Week 30

Hi!

This week marks week 30 in the pregnancy (so we’re 75% of the way there – woo hoo!!!).

Over the weekend Jim and I went to the labor and delivery class; I am really glad we went. While no one EVER needs to see that many “lady parts” (after a while it got so gratuitous, that I couldn’t help but laugh… I’m sure I looked super immature but really, I think they could have shown the delivery scene from “Knocked Up” and that would have been less akward!) it was nice to see (through all FIVE of the birthing videos) that no one actually dies from the pain! It was good to gain an understanding of the phases of labor and get a better idea of what we’re headed for. I totally expect Clay’s birth to be way different from anything they showed us and honestly, I expect it to be exponentially different from the way I see it in my head, but at least I can picture it now. They even showed someone getting an epidural (sign me up for a couple of those) and I feel like I can handle that whole process so I’m ready to forge ahead – as if I had a choice now! My favorite part of the class was the tour of the hospital, we know where we’ll check in, where I’ll “labor”, and the whole process from there (we get an hour with Clay as Mommy and Daddy before they take him to the nursery for about 1 ½ hours, then we’ll have him in our room for the rest of our stay – they have a “temporary stay nursery” where he can go if we need him to). It just made everything so much more real!

A funny development over the weekend is that it’s getting notably harder to get up from certain positions. We went to Half Price Books to pick up some children’s books for the shadow box art wall we’re doing. Of course, the shelf that had the books that I was interested in was lowest to the ground so I just sat down and looked at the books. The problem came when I had to get up. Now Jim, understanding his wife’s need to appear in control at all times, tried to help me up in the least invasive way possible. After that and a couple of other attempts failed, my humility went out the door, and he had to hoist me up in a bear hug that started underneath my arms to get me to my feet – dignified for all involved, no?

This week signals the start of visiting the doctor every two weeks. The visit went great, everything is on track – Clay’s heart beat is strong and my vitals are good. I did ask my doctor about one comment my granola-hippie birthing instructor made…. She said there are two schools of thought when delivering (one where you are coached to push – this is what we’ve seen in the movies and one where the mom decides when to push). Well, the granola-hippie instructor who I didn’t think was too wacky made me look like a wacko. My doctor said she’d never heard of the later and the idea sounded a bit out there – the nurses are well trained in determining when a mama can proceed with a productive push and when to wait until the next contraction. I’m fine with that, my plan has been / is to do what the doctor tells me (I figure if I don’t tell the chef at a restaurant how to prepare my food, I’m certainly not going to tell my doctor how to address Clay and my needs).

So, that about does it!

Lots of love and Happy Wednesday!