Christopher just happened to be off work today because freight was slow so he was able to go with me. It was nice because he hasn't been able to go with me since May.
They tried to get me to see the midwife because my OB was running behind. We decided to stick it out since I'm getting closer to delivering. I had just found out last month that the midwife no longer delivers babies!
I found out that I'm GBS positive so I'll definitely be toting an IV pole around with me during labor. My OB said they like for patients to recieve two doses of the antibiotics prior to delivery. He didn't think that would be a problem since I'm a first time mom.
But I still don't want to head for the hospital too early.
I've been so worried that the baby was going to breech or transverse since that's how he preferred to hang out. He'd settled down a little bit though. I've been trying to figure out what the movements mean and what the hard places are in my belly. I've been doing all these pelvic rocks and yoga poses that are supposed to help the baby get in the best postion. I've even been playing lullaby music on my ipod speakers down by my pelvic to draw him down. Last week, when I played the music for him for the first time, I felt a huge movement/roll as he moved toward the sound.
Today the doctor felt my belly very quickly, like just in two places after measuring and using the doppler. I asked him if he could feel the baby's position.
"Oh, yeah. He's head down, with his back along your left. Here's an arm and here's a leg."
I was so relieved! I think the music helped. LOL
Hopefully Patches stays pointed towards the exit.
My BP and urine were okay which is always good news. I'm up 17 lbs for the pregnancy. I now go for weekly appointments. My first internal exam is next week.
At least the OB warned me.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Car Seat Inspection
We got our car seat inspected over the weekend. The hospital does it monthly by appointment, free of charge.
We were supposed to show up to the inspection with it installed and the car seat direction book. So last minute, Christopher and I tried putting it in the night before.
We couldn't use the latch system in the middle because the anchor points were too far apart according to the directions. We read that AFTER trying for several minutes to get it tightened up enough.
The next option was to use the seat belt to latch the base in. However we couldn't find the locking bar necessary to use with our seat belt. It was supposed to be included with the car seat.
So Chris got it installed on the passenger side back seat. He did an awesome job getting it tight enough. We really wanted it to be in the center for safety but didn't know how to over come the seat belt problem.
When we got to the hospital, the women doing the inspection congratulated Christopher for getting the car seat installed correctly! Yay, we passed. 3 out of 4 car seats are installed in correctly.
She then asked us if we wanted to try it installed in the center. We told her the problem with the anchor latches and that we couldn't find the latch bar to work with the seat belt. She quickly flipped the seat over and showed us where the manufacter's had hid the latch bar. Viola!
So she and Christopher got it secured in the middle with the seat belt locking it in tight. This pretty much requires two people to do it since our seat belt doesn't lock in place on its own. Chris said that base isn't getting moved for a long time!
Here we tested it out.
It's kind of strange to see the car seat whenever I turn around to back up. I can't wait until our little guy is here to get his first ride home.
We were supposed to show up to the inspection with it installed and the car seat direction book. So last minute, Christopher and I tried putting it in the night before.
We couldn't use the latch system in the middle because the anchor points were too far apart according to the directions. We read that AFTER trying for several minutes to get it tightened up enough.
The next option was to use the seat belt to latch the base in. However we couldn't find the locking bar necessary to use with our seat belt. It was supposed to be included with the car seat.
So Chris got it installed on the passenger side back seat. He did an awesome job getting it tight enough. We really wanted it to be in the center for safety but didn't know how to over come the seat belt problem.
When we got to the hospital, the women doing the inspection congratulated Christopher for getting the car seat installed correctly! Yay, we passed. 3 out of 4 car seats are installed in correctly.
She then asked us if we wanted to try it installed in the center. We told her the problem with the anchor latches and that we couldn't find the latch bar to work with the seat belt. She quickly flipped the seat over and showed us where the manufacter's had hid the latch bar. Viola!
So she and Christopher got it secured in the middle with the seat belt locking it in tight. This pretty much requires two people to do it since our seat belt doesn't lock in place on its own. Chris said that base isn't getting moved for a long time!
Here we tested it out.
It's kind of strange to see the car seat whenever I turn around to back up. I can't wait until our little guy is here to get his first ride home.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Baby Care, Paper T Shirts, and BF in the OR!
We had our baby care class today. The first part we watched a video and slide presentation. The video showed the parents right after delivery with baby being held skin to skin and being breast fed. I had to hold back tears! Darn pregnancy hormones.
Then she showed slide pics of an actual circumsion which was a little painful to see. My hospital doesn't use any local anesthesia for circs! They only give the babies 2 teaspoons of sugar water to help cope with the pain. WTH?
Then we played with some baby dolls, washing and diapering them! That part was fun in a weird way. We got lucky and scored a boy baby doll so we could practice cleaning him up correctly.
Our practice baby!
We got to see the paper t shirts that they give the babies to wear in my hospital. I kept picturing the thin white paper like what they use to line examination tables. This was actually heavier paper, kind of like the stuff they use for expensive paper napkins. It had a small piece of velcro to hold it closed.
Christopher holding the baby doll. The paper t shirt is blue and pink.
The nurse said that they want parents to bring in their own clothing for the baby so he will get used to what you'll be putting him in at home. That kind of makes sense. The paper shirt they provide is for immediately after birth when the umbilicial cord stump has iodine on it. I guess it's triple staining or something.
She was also a lactation consultant and told us that if we had her as a nurse for a c-section delivery, then she would do everything possible to get the baby skin to skin with you while in the operating room and even attempt some breast feeding there. I was very shocked at that!
Without saying it, she let us know that not all others nurses would try it. But it's still pretty amazing that it's even a possiblity. My hospital seems very pro-breastfeeding which is great.
Then she showed slide pics of an actual circumsion which was a little painful to see. My hospital doesn't use any local anesthesia for circs! They only give the babies 2 teaspoons of sugar water to help cope with the pain. WTH?
Then we played with some baby dolls, washing and diapering them! That part was fun in a weird way. We got lucky and scored a boy baby doll so we could practice cleaning him up correctly.
Our practice baby!
We got to see the paper t shirts that they give the babies to wear in my hospital. I kept picturing the thin white paper like what they use to line examination tables. This was actually heavier paper, kind of like the stuff they use for expensive paper napkins. It had a small piece of velcro to hold it closed.
Christopher holding the baby doll. The paper t shirt is blue and pink.
The nurse said that they want parents to bring in their own clothing for the baby so he will get used to what you'll be putting him in at home. That kind of makes sense. The paper shirt they provide is for immediately after birth when the umbilicial cord stump has iodine on it. I guess it's triple staining or something.
She was also a lactation consultant and told us that if we had her as a nurse for a c-section delivery, then she would do everything possible to get the baby skin to skin with you while in the operating room and even attempt some breast feeding there. I was very shocked at that!
Without saying it, she let us know that not all others nurses would try it. But it's still pretty amazing that it's even a possiblity. My hospital seems very pro-breastfeeding which is great.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
A Baby Shower...
for us! It's hard to believe it's really time for our own baby shower. A special day to celebrate this baby boy.
Today when we woke up, Patches was kicking me like normal. I usually tell Christopher about it so he can get a quick feel while we're both right together.
Chris put his hand on my belly and gently shook it just a little saying hello. Then right as he placed his hand flat on the sweet spot, Patches gave one of his power kicks! (We're talking the kind that can move the remote control or whatever is resting on my tummy.) Chris pulls his hand back in surprise, saying "Wow, what do those feel like on the inside?!"
They feel awesome.
It was like Patches was telling us to come on, get up already! It's his big day, pre-birthday. We have things to do! It's baby shower time.
My sister in law, Caroline has been so supportive of us during the past year. She hosted the baby shower at her house. It was beautifully decorated and everything I could have dreamed for.
Christopher, Tracy, and Patches
Some of the party ballons.
This cute little guy was one of the ballon weights.
Some of the favors around the cake.
Mrs. Ernst who finished second place after a tie breaker.
My mother in law, Margaret, playing the game.
Today when we woke up, Patches was kicking me like normal. I usually tell Christopher about it so he can get a quick feel while we're both right together.
Chris put his hand on my belly and gently shook it just a little saying hello. Then right as he placed his hand flat on the sweet spot, Patches gave one of his power kicks! (We're talking the kind that can move the remote control or whatever is resting on my tummy.) Chris pulls his hand back in surprise, saying "Wow, what do those feel like on the inside?!"
They feel awesome.
It was like Patches was telling us to come on, get up already! It's his big day, pre-birthday. We have things to do! It's baby shower time.
My sister in law, Caroline has been so supportive of us during the past year. She hosted the baby shower at her house. It was beautifully decorated and everything I could have dreamed for.
Christopher, Tracy, and Patches
Some of the party ballons.
This cute little guy was one of the ballon weights.
Some of the favors around the cake.
This cake was beautifully decorated as a baby carriage. It was a vanilla cake with a creme layer. The two wheels were chocolate cupcakes. "A Baby Is A Precious Gift"
Sister in law, Caroline with the beautiful cake. Her mom, Mrs. Ernst is looking on in the background.
We played some really fun games. The guys even enjoyed participating.
We were shown this tray for one minute. Then we had to write down all the items that we could remember. My friend, Bonnie won this one easily!
Then we played a baby word scramble game. Again Bonnie put most of us to shame. I think her youth helped her. My pregnancy induced attention deficient disorder gave me serious trouble! Who knew "rodeomothh" was motherhood and "unserry hemry" was nursery rhyme?
Bonnie, again a winner. This time of "Guess How Big the Momma To Be's Belly Is." The object was to cut a piece of yarn just long enough to wrap around my stomach at the biggest point. I dreaded this game a little since it basically makes fun of how big I am! But it turned out fun to play. Christopher (thank you, honey!) and the twin 6 year olds, Amber and Zachary were the closest after Bonnie. Everyone else had miles of extra yarn! Apparently I do look THAT big. :)
Christopher helping the twins, Amber and Zachary measuring and cutting their yarn.
Debbie, the official winner of the "Find The Baby Pin Game." There were 80 baby pins inside the bowl covered with uncooked rice. The object was to find as many pins as possible during one minute. It was a lot harder than what it looked like because the rice was bigger than the small pins. Debbie shifted through and found four. I found NONE!
Mrs. Ernst who finished second place after a tie breaker.
My mother in law, Margaret, playing the game.
My other sister in law, Alice.
Brother in law Steve who thought he had a plan to win.
Christopher finding two pins and managing to spill rice all over the floor!
Chef Christopher with his yummy lasagne! I know he won't let us starve after the baby is born.
We had lots of good food and good times. It was the perfect baby shower! I'm going to blame it on pregnancy hormones, but when I think back over the evening I start to cry. We enjoyed ourselves so much.
Thank you, Caroline for hosting it. And thank you to all those that came and for all the gifts we received. Patches is one lucky boy.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Diapers and Child Birth Classes
The revelation: I'm not going to be pregnant forever, this baby is actually coming in a few months.
Babies R Us had a "secret" Super Friday Sale. The main reason that I wanted to go was that they were giving away a free $15 gift card with the purchase of two boxes of diapers. Once I had those boxes in my cart, it really hit me that we're going to have a baby and he's going to be needing these diapers pretty soon!
When Chris came home from work, he saw the bright yellow boxes marked 216 New Baby Diapers and 184 Stage 2 Diapers. He stood and just stared at them. "Wow, this baby is really coming, isn't he?"
"Yes, Christopher, he's really going to be here, peeing and pooping!"
We also attended our first child birth class at a local birthing center. We plan to give birth in the hospital that my OB and midwife deliver at. But these Bradley Method classes are more focused on the husband being a labor coach and being relaxed during labor. We'll get information on nutrition, exercises, breast feeding, c-sections, and post partum care all in these Bradley series of classes.
We'll be taking Baby Care, Infant Safet & CPR, and the car seat inspection at our hospital. We have a busy couple of months ahead of us!
Babies R Us had a "secret" Super Friday Sale. The main reason that I wanted to go was that they were giving away a free $15 gift card with the purchase of two boxes of diapers. Once I had those boxes in my cart, it really hit me that we're going to have a baby and he's going to be needing these diapers pretty soon!
When Chris came home from work, he saw the bright yellow boxes marked 216 New Baby Diapers and 184 Stage 2 Diapers. He stood and just stared at them. "Wow, this baby is really coming, isn't he?"
"Yes, Christopher, he's really going to be here, peeing and pooping!"
We also attended our first child birth class at a local birthing center. We plan to give birth in the hospital that my OB and midwife deliver at. But these Bradley Method classes are more focused on the husband being a labor coach and being relaxed during labor. We'll get information on nutrition, exercises, breast feeding, c-sections, and post partum care all in these Bradley series of classes.
We'll be taking Baby Care, Infant Safet & CPR, and the car seat inspection at our hospital. We have a busy couple of months ahead of us!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
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