lamaze class about an hour ago. Dustin wasn't looking forward to the class but he actually ended up enjoying it. There was more science to it than he thought, and he loves learning new things. I enjoyed most of it. The labor video we watched wasn't very enjoyable... I could have stood without seeing placentas passing. Wow, they should show those videos to high schoolers in sex ed! Overall though, it was nice to go over the things we had read and heard about and to learn new tips to prepare us for childbirth.

I had put my phone on silent for the class and just now remembered to check it for missed calls. My doctor had called at 9pm. She had the results from my 3-hour glucose test. The good news is that only one of my four blood vials tested higher than normal. This means I do not have gestational diabetes. The bad news is that since one did test high, Southern has an increased change of being 9 pounds or more when born. My doctor wants me to talk to a nutritionist and come up with a diet plan to try to avoid that.

So all in all, the baby and I are doing well. I just need to be more conscious of what I eat so that it will be easier for me in the long run. I had just gone to the grocery store today and bought tons more fruits, veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, etc. than usual. I guess my body was trying to tell me something.

7 Months

I had my 3-hour glucose test yesterday morning. It certainly was a trial... I was supposed to fast from midnight until my appointment at 8:30am. Doesn't sound too hard, right? Well that was when I thought that I would be asleep for most of that time. I have been having insomnia problems for the past week or so, and it turns out that the night before my glucose test I couldn't fall asleep until 4:30am. And I had gone to bed at 11pm! :( I woke up with Dustin's alarm around 7 in the morning, so I only had two and a half hours of sleep and was starving. I went to my appointment a little early but didn't get to see a nurse until 8:45am or so. She took my blood, and then I chugged another yucky sugar drink. This one was double the concentrate of last time. It was orange flavored, which beat the lemon-lime, but it was bigger so there was more to drink. She set the timer for an hour, and I went back to the waiting room.

I had taken along a book since I was going to be there so long, but my eyes were so tired it was hard to focus. I decided to watch TV instead. I got to see the Rachael Ray show, which I had never seen before. I like her cooking show, but this was a talk show, and it focused on women who hate their legs and how to dress to offset that insecurity... not so interesting. The timer went off during the last quarter of the show so I got to have another vial of blood drawn. Then back to the waiting room. Now it was time for The View. I had never seen that program before either. It was basically just five or six women talking around a table for an hour... I don't even remember what they were talking about. I think I was drifting in and out of sleep for the most part and trying not to think about food. I felt very nauseous from lack of sleep, lack of food, and that sugar drink. Time for another needle and more blood drawn. My last hour there was spent reading my book. After they drew the fourth vial, they said I was free to go. Yes! I rushed to Sonic and had a double-meat cheeseburger since I was starving... afterwards I didn't feel so good. But at least I was full. They said they should get the results today or tomorrow. I'll keep you updated.

Our first Lamaze class is tomorrow night. We were told bring 4 pillows, a yoga mat, snacks and water, and to wear comfy stretchy clothes. Dustin panicked at first, but I assured him there would be no yoga involved... We're going to that class for the remaining four Thursdays this month. Then we have a Breastfeeding class and a Caring for Mom/Caring for Baby class two Wednesdays this month.

And on Monday we go in for another doctor's appointment for a sonogram. A busy 2009 so far!