Holy cow, we're in the third trimester. With OB travelling for work last week I thought I would have plenty of time to blog, but puppy dog was very needy and wouldn't leave me in peace if I was on the computer for too long. All kinds of things have happened in the last two weeks, and I'm very glad to report that I have had no negative hormones in that time period, just happy thoughts and not too easily hurt feelings. So, where are we now...
We finished our birth class last weekend, it was just two 4-hour classes. I felt like the first session was a little less helpful, at least for me, because it was mostly things I had already read/talked to my doctor about or all the crazy breathing techniques. I don't think I really got any relaxation ideas that I didn't already know, I'll just need to make sure OB remembers what helps me and what doesn't. But, we did watch a movie about the stages of labor with clips from actual labors, so that was helpful to know what it looks like in real life, and know when to go to the hospital (probably my biggest question for the whole class). The second session was much more informative/helpful in our opinion. Talked about all the different options, medicinal or not, for pain relief and which stages they were used in; how doctors will monitor or augment labor if things aren't getting moving on their own; different positions to labor in (holy cow there's a lot!) including how to help with back labor; and a little bit about early newbown care like umbilical cords and circumcision. Slight tangent: I've been approaching labor with the thought that I would prefer not to have drugs, but I will accept them if the doctor really thinks they're necessary or things get really really really uncomfortable. After hearing and watching about epidurals...keep that terrible thing away from me! If someone else wants one, I do not judge you at all, but there is no way I'm letting anyone stick a needle into the tiny space next to my spinal fluid. I know, anesthesiologists do it all the time and problems are rare, but I am very good at handling pain and I want to be completely involved in the birth process and not confined to my bed. If I really need it (and plenty of women have given birth without any pain medication), I can take the narcotics and that will be good enough. Anyway, overall I'm glad we went, but probably won't even bother with a refresher course next time around.
I also had our 27wk (got a little off-schedule) prenatal appointment. I love my doctor, she's great. The only thing she's possibly lacking is that I'm pretty positive she hasn't has kids, but my PA has so she can give me the mom insight :) Little man's heartbeat was super loud and perfect this time, which was really cool and reassuring as always. I measured a couple cm big, but doc wasn't concerned and was happy with my weight gain. She set me up for my Gestational Diabetes screening (which everyone takes), and the best part was I got to choose when to go in. Those of you who have had babies, you probably remember the experience, because my mom and MIL do and that was 19+ years ago, but I'll fill the rest of you in. They make you drink basically straight glucose, then wait for an hour and draw your blood. It really didn't taste
that bad, started out like orange Gatorade then ended up like strong orange Kool-Aid, but it did NOT sit well for me. About half way through the hour I got dizzy and warm and kind of nauseous, but I kept everything down. Then, as the phlebotomist was taking off the second/final vial of blood, I got really warm and nauseous and felt like I was going to faint...so he had me go lie down for a while and drink some orange juice (would have preferred a cookie, but oh well). I have only had my blood drawn two times before that, but both times they took more and I had no light-headedness or anything. They said it was probably just a big shock to my system: ate a small breakfast, drank 10-ish oz of basically straight glucose, don't eat anything else for an hour, then take blood. Yeah, guess I'm not surprised. Anyway, my numbers came back fine so no GD for me! But I'm anemic, which doesn't surprise me because I've been eating mostly chicken (caribou/moose is just SO hard to find here ;) ), so now I'm taking yet another pill for iron (others are just vitamins). So yeah, I have my next appt at 30wks and then it's every two until 36wks when it becomes every week! Ah! Craziness.
I'm super pumped to be officially in the final trimester by even the latest counting standards. Less than 3 months until we meet our amazing baby boy, who is obviously gorgeous and a genius and terribly charming! Pretty positive we've got the name, but we're basically only sharing with family (sorry, cyber-world). Another thing about the third trimester: I can't evade being uncomfortable anymore. It's really not that bad, but sleeping is getting more difficult (had to get an extra pillow last night), my ribs or back pretty much always hurt by the end of the work day, and my belly just feels so heavy sometimes. We did this exercise at the birth class where hubby stand behind you and with his hands under your belly lifts up gently: felt so nice to take the weight off! Also, I've definitely starting getting the Braxton-Hicks contractions. It was a little scary at first, feeling your whole stomach harden up for a few seconds, but it wasn't in the least bit uncomfortable so I wasn't too concerned. It's just really weird. So you all know what I'm dealing with spatially, here's my 28wk photo:
It's getting tougher to see around my belly, and I do not feel like I look that big, but there's the proof! Putting non-slip-on shoes on is kind of difficult, and I can't see my feet if I stand up straight and just look straight down. I haven't bumped into anyone yet, but I have bumped him into a couple doors and railings, not very hard. Figuring out what to wear to work is not fun, I feel like I exhaust my unique pairings pretty quickly, but I work with 3 guys so they probably don't even notice. One of these days, I may very well wear spandex and a long sweater; I don't even care, it'll be comfortable. But I'll wait until the end for that.
Speaking of the end, I plan on leaving work after the first week of February, so only 30 days left (pretty sure I'm getting/taking 2wks for Christmas)! I'm starting to realize I will miss it, but not terribly. Mostly I'm just bummed that I finally got well-known by the people we work with on a regular basis, and now I'll be leaving. But those ties are not that big of a deal, I really want to stay home with our little guy and be his mommy. I can do plenty of stuff from home and while I won't be earning licensing hours, I can still keep my creative juices flowing. I'd rather not have to dump him at daycare every day; I know there are a lot of good moms who do that, but that's not what I want. Plus, then I won't miss anything :)
Ok, I think that's all for now. I'm sure I forgot something I wanted to talk about, but I'm getting hungry and since I'm off for the rest of the day I want to get some stuff done. Toodles!
*Edit: I remembered what I was thinking of! I've had two girls this week that work at restaurants I frequent ask me when I'm due or say I'm finally definitely showing! I personally liked it because I go there often enough and they're always working when I come so it's pretty obvious that I'm growing a baby not a belly, and they were both so sweet about it. The one said she kind of thought so a few weeks ago, but she wasn't 100% positive so she didn't say anything. Smart move, but I'm glad she got the courage this week to comment :) And I'm pretty sure the other has seen some of my friends touching the belly, so she knew it was safe.
