 | Diary Navigation:
|
January 24, 2004
Week 36: Here I Come A-Waddling
My 36th week was largely spent freaking out about the house, as I wrote in my entry dated 01/27/04. I’ll try to think past that and remember what was going on with the pregnancy at the time.
Non-Functional Hips
For months, I’ve noticed signs that my hips and pelvis are adjusting as my belly grows bigger. But now, they seem to have given up and gone south for the winter. The only really comfortable place to sit is my desk chair at work. Maybe it’s because I’m forced to have good posture. Getting out of the chair is more of an ordeal, and pencils that fall off my desk are going to stay on the floor indefinitely because it’s really not worth the necessary balancing act to lean over and pick them up. I’m so wobbly when I stand up that it takes me the whole walk to the bathroom before I feel like I have any control over my joints. I typically have a couple people stop me to ask how the baby and I are doing on the way there, too. These comments are much more appreciated if they occur while I’m going from the bathroom and not towards it =)
This is the first time that the sore awkwardness is really affecting me at home and not just at work. I have to keep an extra cushion behind me when I sit on the couch to keep from sinking too far backwards and not having enough back support. Turning over in bed is enough of a hassle that I wake up to flip over and have to pull each hip around as I go. Somehow, Dan hasn’t woken up during this maneuver, which makes me feel like a circus elephant. I still don’t feel pain in my joints or anywhere, just this irritating soreness. I’m still not really waking up at night to pee, either. I feel lucky to have skipped ligament pains and the other assorted common maladies.
Prenatal
On Tuesday the 20th, I had a prenatal with Kim. It ended up just being the two of us because Dan had class and Jeanne was sick. This was only the second prenatal that Dan missed—he feels really bad when he can’t go.
The baby’s and my vitals all looked good—I was up ANOTHER four pounds in two weeks, putting me at a 35 pound gain. Argh. So much for slowing as the third trimester winds down. My blood pressure was 94/52, which is low to normal for me. The baby was lying LOT—head down, body mostly along my left side, facing directly sideways. Kim was a little concerned whether the baby’s butt was really a butt and not a head, but when she easily found the heartbeat (120-144 bpm, depending on whether she was poking the baby) low and to the left, she was confident that the baby hadn’t flipped breech. Because the baby’s butt was high on my right side, she suspected that the kid was long, but not necessarily overly big. I was measuring 34 cm—about a week small for dates. That’s consistent with how I’ve measured all along. The baby was having fun playing as Kim felt him/her, kicking and moving around as she palpated my uterus. It amazes me how close the baby is to the outside world, especially during those big stretches and kicks where I can see my belly jump out. There’s just a few layers of muscles between us, but that’s enough to keep the baby growing and safe until delivery time comes.
Since my next appointment is the home visit, we talked a bit about whether I would have her do an internal at that point. Kim usually does one, but Jeanne does not. Kim said that her main concern is to verify that the baby is indeed head down and to get a baseline feel for my pelvis. They won’t necessarily do internals during labor—only if they’re concerned about something. I can see how knowing what ‘normal’ is would help if something does come up during the delivery. I agreed that doing the internal would be fine. It’s not like going to an ob’s office where I might get internals every week from 36 weeks on, or have membranes stripped.
We also talked about breastfeeding and how much support I could expect from the midwives. I keep running into people who quit breastfeeding within the first few weeks because of various problems, and I wasn’t sure whether I should be asking the baby’s doc about lactation consultants or what. I was reassured to hear from Kim that the midwives’ chief role after the baby has arrived safely is to nurture and assist our breastfeeding relationship. Kim’s only had three moms in her fifteen years practicing who could not successfully breastfeeding, and one of those babies had an esophagus problem that required surgery. My MIL and SIL will be able to give practical advice, and my mom will give emotional support, but knowing that the midwives want me to call them night or day with breastfeeding questions is just what I wanted to hear.
A Daddy Prepares
Dan is getting far antsier about the baby’s arrival than I am. I think I get caught up in all the things we need to get done first while he’s more focused on what will happen once the baby is here. I realize that we’ll never be completely prepared, but as long as the kitchen’s a mess and I have to drag myself to work every day, it’s hard to think about what life will be life with the baby.
We borrowed a realistic baby doll from Dan’s younger sister and he’s been practicing wearing the sling with it. I find that the real baby gets in the way when I use it, so he’s worn it more than me. One night, he brought the sling and doll to my parents’ house and was wearing it over there. My parents thought it was goofy, but after awhile, I found my dad holding on the doll on his chest, stroking its nose like he did with my sister and I. We’re all getting anxious, I guess =)
Dan mentions often that he’s looking forward to being able to spend time alone with the baby for the first time. Although I forget occasionally that the baby is always with me, he hasn’t had the opportunity to feel movements all day and experience 24 hour a day pregnancy the way I have. He talks about getting to hold the baby while I take showers or get dressed—opportunities where the baby will be entirely his responsibility. He’s planning to change all the diapers when he’s home too. It’s so fun to see how he is getting ready to be a father.
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
