30 Week Update

It has been about 6 weeks since I last did a full update on where we are with the pregnancy. I am now 10 weeks out to my due date! I can not believe I am in my 3rd trimester already! I went for a 30 week checkup at the doctor today, and all is looking great. He is growing like crazy! My doctor measures my tummy each time I go in, and the rule of thumb is that the number of centimeters from the base of my pubic bone to the top of my uterus should be equal to the number of weeks along I am. Well, I am 30 weeks pregnant as of today, and my stomach is measuring 33 centimeters – 3 ahead of what I guess is “normal!” I have wondered if he would be a big baby like the way most of the babies are in both Chris’s and my family trees. He is certainly not going to disappoint there! The doctor was ok with this. She did raise her eyebrows when she saw the measurement, but didn’t mention any concern. His heartbeat is also where it should be, and everything else is good with him!

As you can see from my posts below, I have developed an allergic reaction to the pregnancy that will last until I have the baby. I won’t go into too much detail on it, since I have it pretty well covered down in my previous posts, but it is making life a bit more of a challenge getting through this last leg of the pregnancy. I have to use this nasty smelling soap, and goopy lotion, and take steroids. I think when this is all over and it goes away, I am going to treat myself to some really great smelling soaps and lotions to make up for having to do this! My quality of life this week is far better than last week after having figured out some treatment options. It is just really annoying and at times uncomfortable to be so itchy.

Since the last post, we have gotten going on our birthing classes. We chose to do the Bradley Method, and are so incredibly glad we did! It was the most thorough, detailed, intensive class I could possibly find. We have learned so much about the whole process of giving birth and are feeling a lot less apprehensive about what I have to face in two and a half months! I am on a strict diet and exercise routine. I am learning lots of relaxation techniques, different positions and tricks to help move things along, and how Chris and I can be a good advocate for me in the hospital. I am feeling really good and confident with the idea of doing natural childbirth. I don’t think it is something you can just casually decide to do. There is rigorous training involved. I like a challenge, and after all I did to get in shape and be healthy before I got pregnant, I know that I have it in me to be quite the athlete and competitor! We will see how it goes. Every pregnancy is different, and I imagine so is every child birth. We will see what God has in store for me!

We are really getting busy with classes and other appointments. I have us booked in the coming weeks for Baby Care Basics, Infant CPR, Car Seat Safety, Daddy Bootcamp (Chris groaned when I signed him up for that one!), Breastfeeding Class, and we just did our hospital tour last weekend. It was interesting. Our Bradley class training really paid for itself in spades! We had TONS of questions prepared when we went. There were about 25 people on the tour, and we and another couple were the only ones who asked any questions! Everyone else just sat there like bumps on a log. The other couple who asked questions ended up being Bradley students as well. Just goes to show how important it is to learn what all your options are, so you can come up with a detailed plan for what you really truly want. It is a major medical event, and knowing how to negotiate with hospital staff was awesome.

I was disappointed in a few things. Like, they insist on strapping 2 monitors around my belly for 20 minutes out of ever hour. One measures my contractions and the other measures the baby’s heart beat. The problem is that they keep you pretty tied to the bed, and hampers your ability to move around (walking, different positions to help gravity along, etc). Not that when I am in hard labor do I plan on moving a tremendous amount, but earlier on when I still feel ok, I want to do what I can to help my body along. Having a nurse come in at the top of the hour to strap these things on me, 20 minutes later to take them off, 40 minutes later to put them back on, 20 minutes later to take them back off might be a little distracting. They also do not let you eat. Imagine going out to run a marathon and not having anything to refuel yourself along the way as you burn calories. I am worried about what that will do to my energy level. They also insist on keeping you in the hospital for 36-48 hours after the baby comes. I would like to go home as soon as possible. I want to stay long enough for him to be circumcised, and to make sure he is eating, but then after that, in the great words of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz “there’s no place like home!” I just want to be home where I am most comfortable and get on with the business of caring for my newborn. Chris’s parents are coming to help, so we won’t be by our lonesome figuring this stuff out. We talked with the doctor about all this today. It is hospital policy to do these things. I think I may get some wiggle room on the length of stay. If I am doing well, and the baby is doing well, then we can go. She also insisted that the schedule on the monitoring isn’t so rigid that if they come in to put the monitor on me and I am in the middle of a contraction, they will wait until I am done before moving me around. As for the eating thing, I can do liquid varieties of anything that I want. We will need to get creative there.

We have a lot to figure out in the next 10 weeks before he comes. It is a little overwhelming. We still need lots of stuff. We had one baby shower in Kansas City over Easter with Chris’s family, which was awesome. I have two more coming. One with family and close friends in Colorado Springs, and one at my work. That will be a big help. And just figuring out how we want the birth part of this to go. Then there is setting things up at work so I can be gone on maternity leave. And hopefully selling our old house sometime in the not to distant future so we only have one house to worry about when the baby comes. Finishing up repairs on the new house since we won’t be able get to it for a while come July. The list goes on and on… Oh my goodness!! Prayers please!! One way or another, July will come and we will do what everyone else does when they have children and just work it out!

Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for reading and drop us a note when you get a chance to let us know what is new.