Birth Prep Class and Gyn Appointment
More progress in the nursery-department, despite the fact that we don't even have a nursery yet! Today I bought this beautiful rocking chair, which has easily got to be the most comfortable chair I have ever placed my butt upon. It was quite a bargain too, seeing as I got a voucher out of a baby catalog for this item, valid only this August. Obviously, I would have waited until after the move to buy such a monster of a thing, so we wouldn't have to lug it around when we finally do move, but I didn't want for the voucher to lose its validity. I already see the many hours of breastfeeding I will do in this chair, and many a sleepless night spent in it, so I am very happy with the purchase. Besides the fact that its neutral design will go perfectly with the rest of the nursery. :)
We just got home from part 2 (of 4) of our birth prep class. I realize, I haven't really talked about the first class last week either - but I can really say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself. The midwife who holds the class is a middle-aged no-bullshit woman, who is very open and realistic about what we can expect during labor, but at the same time has such a great positive attitude about everything, that thoughts of fear have no chance to even arise. The female power and energy that's going on in these classes is overwhelming, despite the presence of the men, and it's greatly empowering to see and feel them play such a subordinate part in this.
The classes are very informative, and I have already learned several breathing techniques that supposedly will bring me through labor. Today we went through different birthing techniques also, some that will happen with support of the father, and some without, and I feel like I am really prepared now to know my options and the possibilities available to me when the time comes. Geo is greatly supportive of these classes, even though he probably has a hard time understanding all of what the midwife is saying for all the dialect she is using, and I am enjoying this time together greatly. He is very attentive to me and the baby, more than regularly when we are in this class. Maybe it's the power of woman and creation that he's feeling also, that makes him be this way - but whatever it is, I love it!
Good news in the baby department also: I've been to my gynecologist for my second to last(!) baby exam yesterday. I didn't get a photo, because by now Baby is so big that the photos really only show some kind of blur anymore. Despite my contractions of last week my cervix is still tightly closed as it should be, so no worries there. Baby already lays head-down, pretty much ready to go, and according to the doctor it is very rare that babies turn heads-up anymore, once they are where they should be, especially with firstborns, for the uterus muscles usually are too tight to allow much of somersaulting anymore. That's very reassuring, for a c-section is pretty much on top of my list of things to be avoided at all costs when it comes to giving birth to this baby. The doctor estimates our child to weigh close to 2 kilos already, which kind of knocked me off my socks in a little bit of shock. According to all those tables of averages on the internet, which I love so much, babies in the 31st week should weigh approximately 1,3 kilos... not almost 2! When I mentioned that, my doctor just said that it'll just be a larger baby, and since my diabetes test turned out normal results, this really is nothing to worry about. Ummm... sure... is it okay if *I* worry about this just a teensy bit? I have to squeeze it out of my vagina in a few weeks, after all! In the end he just looked at me and said that he would be concerned, if I had a smaller baby in there, considering the fact that my husband and I aren't exactly midgets in any way. I am 5'10" and Geo stands at 6'1" - I guess our baby won't be a tiny fairy-like delicate being when it's born.
Bad news is what the scale has revealed... from my last visit 5 weeks ago to yesterday, I have gained pretty much 1 kilo per week, shooting me up to a horrifying +12 kilograms - which was the absolute limit I have set myself in terms of weight gain for the entire pregnancy. AND I STILL HAVE 9 WEEKS TO GO! I am turning into a walrus, a freaking elephant, I am shocked and upset over this, especially considering that a substantial amount of weight gain can still be expected in the last weeks of pregnancy. Where will this end? People say that the kilos are shed again easily after delivery, with the high energy-cost of breastfeeding, and the stress, and the sleepless nights... and once the baby and the amniotic fluid and the placenta are out, and the uterus retracts again most of the weight is gone anyway... but no amount of reassuring and predicting can take the shock of the 90 kilos away, that flashed at me from the scale yesterday. :(
Getting a little impatient, here. Unhappy with my body, the weight gain, the little (or not so little, considering my back) discomforts of pregnancy in the third trimester. I wish we had the keys to our new apartment already, but we still have 2 1/2 weeks to go for that, and I am not looking forward to the stress of moving and furnishing the place. I am having a hard enough time keeping our current place in order, and packing things away in boxes considering my low energy levels and immediate raging back pains once I do much of anything at all, and I hope that the stress of moving will not be bad enough to cause the baby to come early. I need enough time to furnish and decorate the nursery! I am so itchy to get started already...
We just got home from part 2 (of 4) of our birth prep class. I realize, I haven't really talked about the first class last week either - but I can really say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself. The midwife who holds the class is a middle-aged no-bullshit woman, who is very open and realistic about what we can expect during labor, but at the same time has such a great positive attitude about everything, that thoughts of fear have no chance to even arise. The female power and energy that's going on in these classes is overwhelming, despite the presence of the men, and it's greatly empowering to see and feel them play such a subordinate part in this.
The classes are very informative, and I have already learned several breathing techniques that supposedly will bring me through labor. Today we went through different birthing techniques also, some that will happen with support of the father, and some without, and I feel like I am really prepared now to know my options and the possibilities available to me when the time comes. Geo is greatly supportive of these classes, even though he probably has a hard time understanding all of what the midwife is saying for all the dialect she is using, and I am enjoying this time together greatly. He is very attentive to me and the baby, more than regularly when we are in this class. Maybe it's the power of woman and creation that he's feeling also, that makes him be this way - but whatever it is, I love it!
Good news in the baby department also: I've been to my gynecologist for my second to last(!) baby exam yesterday. I didn't get a photo, because by now Baby is so big that the photos really only show some kind of blur anymore. Despite my contractions of last week my cervix is still tightly closed as it should be, so no worries there. Baby already lays head-down, pretty much ready to go, and according to the doctor it is very rare that babies turn heads-up anymore, once they are where they should be, especially with firstborns, for the uterus muscles usually are too tight to allow much of somersaulting anymore. That's very reassuring, for a c-section is pretty much on top of my list of things to be avoided at all costs when it comes to giving birth to this baby. The doctor estimates our child to weigh close to 2 kilos already, which kind of knocked me off my socks in a little bit of shock. According to all those tables of averages on the internet, which I love so much, babies in the 31st week should weigh approximately 1,3 kilos... not almost 2! When I mentioned that, my doctor just said that it'll just be a larger baby, and since my diabetes test turned out normal results, this really is nothing to worry about. Ummm... sure... is it okay if *I* worry about this just a teensy bit? I have to squeeze it out of my vagina in a few weeks, after all! In the end he just looked at me and said that he would be concerned, if I had a smaller baby in there, considering the fact that my husband and I aren't exactly midgets in any way. I am 5'10" and Geo stands at 6'1" - I guess our baby won't be a tiny fairy-like delicate being when it's born.
Bad news is what the scale has revealed... from my last visit 5 weeks ago to yesterday, I have gained pretty much 1 kilo per week, shooting me up to a horrifying +12 kilograms - which was the absolute limit I have set myself in terms of weight gain for the entire pregnancy. AND I STILL HAVE 9 WEEKS TO GO! I am turning into a walrus, a freaking elephant, I am shocked and upset over this, especially considering that a substantial amount of weight gain can still be expected in the last weeks of pregnancy. Where will this end? People say that the kilos are shed again easily after delivery, with the high energy-cost of breastfeeding, and the stress, and the sleepless nights... and once the baby and the amniotic fluid and the placenta are out, and the uterus retracts again most of the weight is gone anyway... but no amount of reassuring and predicting can take the shock of the 90 kilos away, that flashed at me from the scale yesterday. :(
Getting a little impatient, here. Unhappy with my body, the weight gain, the little (or not so little, considering my back) discomforts of pregnancy in the third trimester. I wish we had the keys to our new apartment already, but we still have 2 1/2 weeks to go for that, and I am not looking forward to the stress of moving and furnishing the place. I am having a hard enough time keeping our current place in order, and packing things away in boxes considering my low energy levels and immediate raging back pains once I do much of anything at all, and I hope that the stress of moving will not be bad enough to cause the baby to come early. I need enough time to furnish and decorate the nursery! I am so itchy to get started already...
posted by spreadyourwings at 10:28 PM
1 Comments:
It all sounds like it is going so well! I'm glad that you are having a great birth class and getting good experiences with techniques - I wish our birth classes had focused on that more - but that's ok - I feel ready! LOL.
Remember with the weight gain - that your body is also preparing for it's needs for breastfeeding ... it really is amazing how our bodies seem to know what they need for this amazing journey - more so than any average amount in any medical journal or study!
Keep cooking that baby - and have fun putting the nursery together - I can't wait to hear all about it!
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