Archives for August 2010

I should be preparing for my first Conrad class tonight, so this will have to be quick. Our 3rd Birthing Class on Saturday went really well. Linda taught us a lot about the first few weeks of a newborn’s life– almost too much (information overload!). This was our last week learning massage positions on the floor, she said. Next time, it’s all about laboring positions…oh boy.

In other news, the day of our anniversary was also one of my mid-wife appointments. I had the “nazi” midwife Cherie, so I was a bit nervous to find out what I weighed…only to find that I’ve only gained a pound in the last 4 weeks, for a total of 17 pounds this whole pregnancy! If I go all the way to 40 weeks, gaining 1 pound a week from here on out (growth spurt time!) that’s still only a total of 25 pounds. Even my nazi midwife looked at me and said, “Congratulations!  You’re doing so well on your weight!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I eat icecream every night and fast food with Jesse on the weekends…didn’t seem like the kind of “moment” she was looking for.

Although I’m grateful that I haven’t puffed out like a balloon these last 32 weeks, I did just cross the 150 pound mark, and it’s tough, I have to confess. I know it’s all baby since all my other measurements have remained the same, but telling myself that still feels like “blah blah blah”. I FEEL HUGE. I keep bumping into things, everything aches…I found a huge purple spidery bruise on my left ankle, and I have no idea how it got there. Perhaps it’s just groaning under all the weight.

Also, pray that I don’t get put on Bed Rest, because that would just NOT be the way I want to spend the next 4 weeks (36 weeks is the minimum gestational age that I can use the birth center). On Saturday, I had concerted cramping for at least an hour total along with a few Braxton Hicks contractions, WHILE sitting down drinking water at BJs with the Snells and Unruhs. When it happened for another 5 minutes on Sunday, I called Cherie’s cell phone and asked her about it. She told me to go home, take a bath, and lie down the rest of the day. If it was still occurring today, she said, I was supposed to come in for another checkup. Luckily, I rested pretty much all morning, with the exception of my 1/2 Curves workout and 1/2 grocery shopping trip, but it still worries me. We need this last month of piano teaching in order to get our finances in a place where I can take 3 months off. Bed Rest would make things pretty difficult, at this point.  I also want to be as physically fit as is possible (given the limitations of having a huge watermelon strapped on) when I go into labor, seeing as they liken the exertion of labor/ birth to running 2 back-to-back marathons.

Off to piano lessons and then my first class!