Last night we FINALLY got to do our tour of the maternity ward in our hospital, and it was amazing!
The first half of the class was watching a birthing video, and it was pleasantly surprising. I thought it'd be an 80's style, glorified birth - but it was fairly modern, and not particularly straight forward. The woman was originally wanting a natural, vaginal water birth with just gas & air - however the baby was thought to be posterior, and she ended up having an epidural to combat the back pain. It showed the birth, baby's first moments, delivery of the placenta, the doctor repairing a tear & recovery.
After a quick snack, we headed upstairs to the ward. It was a quiet night with no active deliveries in progress, but fairly full recovery rooms. We got to have a peep through the Special Care Nursery window and see some teeny tiny bubbas, and the Wombat Nursery, where babies have their first baths. There are six delivery suites {4 with nice, big tubs - please cross fingers that we can have one of those!} and they're pretty nicely sized. Lots of options for labouring: birthing ball, birthing stool, beanbags, and ridiculously amazing beds that move into all sorts of crazy positions. After delivery, the rooms are mostly private, and our hospital recommends a 3-4 day stay, depending on the well-being of mum and baby. It looks fantastic!
Doing the tour has made me really, really want to fast forward through March & just get to April. I'm {surprisingly} looking forward to labour, since it's going to bring me one step closer to meeting our baby girl.
How Far Along: 32 weeks now. Just 8 weeks/2 months left!
Size of baby: This week, baby is the size of a pumpkin looking thing {a squash?} that looks a bit like a boob.
While a teeny part of you might be thinking "Get this kid outta here ASAP!" we bet the rest is sincerely hoping she'll stay in there a while longer. That said, you can breathe a sigh of relief for this week's important milestone. Almost all babies born at this stage or later survive and go on to have very healthy, normal lives. By this time all of her major organs are fully functioning except the lungs, which need just a bit more time to mature completely.
Symptoms: SO MANY BRAXTON HICKS CONTRACTIONS. That needed capitals, because OW. Those websites lie when they say they don't hurt - they hurt! Or else I'm just one of the oddballs who feels them quite strongly. I've also been feeling lots of pressure down below, like I've been horseback riding.
Cravings: Still with the cottage cheese - what's up with that? Also, boring, boring All Bran cereal. Weird.
Gender: Girl, Girl, Girl!
Movement: Lots more slow-motion movements this week. :)
Maternity Clothes: Living in my elastic waistbands. How am I ever going to button up anything again?
Milestones: Another fairly uneventful OB visit {except for baby measuring a little big} which was great. I've also been spending more time in the nursery, and putting together a list of goodies I am yet to buy. I have more than I realised - we need no more blankets, hooded towels or linens, that's for sure!
The belly: It's really stretching - my tiger stripes are getting wider. When I'm having a BH contraction, it gets super round and bowling ball-ish, and then relaxes and drops down once it's done. Fascinating, really.
It's been a little while since I last showed you progress pictures of baby girl's nursery. {Here's the last batch.} Truth be told, I've been avoiding the nursery since then - I felt like I had SO much to do, and there was no point organising it until I had accumulated more things & had more of an idea of what I still needed.
A few days ago, my lovely friend K came and helped me lug all of the baby shower gifties upstairs and start organising things. Despite our efforts, there was still a stack of things to do, so I took advantage of the rainy day weather & dug in. Hubby kindly put up the mirror & canvases that I've been harrassing him about, and I set to work on trying to get everything else packed away and in an easy-to-access place.
Enough blabbering: time for some pictures! Here's the rocker and Ikea cabinet, all filled up & organised.
Today was our fortnightly OB visit - he was running REALLY late {which he later told me was due to a 3am delivery} and the room was hot and miserable. I was not a happy camper this morning!
The midwife did the screening tests as per usual, and frightened me when she wrote down that my blood pressure was 155/90 - that's huge for me, even though my measurements are usually borderline. Once I got in to see the doctor, I questioned him about it {as she hadn't seemed concerned by the high reading} - he called her in and checked it, and turns out she just has messy handwriting! Blood pressure is actually remaining steady at 135/90, still borderline, but average for me during this pregnancy. We'll keep monitoring it.
I've been kept awake the last few nights from a few new symptoms - some painful tightening and cramping that had me a little worried. I've had Braxton Hicks before, but they don't usually hurt. These ones HURT. The doctor today said that some women get more uncomfortable BH contractions than others, and that if they became regular or measurable I'll need to keep an eye on them. I also asked him about the 'kicked in the lady-parts' pressure from the last week {he laughed at that analogy} and he said it feels like baby girl is head down and pushing quite low - that added to the ligaments relaxing will make it feel that way. All normal.
Oh, and baby girl is measuring at 34 weeks via the OB's measurements. He thinks baby might be starting to take off, growth wise - he's keeping an eye on it, but said that he's happy that the IUGR fears from the beginning don't look like they're a worry at the moment. He mentioned maybe doing a scan in the coming weeks (pretty please?) to check on sizing, since fundal heights aren't always accurate. We'll see in another fortnight!
All in all, things are still just cruising along. I'm hoping baby isn't going to be too big, but I really do hope he will request a growth scan at the next visit - I so desperately want to see her little face again. Eight weeks feels like a million years away, even though it's not that long in reality.
Oh, did we have an amazing weekend - busy, but amazing!
On Saturday, I spent the day at my parent's place, baking up a storm with mum and my lovely friend, K. We made cupcakes, oreo baby rattles {which were so dodgy at first that they almost ended up on Pinterest Fail}, mars bar slice, some dips AND a four-layer lilac ombre cake with white chocolate ganache icing. I was actually really proud of how it turned out - mum cooked the cakes beautifully, K found the perfect violet food colouring, and we had help frosting it from a baker friend. This was the final result - doesn't it look amazing?
You guys, the baby shower was amazing. Mum did a wonderful job of decorating and putting out the food, and it was a great turn-out - so many people love this baby girl and can't wait for her arrival.
How Far Along: 31 weeks along. :)
Size of baby: As my {almost} SIL said this week, I hope I don't go into labour this week. Pointy spikes!
Your baby is gaining more weight than height at this point. Because she's too big to stretch out, she's now forced into the fetal position, which she'll stay in until birth. This this week also boasts some exciting reproductive developments. Having a boy? His testicles are moving through the groin on their way into the scrotum. And if you've got a girl in there, her clitoris is already relatively formed.
Symptoms: Tired, overheated & some super ridiculous baby movements and stretches.
Cravings: Cottage cheese on fresh bread. I'm planning on having this sandwich for lunch today too.
Gender: Girl, Girl, Girl! {At least I hope so, after our baby shower!}
Movement: Beautiful stretches and slow movements - with the occasional side jabs for good measure.
Maternity Clothes: At this point, I'll wear anything I can still squeeze in to!!
Milestones: Baby girl was completely spoiled by friends and family at our baby shower yesterday. So loved!
The belly: Still nice and round, pretty bottom-heavy at the moment. I'm going to miss the bump when it's gone.
Hubby & I don't really celebrate it, but we DO celebrate a little bit of nerdy goodness. :) Have a great day! xox
How Far Along: 30 weeks pregnant - the final quarter!!!
Size of baby: We're back to awkward fruits and veggies - ouch, that cucumber looks mighty pointy.
From this point on your baby will gain about a half pound each week. All that baby weight is for more than filling out her chubby cheeks. Now that all of her major body systems are in place and functioning, she needs padding to protect and insulate her organs. Her built-up fat tissue will also help her regulate her body temperature after birth and provide the energy she needs. Because your baby is adding fat and growing bigger, you might find her movements become less frequent -- it's getting harder for her to maneuver. But if you're not feeling any jabs or the occasional kick, tell your health care provider.
Symptoms: Everything is feeling more tender this week; funnily enough, everything except my boobs - they feel fine! Crampy belly, lots of uterus tightening when I stand up or after I use the bathroom. Plenty of peeing {or lack thereof} and the usual backaches. Still, I'm doing pretty well all up.
Cravings: All I want to eat is a turkish doner kebab. Seriously - where did this obsession come from? I'm talking about one like this - beef, lettuce, onion & bbq sauce, all toasted and crunchy. Oh man.
Gender: Girl, Girl, Girl!
Movement: I've had a great week with movement - something strong and steady every single day. It's been really lovely, nice strong pushes and rolls & even some hiccups, which I felt down super low in my butt.
Maternity Clothes: I haven't gone out much this week, so I wore a LOT of pyjamas. :)
Milestones: Continuing to have a lovely, boring pregnancy. Hitting the 30-week mark & also starting our hospital classes - it's been quite a busy, happy week around these parts.
The belly: It's growing slowly - along with the stretch marks, which are coming out in full force now. It's all worth it, and I'll take every single one of them - ten more weeks of growing to go!
I can't believe we're into the fortnightly obstetrician visits now - we've really only seen him five or six times throughout this pregnancy, and now I feel like I'll be at the hospital a LOT more, especially with the classes continuing. I was feeling a little worried because my meetings with the doctor have been short and sweet up until now; like I was forgetting to ask him questions, or missing out on vital information about the baby.
Today's appointment was pretty standard again, though. While the meetings with the midwife and the doctor were still fairly quick, the wait time was NOT quick. Watching patients sail in and out with the other obstetrician on the floor with no waiting time was a little bit frustrating - but I have to try and remember that we picked Dr. P because of great recommendations. And let's face it, if it were me having a difficult pregnancy, I'd be wanting a lot of special attention too. :)
He had a new midwife starting yesterday. She took my blood pressure {borderline but steady as always} and pee sample {all good} and skipped a weigh in - huzzah! When she measured my fundal height, baby measured at 31 weeks - so a tiny bit ahead for the first time ever. She found a faint heartbeat, and told me that my placenta must be in the front... to which I was a bit puzzled, since the scans all showed it at the back.
When I went in to see the OB, I asked him about this - he said no, if it was at the back, it won't move to the front - chances are the midwife was incorrect. He also listened to the heartbeat again to ease my mind, and bam, it was front and centre, nice and loud. No worrying there! He commented on how well I'm looking, asked about how bub was moving, and said how happy he was with my glucose tolerance results. I did BETTER the second time around {woo!} with a final score of 5.9 - compared to 6.0 the first time.
For now, I'm just happy that baby girl & I are doing well so far. I'm perfectly ok with a 'boring' pregnancy!
We had our first hospital class last night! We opted to do an evening course - so it's 2 hours, but runs for six weeks. Every Wednesday we will head to the hospital & meet with the same group of couples {which is really nice} and learn about childbirth & early parenting skills.
How Far Along: 29 weeks - last week of the 20's, yay!
Size of baby: This week the websites are torn between an acorn squash or a butternut squash. I've never heard of an acorn squash before, but we have butternut pumpkin over here.. yummo!
Your baby is getting stronger by the minute. This week, her pushes, kicks, and rolls will likely occur more frequently -- and forcefully. So don't be surprised if you feel an extra-strong karate chop or two! Around this time, the part of your baby's brain associated with intelligence and personality becomes far more complex. You can get to know your baby by paying attention to how she reacts to different foods, sounds, and lights.
Symptoms: Some tummy pains in the form of stretching and tightening. More rib burning & back aching. And the most ridiculous bladder craziness - seriously, I always thought the whole pregnant lady peeing thing was put on, but this is NOT fun. I need to pee ALL THE TIME. And when I do get to a loo, I can't pee. There is nothing there. I miss the satisfaction of a good, rewarding bathroom break. Man, I'm so gross.
Cravings: This week I've made myself no less than three cups of tea, because I really felt like I wanted one - only to drink a sip and be completely disinterested. Not sure what's up with that weird craving.
Gender: Girl, Girl, Girl!
Movement: Not as frequent, but definitely stronger when they happen. Tonight I was getting some really cool slow-motion movements - they didn't feel like kicks. Shoves or stretches, maybe? Loved them!
Maternity Clothes: Dresses, again. :)
Milestones: Passing my second Glucose Tolerance Test - so happy and relieved about this.
The belly: Back out in front this week - ah, the ever changing belly shape! I wore this dress for my 19-week shot too, and it's been funny to look at the two side-by-side and compare. Hello, boobs!
It is amazing what a good four-hour stretch of sleep can do for your sanity.
I managed to sleep from 11.30-2.30am {until I was rudely awakened by hubby stumbling in to bed late} before pee break #1. Falling back asleep was easy, and I slept from 2.30-6.30am with NO breaks in between. Amazeballs! Finally, I napped - and slept in until 9.30am.
I feel like a whole new person.
Sleep is glorious. That is all. And I'm appreciating every little bit of it before this baby arrives! :)
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