Baby

Jen's Updates - Week 39

Sunday, April 13th, 2003 - 1 week before due date!

There is just one week left before my estimated due date (and my 32nd birthday)! I was really hoping that he is born on my birthday (and Easter), but now I'm not so sure. That would be really neat, but as several people have pointed out, I would lose my birthday, because kids' birthday's are always more important than adult birthdays. We'd just end up celebrating mine on a different day.

Sheryl offered to share her birthday (April 23rd) with the baby, which would be cool, too, but I admit that I'm hoping he's born early (meaning this week!). I'm not looking forward to the end of the pregnancy, because it has been an amazing experience, but I'm looking forward to meeting our son! Also, there are so many things that I'm worrying about right now that will be gone after he gets here (what labor will be like, is he healthy, what we'll name him, how he'll take to breastfeeding, etc).

I also worry about whether or not we are ready to have a baby. I'm frequently struck by the fact that our life is about to change forever, and is anyone ever really ready for that?

Web Site

The web site (http://www.whitedoom.com/Baby) has been updated. I've posted a lot of pictures, now (new digital camera, you know). There are now photos of the handmade gifts that we have received, as well as more pictures of me in various clothes. Most of them can be seen on the "Miscellaneous Photos" page, but the gift pictures have been put into the updates at the appropriate places.

I sent out that link to a livejournal from someone who just gave birth, but as Travis's aunt LaDonna noticed, I had a spelling error in the name. The actual address is: http://www.livejournal.com/users/othiym.

Midwife Visit

I woke up at 9:55 today. My appointment was at 10:00. I had insomnia last night, so didn't get enough sleep, so I guess I ignored the alarm. Anyway, I got to the appointment only 20 minutes late, so they still had time to see me. However, I have nothing interesting to report. It went fine. For the first time, I did not show any signs of excess sugar in my urine, which is odd because I have given up regulating my sugar, and have had quite a bit of root beer in the past few days.

Preparation

We finally preregistered for the hospital. It took us a really long time to get an appointment, because evidently there is only one person who can do it ahead of time. We signed all of the necessary consents, filled out the birth certificate form (though not with the baby's name, obviously), and learned more about what will happen after the baby is born.

Originally, we were planning on coming home from the hospital shortly after the birth, but we've been swayed by the lovely hospital rooms, the friendly nurses, and the inconvenience of otherwise bringing the baby back to the hospital 24 hours later for tests and such.

The hospital isn't a scary cold place with tiny sterile rooms, as I had feared. As I said before, it is actually very nice, and the rooms are huge (but hopefully still sterile!), so there is a lot of room for visitors. So, our new plan is to stay for at least 24 hours. Our insurance will cover 48 hours, I believe. Travis will stay there, too, of course, so we won't have to separate our new family.

That means that those of you who want to meet the baby relatively immediately will need to go there to do so. I'm sure that we'll need _at least_ several hours after the birth to clean up and recover, so those of you coming from Michigan should definitely wait until he's born before you leave the state! We'll call you after his arrival and let you know when we'll be ready for visitors.

We don't plan on making a grand announcement when I go into labor (sorry, no mass email), but in case any of you are with us when it happens or hears about it from someone who was, it is _extremely_ important to us that NO ONE come to the hospital before the baby is born (or really, before we're ready for visitors). I don't expect to be particularly quiet during childbirth, and if there were people that I knew listening from the hallway or waiting room, I'd be completely disturbed and distracted. The idea makes me shudder, actually. Yuck.

I had toyed with the idea of sending out an email when I went into labor, but then I decided that it would just stress me out to know that so many people knew I was in labor and were waiting to hear from me. I'm sure that you can understand that. I've made this into a very public pregnancy, but Travis and I both want the birth itself to be very private. Not to say that I won't write his birth story, because I'm sure that I will, but that will be after it is over.

Movement

He's still moving! I know I'm getting a little repetitive here, but what can I say? He seems to be happy and healthy and looking forward to stretching his little limbs in free space! My uterus is looking forward to that, too. He's getting pretty strong!

Symptoms

Look at how much weight I gained last week! Hopefully it is water weight, and will disappear quickly after the birth. It just isn't reasonable to gain 5 pounds in one week, otherwise! Maybe my scale is off. It's a little wonky sometimes.

I still have swollen ankles and feet. Even, now, when I wake up in the morning. It is so strange to walk around barefoot, because the flesh on the top of my feet jiggles! What an odd feeling. However, my urine shows only trace amounts of protein, so it isn't anything to worry about, just something to live through. My wedding ring is fitting pretty tightly these days, but it is still wearable.

Kat said that for the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy, she wore shoes all the time because it was so much more comfortable. I didn't really understand, but now I do! I don't notice the jiggling, it is nice to have cushions under my feet, and it keeps my feet from swelling as much, believe it or not. Probably due to the pressure.

I've been sleeping better. Mostly, I suspect, because I've been simply staying up until 3:00 or 4:00, then going to sleep. By that time, I'm actually ready to sleep, so I don't have trouble with insomnia. Of course, that means that I've been pretty tired at work in the morning! Insomnia strikes me usually when I try to go to bed at a "reasonable" time (read: before 2:00am).

I'm still feeling like my cervix is being stretched several times a day, which is good! Painful, but good. It almost makes me wish that my midwives did check dilation and effacement (they would if I asked), because I'm curious to see if I'm making progress, but knowing that it is essentially meaningless, I guess I don't need that information, and avoiding internal exams is always preferable!

My breasts are swelling a little, getting fuller (like I needed that). Preparing to fulfill their purpose in life, I imagine. My nipples still aren't leaking, but evidently not everyone experiences that before the baby is born (though lots of people do).

No sign of the mucus plug yet! In case you don't know what that is, here's a quick summary... the mucus plug is a plug of mucus (obviously) that seals the cervix closed to prevent anything from entering the uterus during pregnancy. You usually lose it sometime before labor begins, but not necessarily. See? Like dilation/effacement, a mostly worthless sign of impending labor.

Gifts

My friend Karen (from grad school) and her husband Chris sent the baby a gift, which was very thoughtful! A cute little terrycloth outfit, as well as an adorable floppy and oh-so-soft puppy dog stuffed animal. Very cute! Thanks, Karen and Chris!

STI Baby Shower

My office threw me a baby shower this Friday. They decorated and everything, including some artwork from our graphic designer! It was very sweet. There was cake, and punch, and of course, more gifts! It was a joint shower for me and Kristie, which made it easier because all of the attention wasn't on me.

They were very generous, and gave us several gift certificates. One is for Gymboree, which is neat because I saw an adorable frog outfit there that I would love to have for him to wear when he gets a little older. I haven't actually chosen any clothes for him myself, so I'm pretty excited about it! The other gift certificate is for the Gap, or Gap Kids. I admit that I'm thinking about using for myself, because I think I deserve some nice new clothes after going through these crazy body changes! Then again, maybe wearing my own clothes again will be excitment enough!

They also gave me a car seat that is intended for infants or toddlers, and it has the LATCH system! It is charcoal gray, so it matches Travis's car, and it should last several years before the baby outgrows it.

I must have inherited this trait directly from my dad and my grandfather. Upon removing the bow from a gift, I immediately stuck it to my head. My officemates probably all think that I'm crazy. Oh well!

Miscellaneous

False Labor

Last night (Wednesday), I woke up with a leg cramp, which was pretty painful and rather shocking when I had been sleeping all cozy and happy. I leapt out of bed with more alacrity than I've shown in months, probably swearing, though I don't remember. Poor Travis thought that I was in labor! He was immediately halfway out of bed, ready to head to the hospital.

It is very odd. Whenever the phone rings, I think that it is someone calling to tell me that I've gone into labor! Maybe just because I know that's what people are expecting to hear if I call them... now I've got it in my head that that's why the phone rings. I told that to my mom, and now when she calls, the first thing she says is, 'You're not in labor!', which is exactly what I say when I call her (well, except that I say '_I'm_ not in labor.').

"They Say"

If I hear the phrase 'They say' even one more time, from my mouth or anyone else's, I may self-immolate. I am tired of hearing old wives tales, and I'm tired of people telling me how I supposed to feel, and what I'm supposed to be doing or not doing. I guess that is another sign that I should be done with the pregnancy soon. I now believe that pregnancy is of limited duration because you just can't take the constant inundation of advice for more than 10 months. Especially when so much of it has been proven false by scientific evidence (which I believe much more than anecdotal evidence).

I realize that this may get a lot worse once we are actually raising a child, and I fear it. So, I'd like to prevent bitchiness after the baby is born and I'm sleep-deprived, uncomfortable, and post-partum by suggesting some things to those of you who plan to visit us and meet the baby in the first few weeks of his life.

1) Don't give us unsolicited advice about how to care for our baby. If we want to know something, we'll ask. Otherwise, let us figure it out for ourselves. We are smart people! Advice via email is always welcome, but advice in person may be met with a scowl (or thrown dishes).

2) Don't drop by without calling first. I am guessing that we'll need an adjustment and recovery period before we are able to take care of the baby AND keep the house clean, so give us some warning before you come by. It may be a week or more before we want visitors at all. We'll let you know.

Work

I told my boss that Friday was my last day in the office. That doesn't mean that I won't work next week, just that I won't necessarily be in the office. It is pretty uncomfortable to be sitting down all day, and it makes my ankles swell. I'd also like to be able to sleep in as long as I want to. They say (see?) that the most important preparation you can have for labor is being well rested!

That being said, I've been working at home this weekend and I am planning on going in tomorrow. I am very happy to not be on a schedule, though. Not that I've ever REALLY been on a schedule at work, but they kind of expected me in by 10:00 or so. To be there at 10:00, I really needed to be asleep by 2:00, and that just hasn't been happening lately.

So, next week is a relaxed week. I don't have much that I need to do around the house, believe it or not, so I'll probably work my usual hours, but more of them at home with my feet up. I've found that the couch provides a very comfortable pregnancy workspace.

That's it for this week! This may be the last weekly update that I write! Wow! 40 weeks has gone really fast! I hear that time just goes faster when you have children. I already feel like time flies, so I'm a little worried about how it will feel while I watch my child grow. I'll try to savor every moment, but I know that no matter what I do, I will never really feel like I've savored each moment enough. That's why I document so much of my life, and I'm so glad that I've gotten to share it with all of you! Thank you for reading!

Hopefully you'll be hearing from me soon!

Jen