Archive for January, 2007

34 Week Update

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Jesse and I had our 34 week checkup this morning and we received some interesting news. The 31.5 week visit was our first OB checkup with Doc Z and he did a cervix exam. Well, he did another one today and was surprised by the results. It seems my cervix was long two weeks ago, but is now short. He thought that was a little quicker than it should have been and now wants me to come in for weekly visits. Why is this so interesting you say? Easy, it means Ian is right on schedule. Ian’s heart rate was 147 beats per minute (which is the area he has been in) and at 34 weeks, his lungs are developed enough that if he was born early, he could survive on room air. Doc Z said Ian could be born close to March 10th, but he did reassure us that if Ian was to be early, he would be able to handle it. Jesse thinks (correct me if I’m wrong dear) that Doc Z was doing a little too much reassuring and that Ian will definitely be early. We don’t know if he will be or not, but we’re heading into the last 6 weeks and anything is possible at this point.

More good news – Ian isn’t huge. :) Well, Doc Z said that Ian is small and that I’ve actually lost a pound since the last visit. Like I said, this is good news. Ian being small is definitely a plus (no Stewie sized baby popping out of me) and that it’s normal for some women to lose weight towards the end of their pregnancy. Oh yeah, had more blood work done and everything is still coming out good. No diabetes for me! Yea me!

The First “Prepared Birthing” Class

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Last night was our first Prepared Birthing class at the hospital. There has got to be more to this class than what we saw last night. I mean, they went over what to expect for contractions, what the birthing process was (see below for Jesse’s reaction), and some basic relaxation techniques. Although, I have to say, if you’re going to make us practice relaxation techniques, then you should probably have us doing it on something more than what amounts to a concrete floor with a thin layer of carpet.

The class was a little dull, but we still did receive some useful information. The big one being that there are three stages of contractions and you don’t have to get to the hospital until at least the second stage which is about 14 hours after the first stage begins. In fact, we were told to spend the first few hours of the contractions at home because we’ll be more comfortable there than at the hospital. We saw a video that showed the entire delivery process – from the first contraction to the end. I didn’t realize the baby started getting into position as early as two weeks before the contractions started. I just hope Ian cooperates and is part of the 96% that does it right rather than be part of the 4% that does it backwards. :)

I think the best part of the class was watching Jesse’s reaction to the video. If you know my husband, then you also know that he had his laptop with him and was logged into IRC. Here’s the log from the video portion of last night:
[19:39] morgajel – oh man it’s movie time
[19:40] morgajel – part of me wants to scream AAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAH and run out of the room
[20:01] morgajel – ok that’s just wrong
[20:01] morgajel – OMG
[20:01] morgajel – IT’S HEAD IS STICKING OUT
[20:02] morgajel – VIDEOBAD VIDEOBAD
[20:03] morgajel – GOD THAT’S ONE UGLY BABY
[20:04] morgajel – OH GROSS
[20:04] morgajel – placenta BAD

31.5 Week Update

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I know, I’m a little late with this update, but we just got our Internet connection up and running since we moved out to Rochester Hills. We found a new OB doctor and had our first appointment with him on the 11th. It wasn’t much of an appointment. Basically the doctor wanted to meet with us and see how the three of us were doing. Ian’s heart rate was around 150 again, which has been normal for him. This appointment was more of a “meet and greet” than a basic OB checkup. He said Ian is doing good though. Our next appointment is on the 29th, so hopefully I’ll have more to report than.

Speaking of Ian, the little man is starting to get cramped. He’s been moving a lot more and causing me all sorts of uncomfortableness. Nothing too unexpected considering I’ve had a pretty good pregnancy up til now. We haven’t seen any footprints on my stomach yet, but we’re definitely seeing movement. I’ve found that if I sit for long periods of time, than Ian gets restless and starts to move A LOT. As long as I stay active, it seems to keep him quiet. That’s both good and bad obviously.

Since I’m a new parent, I like looking for useful information and I found an organization called Born Learning.Org and they have a “Your Child At…” series that seems to have a lot of information. For instance, in the “Your Child at Birth”, it talks about SIDS, jaundice, what is developing, and some basic safety info. I figure the more information I have, the better prepared I can be for when Ian finally arrives. God knows I’ll be learning as he grows, just like him, but at least I can do some research while I’m developing my parenting skills.

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