Last Lamaze class

I'm so glad we are done. Not because we didn't learn anything, because we did. But because I am so exhausted from the past 2 weeks. We've had 2 classes a week both weeks so it makes for a 14 hour day for me. Not sleeping well + 14 hours days = walking zombie.

For our last class we learned about c-sections and relaxation techniques. I don't know if I just missed the point on this or what but laying on the hard, disgusting floor, in the dark, listening to the teacher talk us through a relaxing, imaginary trip to the beach was not my idea of relaxing. I can't get comfortable in my own bed much less on the freaking hard floor! Maybe that was the point. To take yourself out of the uncomfortable position and imagine yourself somewhere else. If so, then give me a big fat F for fail. Not fun. Tony of course can fall asleep anywhere and someone started snoring. I don't know how they fell asleep but whatever.

Anyway, since we've taken the Lamaze, Breastfeeding, and Basic Infant Care classes, I guess we should know how to have a baby and take care of it once it's here. Uh huh! ;-) We learned some stuff but I think most of it will be on the job training. I think Tony needed some of it more than me but I guess I feel better knowing we've been told the correct and incorrect way to do some of this stuff.

P.S. The teacher said for recovery time I should not do any cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. for 2 weeks. She said a lot of people push themselves too hard too soon and it slows their recovery time. So take a couple of weeks off and then start adding things back to your normal routine. Needless to say, Tony was not too please with this advice. :-)

Um okay.

Let's put it this way, last night, Tony and I found out that I will be able to supply this baby with food from my body.
I'll just leave it at that. I'm sure that's too much info for some of you already, but this is my blog, so I'll right what I want. It's a pregnancy blog, what do you expect? ;-)

On another note, I can't wait until I no longer have to plan my day and night around bathroom breaks. This is getting stupid.

Last night of baby classes tonight. I'm so glad to be done. Too much time out of my days.

Breastfeeding class

We get there and within 15 minutes in class, Tony is falling asleep in his chair. Not even trying to hide it. I was THAT girl with THAT husband. I was deciding whether or not to get mad and then his head does that thing where you fall back and jerk up to wake yourself up. The people around us started laughing and he finally woke up looking like a dork. I said to him, you got your power nap so now stay awake or you will hurt my feelings. I was good about it for a few minutes but what was the point of him being there if he was just gonna sleep through the whole thing and make us look stupid. So luckily, he stayed awake for the rest of the class.

We learned a few things but it also raised some more questions.

3rd lamaze class

On Tuesday, we had our 3rd lamaze class. I can see why some people don't think much of these classes, but I also see the benefit to them. I personally am glad we are going to them. Even though we only learn 1 or 2 things that benefit us as a couple every class, we are still learning stuff.

This class we learned what kind of drugs I want during labor. I thought there were only 2 types of epidurals but there are actually 4, at least at Winnie Palmer.

Traditional - used only in C-sections

Light - the normal one, where you can't move or feel anything from you chest down (have to stay in bed the whole time, need a catheter)

Walking - drugs take away sensation of pain but you can still move about and walk around with help to move things along (less intense, less drugs, might need to convert to "Light" to take away pain towards the end, which takes 30 minutes, can feel contractions and know when to push)

Super Walking - same as the "Walking" except it has more pain meds so you won't need to convert in the latter part of labor (jus tthe right amount of pain meds and mobility)

So I've decided I want the Super Walking epidural. I want to be able to move around and keep things goings and it kinda freaks me out to not be able to feel anything. The teacher said in 6 years, no one has needed more drugs after getting this kind of epidural. So this sounds good to me.

She also said the from the time you request the epidural, it takes about an hour from start to finish before you get the full affects of it. So I need to request it before I think I really need it so I have it when I do. I can also get some Stadol in the meantime to tide me over until then. I jsut hate being in pain so I'm trying to be proactive with this.

Tony had to do this exercise where he had to cause me pain so I could block it out with our breathing exercises that we learned. I think he enjoyed that a little too much. I have a bruise on my arm where he squeezed the crap out of it. She said to do this 5x a day until birth so we can learn to focus on something other than the pain. sorry lady, but I'm not putting myself in pain everyday UNTIL labor. Once was enough. I get the point but no thanks, that's what the epidural is for. I better get one.

Also, some of my fears about the epi were put to rest. I found out that Winnie Palmer delivers the 2nd most babies in the world. In the world!!! And that they have no incidence of paralysis from epidurals, which is a big fear of mine. Not that it couldn't happen but it makes me feel a little safer. So they must know what they are doing.

34 weeks 2 days appt.

Only gained 1.5 pounds in 2 weeks. Yeah for me. Now I have to keep it up. So I'm up a total of 22.5 pounds. Baby's heartbeat was 130 which is good. I'm measuring 35 weeks. Somehow I grew out or up an extra centimeter in the past 2 weeks, so I'm measuring about 5 days ahead. Doesn't mean anything really. It could have been extra fluid or the baby's postion or baby just gained a bit. Either way, the kid needs to stay in there until at least August 28. Anytime after that I'll be fine with. Do you hear that baby? :-)

31-33 week pics

31 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

Emotions

The hormones or emotions are hitting me again. Just reading my weekly pregnancy report makes me tear up. Not because I'm all sentimental or whatever but because it will mention things that I should be going through around this time and they are just right on. I am going through all the stereotypical, normal pregnancy stuff right now. I read it and I'm like YES, that's exactly what I'm feeling or going through. But it makes me feel worse for some reason.
Today is a pretty miserable day for me. After the wedding on Saturday and only getting about 4 hours of sleep last night, I'm dragging and miserable at work. I had to sit through a 2 hour harassment meeting today which was basically torture. I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. 6 weeks still seems like such a far off time. I told work August 31 will be my last day even if baby isn't here yet. I just know that physically my body will be done with sitting in this chair at work for 8 hours a day by then, probably before then, but I'm gonna try to stick it out.

Tony is starting to voice his fears more now. It's good that he is saying it out loud now. That way, more people can give him pep talks and advice. If he wasn't scared, then I'd be worried.

2nd baby class

So tonight we saw 2 birth videos. They were kinda boring and dragged on but in the end you see the actual birth. These ladies were spread eagle, crying, huffing and puffing, the husbands were all up in their business and we, the class had a front row seat to it all. Call me a child or immature but I had my hand over my eyes and looked away as much as I could for the grand finale. I just don't need to see that. I don't want to see my own self give birth much less see someone else pop one out 10 feet away from me. I was squirming and ready for it to be over and probably looked like an idiot but I don't care. I just can't handle stuff like that. Tony did a much better job at keeping his composure than I did. I asked him if he wants to see all that and he said, if he sees it, that's fine, if not, he'll just hang at the top of the bed with me. He's gonna wait until we are in the moment to decide. I really don't care if he goes to take a look at what's going on but I just told him whatever he sees, he can't hold it against me. :-) He's so cute, he was being very attentive and nodding when the teacher asked a question and stuff. I think he is learning some stuff. Last week at a poker game, he brought up something he learned in class and shocked the crap out of me. It was a proud moment. :-)

We also learned 2 breathing exercises. Tony has to do some hand signals and count as I breathe. Not sure I'll be doing those. I felt like I wasn't getting enough air, can't imagine doing them during labor.

Just complaining

Last night I went to bed at 11pm and didn't get to sleep until after 2am. This is becoming a trend, in bed around 11 and not getting to sleep until after 1am almost every night the past week. If I'm not up because of my heartburn, then I have to pee, or I'm just uncomfortable. My butt and back hurt, especially at work. I sit on a pillow and have one behind my back but it does no good. I get up every hour to walk around and my sciatic nerve is just killing me everyday. It takes about 5 minutes to walk it out and then I have to sit again for another hour and then repeat. I feel like an old lady. I'm not just waddling, I'm limping because of the pain. I hope I can make it at work for the next 7 weeks but if I'm in pain like this everyday, I don't know how I will. My butt hurts everyday from sitting. Tony must not believe me because he insists on smacking my butt at least once a day. I wish he could wear a pregnancy suit for the next 7 weeks and see how he feels. He thinks he would get used to it and it would be easy. Yeah right, whatever. He is helping me out more now because I think he can see that I'm more miserable lately. I have terrible acid reflux and heartburn now. I eat Tums like it's candy and I just bought some Maalox, which is digusting, but the combo of that and Tums seems to work at night. I'm getting up to pee about 3x before I can even try to have any chance of getting to sleep and then I wake up at about 3 and 6am everynight too. I'm getting to that point where I'm ready to be done with this crap and have this baby. But I know it's not time yet. AND, IT'S FREAKING HOT!

Tony

Last night Tony asked Joy the cat if she knew a baby was coming and how she felt about that. To some people, this would mean nothing, but for me, this was a big deal. He is finally starting to talk about everything more and realizing that this is really happening. Sad it took this long but happy he is finally coming to terms with it. He will say he is still in denial but at least he's vocalizing stuff now.

1st baby class

We went to our 1st baby class last night. It was pretty informative and we both learned a few things. Tony's main objective was to be the funny guy in class. We ended up being the funny couple. We both had a few zingers that people laughed at. The teacher asked the men what the baby's name would be and Tony busted out with Blake, and the lady started writing it down and I looked at her and said DO NOT WRITE THAT DOWN! And she looked at me kinda confused and I just said, WE DO NOT AGREE. Everyone started laughing. I didn't mean to be so blunt about it, but she was gonna put Blake on the graduation certificate or something. So she said she will leave it as undecided and we all just laughed.
I bought Tony some Nerds to have after we got home for going to class and not falling asleep. I'm the best wife ever. :-)

32 week appt.

Dr. says everything sounds and looks good. I'm right on track with my weight and size. I did gain 7 pounds this month but he said I'm just catching up and I'm right where I should be. That doesn't make me feel any better about it though. I feel like I'm gonna be huge by the end of this. He said just don't make it a habit of gaining 7 pounds each month and I'll be fine.

So now I've officially gained 21 pounds total. Not too bad so far. My goal is to not gain more than 30 so we will see.

My gestational diabetes test came back great. Normal is anything under 140 and mine was 103. The heartbeat sounded great and the baby is head down.

I asked him how far past my due date will they let me go before intervening and he said 1 week. So this baby is coming by Labor Day no matter what. Good to know. I dont' know how much longer I could go anyway.

Baby shower

Had my baby shower a week and a half ago, June 26th. Everyone seemed to have a good time. It was a little hot but no one complained too much. Everyone was very generous with their gifts. Got a lot of good stuff we needed. There is still plenty to buy but we will get to it when we can get to it. It was good to see some people I don't get to see too often and hang out for a bit. Pretty much everyone I invited came and it felt good knowing so many people care about us and are looking forward to the new addition to the family. No one got weepy eyed so I am proud of both of the mother's for that. Good job. :-)Don't know what else to say about it.

Kick in the head

Last night, Tony and I were watching tv and he came over and laid on the couch with me. He put his head on my belly and used it as a pillow. Well I guess the baby did not like that because he just starting kicking like crazy at his head. I asked Tony if he could feel it and he said yes. Tony started flicking my stomach trying to make him stop but baby won the battle and wouldn't give up. Tony finally moved his head down to a more comfy position for the baby and the baby settled down. It was cute. He was going crazy last night.

I can feel a bump on my right side most of the time but I can't tell if it is his butt or foot or head or what. The ultrasound lady said he was head down but I still can't tell what I'm feeling.

Got a new pregnancy symptom this week...acid reflux to go along with my heartburn from heck. Almost puked in the bed last night, so gross. This can go away at any time.

Braxton Hicks are in full effect now. Coming more often now. Not painful but pretty uncomfortable.

The scary closet

So I got locked in my walk-in closet last night. I got home from work and the maids were cleaning the house. They don't speak very good English and Tony says they are afraid of the dog when she starts barking. Tony was outside mowing the lawn. So I go into my closet to change, and I shut the pocket door so no one can see me. When I get ready to go out, I pull the door open and it is stuck. Not a little stuck, but it would only open enough for me to get my fingers out. So I tried to pry open the door and it's going nowhere. I turn around and realize how small this stupid closet really is, so panick is starting to set in. I yell for someone to help me but the maids have the vacuum going, so they can't hear me and Tony is still outside. I keep yelling HELP, HELP, I'm in the bedroom, but no one responds. Sadie, being the good dog that she is runs to the closet and starts barking at me because I'm yelling and then I hear her run down the hall barking, looking for someone to come help. She keeps barking at the maids and comes back to the closet but I guess they were afraid of her, so they didn't follow her. I hear them turn the vaccuum off, like maybe they heard me, so I scream really loud, the dog is barking but they just turn the vaccuum back on. So I really start to panick now because I really have to go to the bathroom and if no one helps me get out, I'm gonna pee my pants and be stuck in here for at least an hour. So I start jerking at this door, looking like a crazy pregnant woman, all while screaming for HELP. At that point, I thought about busting through the door, I didn't care if I broke it, I just wanted OUT. I could see myself in the mirror so that helped a little, but that closet was getting smaller and smaller by the second. I stuck my head out of the little bit of space I had to breathe cold air, got my composure a little bit and I took another try at the door. At this point, the door was crooked and half way off the tracks, but I jerked it as hard as I could and finally broke out of there. Luckily I didn't have to break the door. I cut my hand and finger in this whole process. I went to the bathroom and cried a little bit just from having so much adreneline in me. It really was a tramatic experience.

I went outside and found Tony, and told him I just needed a hug. So he hugged me and I started crying again. He asked why I was crying and I told him my story. He said he would have broken the door down if he was stuck like that. All in all I was in the closet for only about 10 minutes but it seemed like an eternity, especially knowing that if I couldn't get out on my own, I would have been in there for at least an hour waiting for Tony.

Sadie is my hero. She reacted just like Lassie would have. She tried really hard to save me and that's why I love her. :-)

Lesson learned:
DO NOT CLOSE THE POCKET DOORS BEHIND YOU IF THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OUT.

Again with the hormones!

I caught about an hour of this movie called "Away We Go" last night. It's about this expectant couple traveling to different places where family and friends live, to pick a place to raise their kid. Now, any of my friends or family can tell you that I am not a crier when it comes to movies. I will not cry in front of my mom or sister by any means when we are watching movies. I make fun of them for doing it. Although, I couldn't hold back the tears in front of Kylee during Marley and Me, but that was about a dog, come on.

Anyway, This movie just hit me like a ton of bricks. The girl is 6 months pregnant and just everything she is feeling, I have felt in the last few months. She has her pity party moments and the guy being a really good expectant dad, says all the right things, even though they don't help her feel any better, she cries and he continues to say sweet things anyway. I'm watching it and crying and of course Tony comes out and sees me. As I try explaining to him why I was crying, I started bawling some more and I tell him I'm not even sad, it's just the stupid hormones. He tells me I'm so cute and gives me a box of kleenex and leaves the room. I told him he could use a few pointers from the guy in the movie. A hug would have been nice. Just saying. He's doing better at this stuff, but just coming up short sometimes.

Anyway, I'm over these dumb hormones.

3D ultrasound

So we went for our 3D ultrasound on Saturday. Me, Tony, Kristi, Kylee, mom, Carol, Mike and Karrie all went. We had to drive all the way out to almost Kissimmee but it was free and it was worth it.

The lady doing the ultrasound used to be an OB and surgeon so she was able to give us a lot of information we didn't get at our other ultrasounds. She could tell by the length of the arm that the due date is around 8-30, but the length of the leg done gives a due date of around 9-6. Personally, I think he will be born between 9/3 -9/5. We will see in a few weeks. She said he is a chubby baby but still within normal size for his age, around 3-3.5 lbs. She said all of his organs and everything look good and my fluid and placenta look good and my cervix is closed.

He would only give us a profile view so we still can't really tell who he looks like, but we think he might have gotten my nose and Tony's chin. The best of both of us so far, the smaller chin and smaller nose. Lord help his eyebrows though. :-) He does have hair on his head. You could see his little outline and everything. I think it will be really dark when he comes out.

I think it was really neat for everoney to see, none of us had ever seen anything like that before. Got some good pictures too.

Hormonal meltdown...in a funny way.

Last night I was watching Bethenny Getting Married. I don' tknow what it is about her but she is funny to me. She's very direct and matter of fact and just says really good one liners. Anyway, the scene wasn't that funny but something in it just tickled me and I started laughing, really hard. So hard that Tony came out to see what was so funny. I rewined the DVR and showed him. He thought it was funny but I just busted out again laughing hysterically. Crying laughing where tears were just spitting out of my face. So he starting laughing at me really hard, to where he was tearing up, which made me laugh even harder. As I was laughing, I could feel the crying laugh turn into a laughing cry but I fought it. I knew that if I let myself go with it, I would literally start bawling right there. My face was drenched in tears but I was still laughing. This went on for a good 10 minutes. Tony finally got up because he was done laughing and was beginning to think I was a freak. Finally, I settled down and only had a few more outbursts before the hormones let me level out.

It was really good to let it out though. I had just read in the baby book not to be surprised if one minute you are laughing and the next you are crying. I think that is part of why I couldn't stop.

Hospital Tour

We took the hospital tour last night. Pretty standard stuff but it was good to get a look at the rooms and have some questions answered.

What we learned:

• Only 3 people can be in the rooms at one time to visit
• We have a 2 hour recovery period before we will be moved to our official room
• We have to be there for 48 hrs from the time of birth before being discharged
• If I have a C-section, only Tony can be in there with me
• I need to eat before I get there, because most likely all they will give me is liquids until I deliver (very important to stop for food beforehand)
• I can shower after the birth if I'm able to walk
• Visiting hours are from 9am-9pm
• Baby stays with us the whole time unless there are complications

We learned some other stuff but those are the most important for now. Tony even asked a couple of questions. They were about the wifi connections in the rooms and how he can name the baby without my permission, but at least he asked something I guess. We were the funny couple of the group.

It was good to know what our options are and I will be putting together a plan soon for how I would like things to go. I know everything will happen how it happens but Tony and I have some requests from our families about who we want where in the hours leading up to the birth.

On another note, I freaked out last night because I thought I saw my first stretch marks on both sides of my belly right before bed. There were 4 scratch like things going on. I slathered on some extra lotion and decided not to cry about it unless they were there this morning. Well, I woke up, and they were all gone. I think Tony just scratched me or something. He likes to gently scratch the belly. So luckily, I'm still stretch mark free for now. Crossing fingers that it stays that way.

Crib pics

Helping put it together.

Figuring it out.

Close up of bedding.

Finished product. :-)

Now, on to the dresser.