Visit with Ann

Friday's visit with Ann was as standard as usual.

Weight: 170 (for a total of 50 lbs gained - ick)
Fundal Height: 37 cm
Heart beat: 140s

We talked for a while, but I'm not sure about what exactly. A couple of TMI issues I've been having that are, as I suspected, completely normal just no one wants to talk about them. We also talked about when to go to the hospital, who to call and what might occur when we show up. I like the fact that I don't have to call labor and delivery, I can call directly and speak to the midwife on duty who should be able to give me more info than that L&D nurses. Ann assures me that when I go in, the nurses will understand that since I'm a midwife patient they'll know right off that I don't need the full hospital ride. I like that :) I hope that it also cues them to assign me a nurse who is a little more natural minded.

Still here...

Okay. I have posted very little lately, and there is a reason for that. I've been feeling incredibly negative and I didn't want to ralph that negativity all over blogland. It's not that I don't still enjoy being pregnant. I do. But mostly only in those isolated moments where my ribs are not throbbing unbearably and/or I'm not so tired I can barely function. I feel like all I do lately is sleep, go to work, sleep, complain, sleep, eat, complain some more, and sleep. I'm sure Darrell feels that way. Poor guy, we hardly see each other during the week anyway, and now I can barely stay awake until he gets home each night -- I'm off to bed almost as soon as he makes it in the door.

Really, it's not all that bad but I am sleeping a lot, and part of that has to do with the fact that it's generally painful to be upright because of my ribs. Lying down is much more comfortable.

On top of the general end of pregnancy stuff, I found out this week that contrary to what I was told earlier, my company has a lousy maternity leave policy. I pay for short term disability which allows me to draw a small paycheck while I'm off, but no one informed me that it only actually pays for 5 weeks for a total of 6 weeks off (one week I have to use my accrued leave for.) I could take off longer but it would be unpaid. I was never told that, even though I sat down with the HR rep and grilled her on the maternity leave policies. Blech.
So now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can eek out another week or two off. We'll see what happens, I guess.

I think it's important that I have a chance to get breastfeeding well established and settle into a routine with baby before I have to head back to work. Most experts suggest 6-8 weeks to do this, and I don't want to feel too rushed. It's going to be tough enough leaving him as it is, even though I think I really like the daycare provider that we found. Her name is Amanda and she literally lives around the corner from us. I wish it was closer to work, but honestly I don't work far from home - It's all of 8 miles or so, thus I would be able to get there quickly in case of a need, but it's still not close enough to drop in and check on him or run home at lunch and feed the baby or anything like that.

Yesterday at work Ethan got a little suprise party. A couple of the ladies in the office organized it all... they took a collection and bought a cake, a few decorations and a couple of gifts. It was very nice and made me feel special -- and incredibly embarassed when I walked into a room full of people all looking at me and grinning. I hope I was gracious... I was in a little bit of shock :)

Tomorrow I have an appointment with Ann... it's been three weeks since the last one because of some scheduling issues with her - I guess she was out of town. After this I'm sure the appointments will be weekly...

On the homestretch!

I love this little ticker that I have on my cafemom homepage. Look how close my boy is to finishing his race:



** I posted this on the 8th and am bumping it up to show off. Wheeeeee! Almost there!!

A few Pictures

Mary has given me a few of the pictures that we took on Monday.  She said there will be more later, but I can't wait to share these ones.

The Twins

In the birthing class that Sarah and I have been taking, there was a couple expecting twins. The two of them were first-time parents and I gathered that the babies were a 'suprise.' Mom was, of course, terribly uncomfortable and dad was obviously rather nervous, but determined to do everything right. Each week, Sarah and I talk about whether we think they'll be at the next class, because while she is just a week ahead of me, it seemed she was probably going to have them soon.

Well, the twins were born on Saturday and since they were still in the hospital, John and Janet called our instructor and let her know they'd love for us to come upstairs and visit since the twins were perfectly healthy and happy and everyone was doing fine. Oh the joy. As soon as we arrived, John - now radiating confidence - offered me the tiniest one, Dylan who weighed a whopping 4 lbs + at birth. It was incredible. I've never held such a tiny baby, but it wasn't really as scary as I would have thought. Erica, who is due the same day as me, helped me uncover his little hand which was so tiny -- the span was probably just a little bigger than a nickel and his fingers were no thicker than a spaghetti noodle. I'm sure my mouth was gaping open. There was something about standing in that hospital room and listening to them share their experience while overflowing with joy and knowing that in just a few short weeks I'll be in one so similar, sharing my story with friends and family.

One of the best parts was seeing the only dad present at last night's class get to hold one of the twins. He said he'd never held a baby before in his life, but you could just sense the awe and wonder as he held Collin with the utmost care. I love seeing men hold babies. There is such a sweetness there -- it's something that can't be duplicated anywhere else.

The Weekend: A baby shower and a photo shoot

What a busy weekend! Since I don't normally work on Fridays and Monday was a Holiday, I had an awesome 4 day respite from work.

Friday I drove out to have lunch with Darrell and do grocery shopping at the Commissary. Before my shopping I decided to stop in the Salon for a haircut. Wow. What a disaster. I asked the girl for a simple trim and style -- the trim was fine but her idea of style was wacked out. She used a flattening iron to flip the ends up... WAY up and then tried giving me some sort of 50's wave in the front. Wow. I was so unimpressed, both with the style and the 1.5 hours I was there. Ick.

After groceries I went to the La Leche League meeting in Yukon while Darrell drove out to pick up the girls. There doesn't seem to be a consistent group of attendees, but I really like the leader, Rebecca, and I'm hoping I can get to know her better.

Darrell and the girls got home about 30 minutes before Deborah and Kendle arrived, and we had Tacos for dinner before Darrell and Kendle went to unload the two ricks of wood Kendle had brought us. What a blessing to have firewood for this winter! I can't wait to light the fire for the first time. The past few years I've done that on Halloween, so we'll see what the weather holds for us this year.

Saturday morning was a blur of activity. I ran to the store for donuts, unfrosted cupcakes and some last minute ingredients and rushed back to find that Deborah had cleaned the bathroom mirror (something I can't really do with my big belly in the way) and was finishing up the vaccuming. Then when Emily, Jerry and Justin arrived we put together Maddy's fabulous little baby cupcakes. It was a lot of work, but worth it because they were so cute, and gave her such a sense of pride.

One of the babies:

The shower was great. Kathy and Jaime managed everything and between the two of them it worked out perfectly. I felt so blessed to have everyone come and celebrate Ethan's impending arrival, and the gifts we recieved pretty much finished off the things that we were really needing. If he came today, we'd be ready!

Of course, I'm willing to wait a few more weeks, but I'm definitely getting more and more impatient. I can't wait for my little bean to be in my arms!

Monday Mary came and took maternity pictures. I can't wait to see how they turn out. Mary had several good ideas for poses, and Darrell, who hates being photographed, was a sport and even took his shirt off for most of the shots. I was amazed at how she worked with the lighting. She mostly just used natural light, but the room seemed so dim for how bright the pictures were turning out. I think we'll have some very good photos in the end.

The 36th Week

From Childbirth Connection

By the end of the 36th week of pregnancy, the enlarged uterus almost fills the abdominal cavity, despite the fact that the cavity is greatly expanded by the stretching of its front and side walls. The well-developed, plump baby, in the membranous sac within the uterus, lies wholly within the abdominal cavity, with the abdominal muscles supporting much of its weight. During this week, the fundus is at the tip of the xiphoid cartilage of the breastbone, which is shown pushed forward. The liver, transverse colon, stomach, and spleen (which is behind the upper portion of the stomach) are crowded into the vault of the abdominal cavity. The small intestines are crowded above, behind, and to the sides of the uterus. The diaphragm is pressed upward, reducing the vertical diameter of the chest cavity sometimes as much as 4 centimeters; to compensate, the space on the side, front, and back of this cavity increases. The capacity of the chest cavity is not diminished. This displacement of the diaphragm changes the position of the heart, and the increased blood volume may cause the heart to dilate slightly.Although there is an increase in the amount of blood pumped from the heart per minute and in the amount of air respired per minute, the change in the position of the heart and the upward pressure of the diaphragm probably account for the difficult breathing and the smothered feeling you may experience during this week. The crowding of the stomach and intestines contributes to the discomfort after eating.The cervix is long, thick, and filled with the mucous plug. By the 36th week, the vagina and urethra are elongated and all the tissues in the perineal region are enlarged, so the swollen perineum projects beyond the pelvic outlet in the last weeks of pregnancy, and is readily expandable during labor.