week 37
...18 days til d'day. craaazy. now its just a waiting game. i'm increasingly tired and full work days are wearing me out. i've got a couple deadlines coming up so i'm trying to stick it out until ray ray arrives.
...i had an odd symptom of prego come up that i'd NEVER heard of. last sat i wake up w/ a pain down my arm and tingling in my middle finger. by monday, the pain had gone away but the tingling sensation in my 2nd and middle fingers continued. dr a said its prego related carpal tunnel syndrome and would likely go away after birth. a couple days later though, the tingling hadn't gone away and had spread to my thumb depending on time of day. i decided to see my regular doctor for a second opinion. yep, its carpal tunnel syndrome. i guess i'm so swollen these days that its blocked the median nerve in my wrists. sooo freakin annoying. upon further research, 28% of prego women get this.
...props to the work ladies for a lovely shower and many thanks to lavina and rosanna for hosting!
...breastfeeding class was a hoot. we chose the brown baby and learned some good positions for latching and the like. the teacher was a bit annoying (you know the kind that tilts their head a lot and smiles when they talk, "smarmy" as jala describes her) but a bevy of info so i shouldn't complain.
...name for today: vince
no baby today...
all is well with ray ray. the amnio paranoia earlier in the week went ok, dr a confirmed i'm just leaky and my sac is intact. schwew. all that morning i just kept thinking "am i giving birth today? i'm not ready." we'd be fine at home, it was more just about tying up loose ends at work and not feeling guilty about offloading to others. i'm going to have to get over that, but for now i'm back into the mental mindset that ray ray is going to come late and i have at least 3 weeks to wrap up. i could be wrong. (was that a pil song?)
name for today: vincent (i don't know why we keep leaning towards italian monikers)
the last birthing class was this week. postnatal doesn't sound like a pleasant time for me but hopefully the healing will go quickly and i won't have to wear the diapers for too long. we enjoyed the class tremendously (and kudos to our instructor melissa). i highly recommend the series. its too much to digest in a day and the series let us mull over this completely new baby birthing vocab. next up is breastfeeding/newborn care, also a complete black box.
we're off to a kid stuff sale in greenwood. more later....
30 days to go...
...i am convinced i'm leaking amniotic fluid. i've been waking up every hour tossing and turning fretting about this so i finally just got up. i did a little internet searching on the topic to ease my mind until i call the doctor's office in the morning. this close to term (1 week away, 37 weeks is considered full term) it would be ok to go into labor. if i really am leaking, the doctor may induce or have me wait it out a bit and be cautious about infection. because of rayrays big round head blocking the cervix, i only leak when i'm laying down so its hard to tell whats going on without an exam.
otherwise, things are going fine here. we met w/ xena today to write up the birth plan. its surprising how much is recommended go into the plan. mostly pain management and mom/baby care, but also what to do in case of complications.
toured the hospital this weekend and pre-registered. it helped us know where to go and what to expect. a baby factory, i tell ya. we watched a new family packing there little one up to go home. i kept staring at her thinking, wow, 2 days ago she looked just like me and that little baby she's holding was INSIDE her.
almost 35 weeks...
...and the chances of ray ray surviving if born at this point are 99 percent. yahooey. physically, i feel like i'm entering into the final stretch, no pun intended. i can't imagine growing anymore but have friends who've gained 10 pounds in the last month so who knows. i'm uncomfortable a majority of the day and yes, i have cankles. uugh. clothing options are at a minimum, so forgive me for wearing the same pants 3 days a week. ray ray is doing just fine. kicking pretty often and on track for growth. i think we see dr a every week from here on out. craazy. in 2 weeks he'll be considered full term. we're betting on him coming late, seeing as i made up whenever my lmp was and we're only going by what the early ultrasounds gave as gestational time.
...i've been pretty gung ho on the epidural but watched a video this week of a woman giving birth on painkillers. she didn't have the same participation that i'd imagined for myself. maybe this is just prenatal madness but i'm toeing the line w/ natural childbirth and/or going as far as i possibly can without taking the meds. jala was taken aback by my newfound acceptance of pain. we're going to use a code word so when i ask for the epidural in labor, i really mean it.
...met w/ our doula. she rocks. seems pretty laid back and supportive of whatever kind of birthing experience we want to have. my fave part of having a doula (besides the support) is that she rights a birth narrative after its over. i just like that we can call it "a birth story - by xena, princess doula."
...the babymoon was awesome. a much needed respite from the anxieties of having a kid. home is a constant reminder of our things to do list and it was loverly to just chill out for a couple days. the rain was incessant but no matter. we watched the ocean from each room of the cottage, painted, played scrabble and jala made the yummiest ribs. can't wait to go back, though next time the family will be a little bigger.
