The 8-Week Countdown!

We just concluded 32 weeks of pregnancy today and begin our eighth month! I am increasingly amazed at how fast this pregnancy has gone by and increasingly anxious about having this baby! Our childbirth classes are helping in that department; with every class, I (we) become more confident in the whole birthing process and that helps decrease the fears I have about it. I still have much fear--well, more like nervousness--about being a mom but I suppose we have to take it one thing at a time: first deal with childbirth and then deal with the child!

Speaking of the child, here is he/she today:


Even though I still feel like I am more boobs than belly, there is a healthy baby in there! At our appointment on Wednesday, I was measuring 33 weeks--pretty much right on time! So, while my belly isn't the typical basketball looking thing, there is a normal-sized kid in there! I am constantly reminded of this reality; his/her movements are very strong and frequent! Our NP said that baby is head-down already--in the perfect spot to deliver nice, swift kicks to my ribs! Thankfully, I think I feel elbow jabs most of the time; the kick-in-the-ribs often knock the wind out of me! I have also continued to feel hiccups...Doug even felt them, recently! Everyday is an adventure with this little one and I can only imagine what it will be like when he/she is with us on the outside!

Doug and I are really enjoying our childbirth classes and, particularly, our meditations that are a part of the hypnobirthing program. I have had some trouble sleeping lately but last night, after doing the meditation, I slept all the way through the night until 5 AM, got up to pee, came back to bed and went promptly back to sleep! I have struggled all week with not being able to go back to sleep once I got up, and even having to get up and eat something because I was awake long enough for my body to think it was breakfast time! So, not only am I preparing for a satisfying birth experience, I am already reaping the rewards of hypnobirthing! Whoo hoo! We are also learning good relaxation techniques in our Tuesday night class; Doug learned how to simulate contractions on my thigh so I can practice breathing through them and--at least with the simulated contractions, the breathing works! Incidentally, because of my allergies, I discovered that I need to back on Claritin (according to NP, safe for the baby) so I can breathe...

We embark on a new adventure tomorrow...the baby shower! My dear pal Tracy and dear sister-in-law Catherine are hosting it...they are the best. :) I am really looking forward to celebrating this pregnancy with friends and family. I hear there is a special dessert as well...can a pregnant lady ask for anything more? Family, good friends and dessert!?!?! I will make sure to post about it when we get back...

Have great weekends and see some of you tomorrow!

Nightmares, charlie horses and stretch marks

Yes, folks...I am officially pregnant. Very pregnant. While many people still look at me and shake their heads ("You don't look that pregnant! You barely look pregnant!"), I assure you that baby is right on track development-wise and I AM pregnant, complete with nightmares, nighttime charlie horse calf cramps and, even, yes, stretch marks.

We had the first of our every-two-week appointments with our OB/NP yesterday and, as I said, baby continues to grow inside of my ever-expanding belly. My uterus stretches up to under my ribcage now and have felt the occasional rib-kick. Baby is about 3 lbs now and is still performing amazing acrobatics, although not as crazily as before (less room for him or her to ricochet off the uterine walls, I guess). I feel him/her pretty much all day long, even in just the littlest of movements. I think I felt hiccups the other day--I was expecting it to be "cute" little thuds but they were frankly somewhat violent! Poor kid...I understand...I hate the hiccups, too.

We also began childbirth class on Tuesday! There are eight other couples besides ourselves and so far, we are pleased with the teacher, her philosophy, etc. She is even incorporating some hypnobirthing methods, which is great--considering we begin our hypnobirthing class on Sunday evening. Never heard of hypnobirthing? Here's a good link:

http://www.hypnobirthing.com/

We'll share more about it once our classes begin!

As for the Tuesday class, it is offered through our OB's practice and is a combo of many different methods. What is sort of funny is that Doug and I seem to be the oldest couple there; so many of the couples seem so so young! A couple of gals, especially, seem no older than about 20...wow. I know that we are not "old," per se but I felt somewhat old, sitting in that room with all of those bright and shiny faces. We'll see how the rest of the 5 weeks go!

So about the nightmares, charlie horses and stretch marks: those have been just a few of the fun experiences the third trimester has brought. I knew about stretch marks (figured I get them at some point) but I did not previously know that nightmares and charlie horse leg cramps are normal occurrences during pregnancy. I wake up nearly every night out of a deep, disturbing sleep at about 4 AM...having had some crazy nightmare-like dream. They are all stress-related, according to what I have read. My brain is apparently trying to work out the stress I feel about birth, being a mom, etc. and thus I have dreams about running from gangs of murderous thugs or (and this one is my most recent and pretty obvious) trying to get somewhere but missing the plane because I was trying to get everything ready and I had too much to pack. Don't need to be Freud to interpret that one. :)

To add insult to injury, when I wake up in sweaty panic, I am usually dealing with a charlie horse cramp and the intense need to pee...ugh! At least it is still only once a night, we learned in childbirth class that as soon as the baby "drops" (expect that to happen anywhere around 36-37 weeks), my bladder will be able to handle about a tablespoon of pee. I suppose I should be thankful around that time...at least the nightmares will go away because I won't be sleeping--just peeing every hour or so.

And stretch marks...they finally appeared about a week ago. I just have them right under my belly and am trying to keep them under control with Burt's Bees Mama's Belly Butter. I am not too heartbroken...no one will ever see them other than Doug and as I mentioned before, I was expecting them. They are frankly the least of my worries....I'd take the stretch marks over the crappy nightmares, any day. I really hate the nightmares.

I must also share the general dinginess/distractedness I have increasingly experienced also during this crazy third trimester. To put it into perspective: tomorrow is the last day we can say we have double-digit weeks until the baby is born. When we wake up on Saturday, we are less than 10 weeks away from his/her arrival. Yes, we are excited but as it gets closer, the more terrified I get and the more distracted I am. It is extremely difficult to think about anything else other than BABY. As I was sitting in my only class last night, I caught myself at least twice not paying attention at all...I was not able to recall anything anyone had just said. I don't do that...I am an extremely attentive student but I seem to have lost my edge. This is somewhat depressing; I always pride myself on having something meaningful to say but lately, well...my contributions are mediocre at best. I am still putting in all of the work and trying my hardest but, man, it is just really hard. How do other women show up for 8-hour workdays? My hat off to them...wow.

That's enough from me...for now.