No signs of labor, no contractions, no baby. We're just waiting.
He's still moving around quite a bit and he gets the hiccups occasionally. I am feeling a little more groin pain - like maybe he's moving down a bit. But he's always been low, so its hard to tell. Patrick thinks it will be the end of this week. I'm not convinced. I think he's quite comfortable where he is.
But whenever he would like to make his appearance, we're ready!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
37 and 38 Weeks
Today we are officially 2 weeks away from our due date. Time seems to be dragging along. If we just knew when he was coming, I think we'd feel a little more at ease. But the uncertainty is killing us!
I guess if you're reading this, you've probably seen the video. And if you haven't already, you'll just scroll down now and watch it. So, ok, I'm hormonal. I can't help it. I admit I may seem crazy at times. But I'm carrying around a 30lb bowling ball, which means I can only waddle so fast, I'm hot all the time, I have to get up and pee every couple of hours during the night, and I have some other aches and pains that I'll spare everyone the details of. I mean, you have to expect that I'm going to have a moment of hysteria every now and then. But, rest assured that I will get my husband back.
You may have also read about our breast feeding class. It was quite informative. Despite all of his protests and claims that there would be no other men in the class, it turns out that there were 9 other men in the class and 10 other women. I, of course, pointed out how many men were there and Patrick informed me that they were all there against their will too. But he survived and we learned a lot about how it all works.
I think we've officially covered all of our bases when it comes to educating ourselves about this whole process. We've taken classes about introducing the new baby to our dog, newborn care, childbirth, breast feeding, and we've taken a tour of the maternity ward of the hospital. I like to be well informed, and I certainly think we're as prepared as we can be. When it all comes down to it, I imagine that the knowledge is great to have, but nothing is ever as you plan or expect so you just have to go with the flow.
I have obviously entered the "nesting" phase. I've been cleaning, for crying out loud. Some may not realize that I HATE to clean. I like living in a clean house, but I hate cleaning. My sister's one piece of advice to Patrick when we got married was that he should hire a maid. I can't for the life of me figure out why he doesn't think that's a good idea. I think it would be worth every penny. I would be such a happier person. I get really grouchy when I clean. I have way more fun things to do than scrub toilets. But I've always heard about "nesting" and sure enough, there I was this weekend scrubbing the shelves of the refrigerator, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. And I was grouchy.
We went to the doctor yesterday. Basically, we listened to the heartbeat ( a strong 138), the doctor asked me if I was having any contractions, I said no, and she said she'd see me next week. Patrick, after having to live with my grouchiness from cleaning all weekend, asked what we could do to speed the process along. She had a couple of suggestions, none of which really sounded appealing to me, so we're just going to have to let him come out when he's good and ready.
Once I hit 37 weeks, the baby was considered full term. His lungs are fully mature and ready to function on their own in the outside world. As we head into week 38, he probably weighs about 6.8 pounds and is over 19 1/2 inches long. In addition to his lungs, his other organs have matured and are also ready to function on their own. We're ready for his arrival, so hopefully he'll decide he wants to make his appearance soon! We'll keep everyone updated!
I guess if you're reading this, you've probably seen the video. And if you haven't already, you'll just scroll down now and watch it. So, ok, I'm hormonal. I can't help it. I admit I may seem crazy at times. But I'm carrying around a 30lb bowling ball, which means I can only waddle so fast, I'm hot all the time, I have to get up and pee every couple of hours during the night, and I have some other aches and pains that I'll spare everyone the details of. I mean, you have to expect that I'm going to have a moment of hysteria every now and then. But, rest assured that I will get my husband back.
You may have also read about our breast feeding class. It was quite informative. Despite all of his protests and claims that there would be no other men in the class, it turns out that there were 9 other men in the class and 10 other women. I, of course, pointed out how many men were there and Patrick informed me that they were all there against their will too. But he survived and we learned a lot about how it all works.
I think we've officially covered all of our bases when it comes to educating ourselves about this whole process. We've taken classes about introducing the new baby to our dog, newborn care, childbirth, breast feeding, and we've taken a tour of the maternity ward of the hospital. I like to be well informed, and I certainly think we're as prepared as we can be. When it all comes down to it, I imagine that the knowledge is great to have, but nothing is ever as you plan or expect so you just have to go with the flow.
I have obviously entered the "nesting" phase. I've been cleaning, for crying out loud. Some may not realize that I HATE to clean. I like living in a clean house, but I hate cleaning. My sister's one piece of advice to Patrick when we got married was that he should hire a maid. I can't for the life of me figure out why he doesn't think that's a good idea. I think it would be worth every penny. I would be such a happier person. I get really grouchy when I clean. I have way more fun things to do than scrub toilets. But I've always heard about "nesting" and sure enough, there I was this weekend scrubbing the shelves of the refrigerator, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. And I was grouchy.
We went to the doctor yesterday. Basically, we listened to the heartbeat ( a strong 138), the doctor asked me if I was having any contractions, I said no, and she said she'd see me next week. Patrick, after having to live with my grouchiness from cleaning all weekend, asked what we could do to speed the process along. She had a couple of suggestions, none of which really sounded appealing to me, so we're just going to have to let him come out when he's good and ready.
Once I hit 37 weeks, the baby was considered full term. His lungs are fully mature and ready to function on their own in the outside world. As we head into week 38, he probably weighs about 6.8 pounds and is over 19 1/2 inches long. In addition to his lungs, his other organs have matured and are also ready to function on their own. We're ready for his arrival, so hopefully he'll decide he wants to make his appearance soon! We'll keep everyone updated!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Laughing and Crying at the same time!
What you are about to see actually happened. In fact, it's not the first time it has happened. Its just the first time I caught it on video. Enjoy!
I hope the next two weeks go by quick. The hormones are starting to swing wildly!
-Patrick
(video published with permission by the prego lady.)
I hope the next two weeks go by quick. The hormones are starting to swing wildly!
-Patrick
(video published with permission by the prego lady.)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Breast Feeding Class
We went to the breast feeding class at Duke healthcare last night. We've been taking all of our classes at UNC Health Care, but because of a scheduling conflict we weren't able to attend. Duke and UNC are big rivals in just about everything. Basketball. Football. Golf. Healthcare.
We both immediately noticed that the people in the class were "different" from what we were used to at UNC. My friend, Ted (a Duke grad), commented that it's because Duke women shave. I don't know if that was exactly it, but we were definitely among the higher end of society.
Although we learned many techniques on how to make breast feeding go smoothly, I took away two important things:
1) Breasts are amazing. The fact that a woman's body is so tuned to provide for a baby is just remarkable.
2) Breasts, for me at least, are no longer sexy.
-Patrick
We both immediately noticed that the people in the class were "different" from what we were used to at UNC. My friend, Ted (a Duke grad), commented that it's because Duke women shave. I don't know if that was exactly it, but we were definitely among the higher end of society.
Although we learned many techniques on how to make breast feeding go smoothly, I took away two important things:
1) Breasts are amazing. The fact that a woman's body is so tuned to provide for a baby is just remarkable.
2) Breasts, for me at least, are no longer sexy.
-Patrick
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Weeks 35 and 36
I know, I know! I'm waaaayyyyy behind on the blog. I've been busy! I taught a class about C. elegans (the organism that I work on in the lab) at another university yesterday, so all of my energy was going into preparing for that. I thought it went really well. The class was really interactive and I had a blast.
I think we pretty much have everything ready for the baby. My hospital bag is mostly packed, the baby's room is set up, most of his gizmos and gadgets are put together, so now I think we just need him to arrive! We do still need to install the car seat in the car, but it seems a little complicated so we are going to go by the fire station and let someone there show us how to put it in properly. And I still need to call the pediatrician - I'm going to do that today, I swear! I know which pediatrician I want - I just need to call and see if they have an opening. Daycare is all settled, so that's a big relief.
We've taken our childbirth class and our newborn care class. We have the breastfeeding class left to take and we're scheduled to do that tomorrow night. Yes, I am dragging Patrick with me to the class. He has protested, but has finally agreed to come. I've heard it can be difficult to breastfeed and get frustrating sometimes, so I just want him to be educated about it so that he can help me. I asked the lady on the phone when I confirmed the class yesterday if there would be other men there and she assured me that other people had indicated that they were bringing guests. I guess I'm just hoping they're bringing their husbands and not their moms. If Patrick is the only guy in the class, he'll never let me forget it!
I went to the doctor yesterday. Everything seems fine, so I'll go back in a week. I'm considered full term at 37 weeks, which is tomorrow! The doctor did say that his head is down, so he's in position and ready to come out! But I have absolutely no indication that this baby is coming anytime soon. He seems quite comfortable where he is. No braxton-hicks contractions or anything. I guess we just sit around and wait now. He's going to get an eviction notice if he doesn't show up by April 9th, my official due date. No more free womb and board! Actually, the doctor said she probably wouldn't induce before 41 - 41 1/2 weeks, which wouldn't be until sometime after April 16th. Arrgghhh! I don't think I can wait that long!
Any predictions on when he'll come or how big he'll be? My lab has a pool going. They are all going to the beach the weekend in April right after my due date (without me this year, unfortunately) and for some reason, no one thinks he's coming that weekend. I don't know...its possible that he could be a few days late! One of them is predicting that he's going to be over 10 lbs when he comes out! He thinks I have a big belly! I think he's just trying to make me scared. I was only 7lbs, 2oz. Patrick was over 8 lbs, but I think 10 lbs is a stretch.
The baby should be about 6 lbs now and is probably a little over 18 inches long. His kidneys are fully functional and his liver is capable of processing most types of waste. Physically, he's finished the basics of development and will just be putting on weight from here on out. I guess that means I'm going to keep getting bigger! He is probably shedding the downy covering of hair and the waxy substance that protected his skin in the amniotic fluid for the last 9 months. He'll swallow these secretions which will form the contents of his first bowel movement. It will be a kind of blackish mixture called meconium. Ok, enough about poop, but isn't it exciting?!
I think we pretty much have everything ready for the baby. My hospital bag is mostly packed, the baby's room is set up, most of his gizmos and gadgets are put together, so now I think we just need him to arrive! We do still need to install the car seat in the car, but it seems a little complicated so we are going to go by the fire station and let someone there show us how to put it in properly. And I still need to call the pediatrician - I'm going to do that today, I swear! I know which pediatrician I want - I just need to call and see if they have an opening. Daycare is all settled, so that's a big relief.
We've taken our childbirth class and our newborn care class. We have the breastfeeding class left to take and we're scheduled to do that tomorrow night. Yes, I am dragging Patrick with me to the class. He has protested, but has finally agreed to come. I've heard it can be difficult to breastfeed and get frustrating sometimes, so I just want him to be educated about it so that he can help me. I asked the lady on the phone when I confirmed the class yesterday if there would be other men there and she assured me that other people had indicated that they were bringing guests. I guess I'm just hoping they're bringing their husbands and not their moms. If Patrick is the only guy in the class, he'll never let me forget it!
I went to the doctor yesterday. Everything seems fine, so I'll go back in a week. I'm considered full term at 37 weeks, which is tomorrow! The doctor did say that his head is down, so he's in position and ready to come out! But I have absolutely no indication that this baby is coming anytime soon. He seems quite comfortable where he is. No braxton-hicks contractions or anything. I guess we just sit around and wait now. He's going to get an eviction notice if he doesn't show up by April 9th, my official due date. No more free womb and board! Actually, the doctor said she probably wouldn't induce before 41 - 41 1/2 weeks, which wouldn't be until sometime after April 16th. Arrgghhh! I don't think I can wait that long!
Any predictions on when he'll come or how big he'll be? My lab has a pool going. They are all going to the beach the weekend in April right after my due date (without me this year, unfortunately) and for some reason, no one thinks he's coming that weekend. I don't know...its possible that he could be a few days late! One of them is predicting that he's going to be over 10 lbs when he comes out! He thinks I have a big belly! I think he's just trying to make me scared. I was only 7lbs, 2oz. Patrick was over 8 lbs, but I think 10 lbs is a stretch.
The baby should be about 6 lbs now and is probably a little over 18 inches long. His kidneys are fully functional and his liver is capable of processing most types of waste. Physically, he's finished the basics of development and will just be putting on weight from here on out. I guess that means I'm going to keep getting bigger! He is probably shedding the downy covering of hair and the waxy substance that protected his skin in the amniotic fluid for the last 9 months. He'll swallow these secretions which will form the contents of his first bowel movement. It will be a kind of blackish mixture called meconium. Ok, enough about poop, but isn't it exciting?!
Monday, March 3, 2008
34 Weeks
We had another fun-filled weekend this past weekend. My mom was here helping me get everything ready. What would I do without her?! We put the baby's clothes in his dresser, set up the baby monitors, cleaned mine and Patrick's bedroom from top to bottom and set up the cradle, put together the pack 'n play, the stroller, and the carseat. We ran some errands, and even went to a baby shower!
My friend LeAnn, with the help of some other friends from school/bookclub, threw me a baby shower at the home of Phil and Martha (the couple that leads a small group discussion Patrick and I go to once a week.) . It was a mixture of friends, many of which didn't know each other, but I think everyone still had fun. We played a couple of games, including one where you had to name the baby versions of animals. For example, what is a baby whale? Apparently, the answer is not a fish. What is a baby swan? It is not an ugly duckling. These are just a few that I got wrong. I only got 6 out of 14 correct. I'm not sure what this says about my maternal skills. But, like someone at the shower said, at least I'm not a veterinary obstetrician. The other game that we played was to guess how big my belly was. A roll of toilet paper was passed around and you had to pull off the number of squares that you thought was the length around my waist. Let me tell you, some people think I have a BIG belly, including my own mother. But my friend Mary, an expectant mother herself, got it pretty close! I got a lot of really nice things at the shower. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. I got a bunch of stuff that I still needed, so that was awesome. And some of my very talented friends made some special gifts for the baby - my friend Megan made a quilt and my friend Rebecca knitted some sweaters for the baby, and Liz is knitting a baby blanket (once I pick the colors!)
At the shower, my friend Lee came over to talk to Michelle Risher and I. Michelle is originally from New Olreans as well. Lee said she used to have a roommate from LA and that she always used to talk about this stuff that people used in LA and Lee wanted to know if it really existed. Lee said she was going to be really embarrassed about asking if we didn't know what she was talking about. Before she could say what it was, Michelle and I looked at each other and said, Boudreaux's Butt Paste! Lee was like, well, I guess it really does exist! I told Lee that I have a very large jar of Boudreaux's Butt paste ready for the baby. We got a good laugh about that. Here are some shower pictures:
Me and LeAnn
Baby's first baseball bat from Martha
Quilt from Megan
After the shower, my mom helped me put everything away, wash some more clothes, sheets and blankets for the baby. Then she and Patrick and I spent the evening trying to put things together. Here's the thing. I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person, but putting things together for a baby tends to make you question that. The directions on these things, like the stroller, car seat and pack n' play, consist of badly drawn cartoon images of pieces, and very short instructions, such as "Snap!" Snap? Snap what to what? What is that a drawing of? It definitely felt like it took longer to put everything together than it should have. Eventually we managed to figure everything out, we think. Hopefully they won't all fall apart when we put the baby in them.
Now, most of you may know that I'm not exactly a neat person. I tend to have a lot of clutter. Patrick had said he wasn't putting the baby's cradle in our bedroom until I cleaned it. His definition of clean and my definition of clean are two very different things. I thought it was clean already. But my mom got in my bedroom and whipped it into shape so that we could move the cradle in. Now that I look at my room, I see how nice it looks. It feels so good to have such a clean room! I had gotten the bedding for the cradle at my shower, so we put that all together and got it set up in our room. Its a big cradle, but the only thing we had to move out of the room was a nightstand. Its right next to our bed so all I have to do is stick my hand out and rock the cradle to get him to settle down and go back to sleep.
I think things are pretty much ready for the baby's arrival! He should weigh almost 5 lbs and is probably about 18 inches long. His fat layers are filling out and his central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature. I go to the doctor again tomorrow, so we'll see how things are progressing!
My friend LeAnn, with the help of some other friends from school/bookclub, threw me a baby shower at the home of Phil and Martha (the couple that leads a small group discussion Patrick and I go to once a week.) . It was a mixture of friends, many of which didn't know each other, but I think everyone still had fun. We played a couple of games, including one where you had to name the baby versions of animals. For example, what is a baby whale? Apparently, the answer is not a fish. What is a baby swan? It is not an ugly duckling. These are just a few that I got wrong. I only got 6 out of 14 correct. I'm not sure what this says about my maternal skills. But, like someone at the shower said, at least I'm not a veterinary obstetrician. The other game that we played was to guess how big my belly was. A roll of toilet paper was passed around and you had to pull off the number of squares that you thought was the length around my waist. Let me tell you, some people think I have a BIG belly, including my own mother. But my friend Mary, an expectant mother herself, got it pretty close! I got a lot of really nice things at the shower. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. I got a bunch of stuff that I still needed, so that was awesome. And some of my very talented friends made some special gifts for the baby - my friend Megan made a quilt and my friend Rebecca knitted some sweaters for the baby, and Liz is knitting a baby blanket (once I pick the colors!)
At the shower, my friend Lee came over to talk to Michelle Risher and I. Michelle is originally from New Olreans as well. Lee said she used to have a roommate from LA and that she always used to talk about this stuff that people used in LA and Lee wanted to know if it really existed. Lee said she was going to be really embarrassed about asking if we didn't know what she was talking about. Before she could say what it was, Michelle and I looked at each other and said, Boudreaux's Butt Paste! Lee was like, well, I guess it really does exist! I told Lee that I have a very large jar of Boudreaux's Butt paste ready for the baby. We got a good laugh about that. Here are some shower pictures:
Me and LeAnn
Baby's first baseball bat from Martha
Quilt from Megan
After the shower, my mom helped me put everything away, wash some more clothes, sheets and blankets for the baby. Then she and Patrick and I spent the evening trying to put things together. Here's the thing. I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person, but putting things together for a baby tends to make you question that. The directions on these things, like the stroller, car seat and pack n' play, consist of badly drawn cartoon images of pieces, and very short instructions, such as "Snap!" Snap? Snap what to what? What is that a drawing of? It definitely felt like it took longer to put everything together than it should have. Eventually we managed to figure everything out, we think. Hopefully they won't all fall apart when we put the baby in them.
Now, most of you may know that I'm not exactly a neat person. I tend to have a lot of clutter. Patrick had said he wasn't putting the baby's cradle in our bedroom until I cleaned it. His definition of clean and my definition of clean are two very different things. I thought it was clean already. But my mom got in my bedroom and whipped it into shape so that we could move the cradle in. Now that I look at my room, I see how nice it looks. It feels so good to have such a clean room! I had gotten the bedding for the cradle at my shower, so we put that all together and got it set up in our room. Its a big cradle, but the only thing we had to move out of the room was a nightstand. Its right next to our bed so all I have to do is stick my hand out and rock the cradle to get him to settle down and go back to sleep.
I think things are pretty much ready for the baby's arrival! He should weigh almost 5 lbs and is probably about 18 inches long. His fat layers are filling out and his central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature. I go to the doctor again tomorrow, so we'll see how things are progressing!
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