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February 16, 2004
39 Weeks and Change: The Days Keep Plodding Along
This entry covers Sunday and Monday. It got long enough that I figured I'd post it now instead of waiting until I'd written Tues-Thursday, too. I posted an entry on Wednesday describing the week leading up to Valentine's Day. I plan to write up the rest of week 40 in chunks too, so just keep checking back.
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I find it completely bizarre that I’m “supposed to” have a baby at the end of the week. I’m involved with a bulletin board (not on iP) where all the women are due within a few days of me. It seems as though all of them are shocked and disappointed that they haven’t had their babies yet. Maybe I’m the crazy one (how could that not be the case?), but I had zero expectation of giving birth before hitting 39 weeks, and find chances very slim that I’ll go into labor before my due date. All the women in my family have late first babies, the average first time mom has a late first baby, and I have no reason to think I’ll be any different.
Sunday: Belly Photos and a Party
About a month ago, it occurred to me that it would be nice to get some good pictures of my belly before the baby evacuates. We’ve been taking photos every week to watch the baby and I grow, but finding clothes that would fit throughout 40 weeks (or more) of pregnancy means that I’m not dressed in the most flattering way for those shots.
We briefly considered getting professional photos taken, but nixed the idea because we’re too cheap. A few friends from the TFY board had taken really nice ones, so I decided to mooch off their ideas the best I could and see what we could come up with. The previous weekend, we’d bought a set of white sheets to use, and Sunday afternoon, the stars finally aligned such that we had an afternoon to kill, sunlight coming in the windows, and the energy to go for it.
We hung the sheets in the corner of our bedroom where the light was pretty bright, but not shining directly at us. We played around with the digital camera first to get some ideas, then took a handful of color photos and a whole bunch of black and white ones. I wore under-belly black pants and switched between white and black shirts, buttoned only at the chest. Using the tripod, we took some with Dan in them too.
I haven’t picked up the color film yet, and the black and white roll won’t be finished until the baby arrives, but the digital ones turned out pretty well. I’m glad the baby didn’t arrive before we got a chance to take these, but as it is, I’m glad we waited because I’m noticeably bigger now than I was a few weeks ago.
That night, we went to Dan’s parents’ house to celebrate his birthday (Feb 17th) and his aunt’s (Feb 11th). Even though the baby had been squirming like crazy the night before, he/she hardly moved at all while we were there (much to my SIL’s dismay). I think the baby recognizes the loudness and chaos when my SIL’s kids are around because my SIL has never felt the baby move, even though everyone else in the family has been able to. It makes me wonder what the baby will be like at family functions once he/she has left the womb. Will all the ruckus put him/her right to sleep? Will he/she get cranky when surrounded by noise after being used to the quiet at our house? What about when the child is older—will he/she prefer to play with the cousins, or quietly do an activity by him/her self? Someday we’ll find out.
Monday: Prenatal and Errands
It was President’s Day, so I didn’t have to work, although holidays aren’t as significant when I haven’t been going to the office all day anyway. I stayed up too late on Sunday (after napping the day before) and slept most of the morning.
At 11, I headed off for my prenatal. I’m becoming less and less tolerant of being in the car, and driving in particular. It feels like I fall into the car these days, and even though my belly doesn’t hit the steering wheel, it’s still wedged awkwardly in my lap. The seat belt makes my pants dig into my belly and the whole process is just annoying.
Dan and Kim had beaten me to Jeanne’s house and we headed to our usual spots (straight to the bathroom for me). I had re-gained the three pounds I’d lost the previous week, leaving me with 38 pounds gained, but only three pounds up from my 35 week appointment four weeks earlier. Took me until the ninth month, but apparently, my weight gain finally has leveled off. The pee sticks said everything was normal. Once again, the baby had flipped over to LOA just in time for the appointment—I’m sure he/she was on my right side all weekend. Baby’s heart rate was 132-144, and my blood pressure was 94/70. It seems that the bottom number (diastolic?) has been a teeny bit higher in the past couple weeks, but not high enough for them to even mention the difference.
We turned over some paperwork while we were there. After forgetting for a few weeks in a row, we finally signed the waiver stating which newborn medications we were refusing (no eye drops, we’ll have the PKU at the ped’s office, Vit K to be decided later, no need for Rhogam). We returned a couple birth videos Jeanne had lent us, along with some info sheets on the newborn tests.
We told the midwives that Dan had bought me alfalfa sprouts to boost my Vit K, and they said I’d have to eat a LOT of them to make much of a difference. Apparently, this is one case in which buying the capsules is both easier and more highly recommended than the food itself. I’m not a giant alfalfa sprout fan, so as long as the capsules don’t taste too strongly, they sound like the way to go.
I asked if they had a birth ball or birth stool I could use during labor. Kim said she’d bring a birth ball, but neither had a stool. Apparently, we could rent one from the woman in town who rents birth tubs for $250. I should probably call her and see what she charges. Has anyone used a birth stool? Would you recommend it? I like the idea of being able to be in a squatting position without having to hold myself up (or have someone pulling at my armpits), so I think it might be worth it. I just need to remember to call her.
Kim asked if I was watching much tv. When I said that I was down to only a couple shows, she was glad until she heard that one of them was ER. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode, between the reruns and original episodes, and seeing births on it never makes me think that my birth could go like that. Well, apparently Kim saw a really terribly done birth episode once and she felt very strongly that I shouldn’t watch the show in case I unconsciously start thinking my delivery will be like those on the show. When it became clear that I wouldn’t stop watching, even for a couple weeks, she relented, so long as I only watch with Dan, and agree to stop if a birth comes on. Now, I can understand her not wanting me to watch Birth Day Live, or one of those shows on the Discovery Health channel. I briefly considered going to my parents’, where they have cable, to check that out, but didn’t. Hearing about births with unnecessary interventions makes me upset, it doesn’t make me think my birth will turn out in the same way. If anything, it makes me happier that I’m having a homebirth where I don’t need to worry about nurses I don’t get along with, or anyone insisting on continuous monitoring, or IV’s, or anything of the sort. But I’ll indulge her until the baby arrives.
The midwives know about our kitchen project and they asked if either that or my job was stressing me enough to potentially keep me from going into labor. They say that if a woman is really worried about accomplishing something before the baby arrives, she will often not go into labor until it is finished. They wanted to make sure that I wasn’t digging myself into a hole with expectations of accomplishing more than I can realistically handle pre-baby. The house is at a point where I’m not too worried anymore, but work is definitely bothering me. I need to make some decisions about what I can really get done and discuss this with my boss before too much time goes by. Once I’m on the same page with her, I think I’ll be a lot less fidgety about it.
On the way home, I stopped at a natural foods store and stocked up on delivery day food—mostly Recharge, Luna bars, and granola. Those are things I can throw in the pack n play with the rest of the birth supplies and forget about until it’s time. We should make sure to keep juice and fruits and veggies in the house from now until the baby comes, too, but the perishables are finickier. I also bought alfalfa caplets. I haven’t really been taking my calcium supplements since I bought the new bottle—they aren’t one-a-days like the last bottle, and if I don’t take them before bed, I forget entirely. Hopefully, I’ll be a little better with the alfalfa. I never took much of the iron I got either. Kinda pathetic of me. If they’d been more concerned about my iron level, I would have stayed on top of it. And I haven’t been getting leg cramps like I did earlier on, which means I’m not as inspired to take the calcium. I also stopped at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard, the bank, and the film developing place before heading home.
When I did finally get home, I found the contractor working on our back door. Apparently, it was in even worse shape than we thought and looked pretty hopeless. He managed to put it back in slightly more solidly than it started (it no longer scratches the floor every time we open it, at least), but we’re going to need to replace the whole door jamb, and probably the door itself. He offered to come back in the spring and do it then, but I think we’ll count our losses and hire someone who’s more experienced to do both that one and the front door once it’s warmer. We’ll leave it without trim for the time being, which looks goofy enough that we won’t ignore it forever. The front door’s pretty bad too, so I think we’ll get around to it sooner and not later. I think the contractor isn’t going to charge us since he essentially got it back to where it started. We’ll find out, I guess. While he was there, the mysterious plumber dropped by. He knew exactly why our sink takes hours to drain and had a plan for getting our stove to sit flush against the wall. Excellent. He said that barring any emergencies, he’d be at our house at 8:30am on Saturday. Please please let the temperature stay above zero so no one’s pipes burst because I’d really love to have those things taken care of.
That night, we went gift card spending. We first went to BRU and tried to return the Baby Einstein DVD’s. Unfortunately, they don’t carry the boxed set. I’m starting to see why it sells for more than retail on eBay. My aunt must have gotten it somewhere, but we aren’t desperate enough to ask her yet. We weren’t completely unsuccessful because they did have the Britax Roundabout in stock. BRU didn’t carry Britax seats until this past fall, and they were only available online until very recently. I was unwilling to pay the $20 shipping cost on top of the slightly higher amount they seemed to charge online, but the store’s price was the same as what I’d been quoted at the other local stores. They only had one print to choose from, but it was the one we were most likely to get anyway.
After finding the car seat, we wandered around the store looking for other odds and ends, dragging the seat along with us (we couldn’t have thought to do that last). We bought extra sheets for the Snuggle Nest, some waterproof pads to put on the changing area and under our sheets to save the mattress from any messes the baby and I create, and a car seat cover—the kind that goes over the whole carrier and not around the baby because I heard those weren’t as safe in crashes.
We bought everything and got out to the car before I realized that we hadn’t spent my $30 gift card from my birthday. We did return a $3 bottle of baby shampoo, but had forgotten about the gift card. They must deal with plenty of forgetful preggos because they weren’t surprised when we walked back in.
Also at the checkout line, I saw a couple I’d graduated from high school with. She and I were good friends back in eighth grade, but hadn’t talked since. She and her husband got married the same summer we did (2001, after finishing college) and now have a five month old son named Cade. It was neat to see someone I knew, my age, with a baby. Sometimes it feels like everyone else is waiting longer to get married and have kids, so I enjoyed seeing them.
While we were on a roll, we went over to Best Buy and spent another $75 worth of Christmas and birthday gift cards over there. We were hoping to buy new cell phones, but they didn’t have our plan there, so we ended up getting printer ink, a Caller ID compatible phone, and a DVD (The Patriot). The meanies don’t give you cash back, so when I was told we had 48 cents left on our gift card, I went and brought back a pack of gum. Geez, under a dollar and you still won’t give cash back? Ridiculous.
That was enough activity for one day that I only left the house once again before Thursday.
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