Today he put a napkin over his mouth and proceeded to examine my teeth to look for cavities. He was being the dentist. Though it’s been 6 months since his las dental exam, he definitely remembered that the dentist wears a mask over his nose & mouth during an exam. Smarty pants. 🙂
Yesterday we had our 36 week prenatal appointment, even though I’m almost 37 weeks! Somehow my appointments have gotten shifted to the end of the week they are for, but I don’t think that’s too big of a deal. This week involved the Group-B strep test (fun! swabs!). I had to wait for our midwife for about 30 minutes, while I was half-dressed in the exam room. No fun! Though, once she finally got there (it was Janice), we had a great appointment. We did the va-jay-jay stuff first. The lovely swabbing, and she did my first internal exam of the pregnancy. My cervix is soft, but still high and toward the back. Comon, Braxton Hicks! Keep moving stuff along for me!!!
After that, I got dressed, and Dustin joined us for the remainder of the appointment. Everything looks healthy. I only gained 1 pound since our last appointment (more than 2 weeks ag0), so that is good. My blood pressure is 110/60 (last pregnancy, we were flirting with pregnancy induced hypertension at this point), so that is also good! The fundal height is measuring at 38 weeks, which is more than it was at last pregnancy, but less than it was at our last appointment. Janice thought this is because baby’s head is beginning to engage into the pelvis (yay!).
We started talking about our birth plan and the size of baby. I told her my greatest fears for this labor are a malpositioned fetus and large size, and of course I started bawling. I’m experiencing a LOT of anxiety over the labor now that the time is drawing near, and knowing that this baby will possibly be as big or bigger than Meadow was. Janice was nothing short of reassuring, but my anxiety remains. It doesn’t help that every day at work I am greeted by everyone I see with an, “Oh my GOSH you are SOOOO BIG!!!! Look at how HUGE you are!!!!”. It’s like, uh, thank you. That is the one thing that is freaking me out during this pregnancy. Thank you for commenting on my raw, exposed nerve. But seriously, I am a full-term preggy lady now. Of COURSE I’m going to look big! Right? Dust tried reassuring me last night that it’s all good. I’m trying to accept that.
Most importantly, I am and feel healthy. Baby appears to be doing just fine. Head down, wiggly, and obviously not a weakling (weighing 98 pounds, in need of Charles Atlas – har har). His heartbeat is still right around 130. As far as position, Janice said he’s not locked into a posterior position, and if I keep up with the posture and spinning babies techniques, he has a good likelihood of settling into an anterior position for birth. *FINGERS CROSSED*!!!!
So, while I contemplate starving myself until the birth day so little boy C doesn’t grow further, that is that for now. We have a follow-up ultrasound next Monday, and the 37th week appointment next Tusday (which technically is the start of my 38th week. Oh well).
After that appointment we picked up Meadow and drove to Beacon Hill for Meadow’s sibling prep class with Penny Simkin. As Dustin expected, it was arguably geared toward siblings that will be present at the birth, which is something we have decided isn’t necessary for Meadow. But, it surely gave her a wollop of an anatomy lesson, which I am okay with. She told me the funniest thing I have ever heard when she saw a real life newborn baby boy get his diaper changed. And she felt comfortable enough to go up to Penny after class and ask her a question about how milk comes out of the breast and how does baby eat it. She seems very interested with the whole concept of nursing. Then, we all went out for ice cream (I, with a child-sized no sugar added thin mint. Yum!).
Ah…what a day, what a day…
Had a midwive appointment this morning. Looks like everything is going groovy. My blood pressure is 106/70 – nice and normal! Also, weight gain is normal, blood tests (sugar, iron) were all normal. Belly measuring at 28 weeks. So that is smaller than I am, chronologically, the the midwife thought it is because he is in a ball-shape right now. Speaking of which, that is our only potential problem. His head is right in the middle of my belly, not head down. He still has over a month to turn, but it’s something I’m definintely going to be conscience about, and try to do breech baby exercises and all that. The good thing is, he still has plenty of room to wiggle, and will very likely settle into a favorable vertix anterior position. (hey – positive thinking!).
His heart rate via doppler was about 125. The midwife checked Meadow’s which was 115. I thought it was interesting that they were so close in heart rate. Meadow thought it was pretty cool.
So, yay! Healthy, feeling good, baby is behaving. I think we may have even picked out a name…. or at least a forerunner. 🙂
I read this quote last night in the book “America’s Women”. This was a letter from Jefferson to one of his daughters, regarding her attention to her beauty regimen and avoiding a sun tan:
“Remember…not to go out without your bonnet because it will make you very ugly and then we should not love you so much.”
Well. Isn’t that nice? LOL.
…are some of the things that make life’s memories. One thing I am grateful for that I think enhances our family is all of our shared meal times. Generally, we eat together in the evening. If possible, we will sit together in the morning for breakfast if our schedule allows it. We talk and learn about each other. We urge Meadow to eat faster and to not talk quite so much. We bond. These are times that I deeply appreciate, and hope to continue for a long time to come.
When I was growing up, I don’t really remember sharing mealtimes with my family. My dad always worked so early, I never saw him in the morning. My mom often worked late, so I wouldn’t see her until later in the evening. In high school, I could easily go for weeks with only seeing my mother or father in passing. I would skip breakfast, run to school, eat dinner at work (Taco del Mar!), and get home after both my parents were in bed. I don’t remember how our mealtimes were shared before high school, but I don’t have many memories of shared meals at the table. That was more for special occasions, or if we ate at a restaurant.
I have found that our mealtimes with Meadow have evolved into something I am very happy with. We say grace and eat as a family most every night. We talk about our days. We make jokes. We do not turn on the TV.
This is so valuable to me, and is a new tradition for me as well. I always thought it was a little odd when my friends’ families would have a family dinner. ‘How do you have the time?’ I always wondered.
This is something worth making the time for, in my opinion. Study after study has supported the value of family mealtimes and its positive effect on children and families. I hope to continue this little tradition for as long as possible.
I’m looking up different prenatal yoga classes online, and also found a childbirth education class tailored for VBAC births. These sites are triggering an emotional response and I keep tearing up! The memories of Meadow’s labor and birth are still so poignant and intense. I’m excited to try it again, and terrified as well. I wonder how things will go this time. Will I manage the pain as magnificently? For how long? Will it be easier or more difficult? Are we going to be okay without a doula?
Vacillating between anxiety, excitement, and hope, I just need to remember that it’s all good – and to breathe.
Wow, it’s already June, and I am 21 weeks pregnant! More than halfway there. Woo hoo! By all accounts, this pregnancy is healthy and normal. Baby looks healthy and normal, and measuring just about right. I can feel his little feet kicking me periodically. There is no feeling better than feeling your baby wiggle and groove inside of you. It’s so surreal. My belly is really starting to stick out now, and is making my belly button look a little funny already! My weight gain remains normal at around 10 pounds. So far, so good on that side of things! I think it helps that with this pregnancy I am not attracted to sweets the way I was with Meadow. I’m definitely hankering more for spicy and savory flavors. Buffalo hot sauce! Indian cuisine! Num num! 🙂
Took some fun family trips recently. Spent 3 days at Great Wolf Lodge in May. Meadow had a blast and Dustin and I had a good time too. We can’t wait to go back. We also just got back from our first camping trip of the year this weekend. We went to Lake Wenatchee and just had an overnight. It was nice to get out into the fresh air. I’m not sure how much camping I’ll continue doing as my belly keeps expanding, but so far the air mattress satisfies my comfort needs.
Meadow is enrolled in swimming lessons which she just loves, and her year of ballet classes is coming to an end soon.
She will have her recital at the end of this month and it will be so much fun to see her on stage! They will have adorable tutu costumes, and will be on a “real” stage (at Bothell High). We saw two ballets there this winter, so I think Meadow will get an extra kick out of the fact that she will be performing on that stage now and not just watching!
We’re still trying to get the baby room ready and have had lots of help from my mother-in-law with painting. It’s going to look super cute and I can’t wait to start officially nesting in it!
I’m loving this weather…and looking forward to a busy and fun summer. As Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes says: “The days are just packed!”
“fitter, happier, more productive…”
Decided to change the look of my bloggy blog to something a little more clean. Probably part of my recent drive to nest, clear up, clean out and organize everything. It’s slow going, but I love the progress I make.
This weekend I sold a ton of books out of my overflowing book case, and used the proceeds toward mother’s day gifts. Kaching! I also brought a huge stack of old magazines to work. They are already being devoured by coworkers tired of the gossip mags that are still talking about Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy (circa Spring 2008).
Now I need to go through all my old journals. That should be interesting. I wonder how embarrassed I will become to myself, reading all the old school teenage angst written poetry et cetera I used to scratch on journal after journal. Oh man. I’m already rolling my eyes at myself.
I have a kazillion cd jewel cases that are empty. Guess what? I can’t put them in our recycle can. Isn’t that silly? Seems that they either need to go in the land fill or I have to go through some company called greendisk.com. At least they are local. I seriously have about 200 cases to get rid of. My conscience won’t let me just toss them, unfortunately. What a hassle.
If I work hard enough on clearing out my office of art projects, crafts, books, music, and bill stuff, we might be able to begin to paint it up for baby#2. That will be worth it. 🙂
Celebrated Dustin’s birthday all weekend…good times! Saw Uncle Roy visiting from Alaska…good times! Saw Dustin’s grandma Mona for her 89th birthday…good times! Meadow attended a birthday party and we inserted other forms of business and fun throughout the weekend. I wish we still had another day to play about, but the weather today makes Monday a bit less harsh. I’m looking forward to some good outdoor time with Meadow when I pick her up. I need a park bench with which to soak up as much sun as possible before the rains return. Ahhh! Joy.
This is the kind of news I LIKE! I wish more stories ended like this one!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009000368_webkidnap07m.html
This just rules. Way to go, mama!
EDIT: So it appears that, as always, there is more to this story than meets the eye. Apparently, the older man from Ballard is a Vietnam Vet with mental problems. He argues that he just had to go to the bathroom and the kid grabbed his hand. Who knows. It sounds less sinister than it did on first blush, but who knows. Moral of the story is: keep your eyes on your kids! Yikes!
MamaBristol 