Pregnancy Journal: Entry 6 (32wks)

Total weight gain:  5-10lbs (depending on day since it fluctuates constantly) if we just go from pre-pregnancy... but I lost almost 15lbs in the first 16wks and gained all that back plus the extra over ... so???

Maternity clothes: Yes I have a couple pairs of pants (for work), couple pair of jeans, and a few capri pants along with several shirts - although I only really started needing anything besides shirts at about 26wks... and I can still wear some of my non-prego pants (I love my prana hiking pants!!!)...

Stretch marks: Not yet... or rather no new ones I should say since I've had marks for years from growth spurts in childhood... although I think they are just around the corner because the skin around my belly button has been itching some recently!

Sleep: Sleep has been hit and miss, some weeks I get great sleep - other weeks not so much, specially when I get all these crazy dreams or get really hot!!!

Best moment of this week: Watching you start to make big movements that are visible!!

Miss anything: Eating big breakfasts thanks to gestational diabetes... otherwise, not missing really anything!

Movement: Stretches, rolls, punches, kicks and I'd swear headbutts too!!

Food cravings: Not really... and if I am it's only cause of being told I can't have it! Stupid Gestational Diabetes!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No... 

  

Gender: Boy according to 20wk ultrasound.

Labor signs: No...

Belly button in or out: In..

Wedding rings on or off:  On..

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy Happy Happy... unless someone pissed me off!

Looking forward to: Holding my little one soon, but not too soon of course... I'm just super excited to see this little life we created!!! I'm even getting a little apprehensive about wanting it to just be me and J holding him... I almost want to make it mandated that no one else can hold my child before we do!!!! 


So some of the stuff that has come up in the last few weeks... 1st and foremost getting switched to the High Risk clinic and getting Dr Alison Grajkowski as my newest in the line of medical personnel.  I didn't get to see her until I was almost 30wks and she didn't make a great first impression, but I think we'll get along now that we've had a moment to hash things out - first things said was that due to hypertension and GD, I'd be induced in the 36-38wk frame... not happening unless they have more to go on than one lab test for glucose and the chronic white coat syndrome high blood pressures... but like I said, we hashed things out and I expressed my feelings on the subject - we agreed that as long as nothing abnormal showed up on any of the tests and monitoring stuff that she has ordered, then we'll progress with caution... I'm ok with being monitored (kinda), I'm even ok with taking caution approaching that time frame - but I'm not ok with them jumping the gun without looking at the overall picture! So she ordered lab work, we compared my BP cuff to theirs (mine showed a slightly higher number than theirs so she's fine with me using mine to record a log), she measured the belly, listened to the heart rate, pulled out the ultrasound machine and looked at everything, blah blah blah... everything looked great - but she wants to make sure it stays that way so I'll be having lots of labs and lots of monitoring appts from now on... Grand! Two days later I was getting another ultrasound, for growth measurements (I'll have a follow up one at 36wks)... little one was 3lbs 3oz, so right on target and everything looked great - he was even sucking on his toes and fingers!! So cute!!! Follow up appt the next week was along the same lines, labs looked perfect, GD numbers were good, and even BP was normal but I think that was cause I was so freaking exhausted from lack of sleep that I just didn't have the energy to get anxious about the appt... I have 2 more growth ultrasounds scheduled (one next week considered 32wks check and then another around 36wks), plus NST (Non-Stress Test) twice a week, plus regular doctors check up appts, plus still having to report GD numbers... ugh... too much stuff going on all at once!!

Weird moment of the last couple of weeks was that I expressed colostrum all the way across the bathroom just by massaging some vita E lotion onto my boobs... WEIRD!!!

And if I didn't already love the fact that I've learned some amazing yoga poses/stretches that helped before this belly got bigger, they are simply beyond amazing now to give little one more room to stretch out and move which means he's not constantly in my ribs... LOL - a few minutes in various stretches depending on where the discomfort seems be at currently and I feel so much better!! Seriously I have to say that having a private yoga instructor come and work one on one with me was an awesome decision!!!

Cont'd... Birth Classes

So "Coach's Role" class wasn't really about that subject - IDK what the real subject was but it sure didn't impart anything in regards to the Role!!

Watched a bit of a movie "Knocked Up" which is a cute movie and there was something sort of tangible to it in the loosest sense of the term but come on!! We aren't in this class to watch film after film!!! We discussed the movie *rolling eyes* tallying up the good and bad points for what the "coach" did in the movie, then we had exercise and relaxation time which we reversed roles - coaches all relaxed on the mat while us pregos massaged and rubbed on them. Yup, that was class 3...

Class 4 was a small group - hubby didn't make it because he was catching up on some work, which honestly I'm kinda glad he didn't come, so it ended up being me and two other couples... One of the other couples called out sick, the momma with the deployed husband had already stated that she wouldn't be making that class. We watched another film about a woman in labor (film was from like 1970s or 80s judging by the hair and clothing), she was pretty calm throughout the entire thing until the end - just like we're supposed to be trained to do... blah! Then we "practiced" some "contractions"... again blah!! I know how to lay on my side, I know how to sit on a ball and rock my hips, I know how to do the "labor dance"... how about ACTUALLY showing me something I don't know!! Grrr... After contractions practice we played a game called Labor Jeopardy, I won btw - but I didn't learn any of the stuff that she was asking questions about through her class, I learned it all from READING A DAMNED BOOK!!! It really made me proud of myself given one of the girls in the group is not only a mommy to two kids already but is also a doula - I just felt that my having gone out and REALLY tried to learn as much as possible these last few months showed through and it made me excited that I really knew the information!! My prize for winning... Gripe Water? Glad to have it, would have bought it anyways, but is that some sort of indication of something? LOL Am I griping too much about this class...???

Honestly I don't think I am since I've talked to not only Hubby (who's ready to call it quits), but one of the other military couples is also wanting to just say to hell with the class - I just really don't feel that I've gained anything but personal satisfaction from winning a stupid game!!! Kinda sucks...

Oh well... 

This week's class I believe is 1st and 2nd stages of labor?? we'll see how this goes... I'm not holding out much hope for this to be any different though...

Birth Classes - Ummm, I'm not so sure how this is going to go!

Bradley Method birthing class is supposed to be very natural, very "team" oriented with the team being mommy and spouse (although sometimes it's a doula or friend or whatever that is the coach in place of the spouse)... which is exactly what I wanted - I wanted me and J to be a team in this, I wanted us to be able to say that we both involved in bringing this child into this world... basically I didn't want the only real contribution to be sperm and then the child get handed to J, I think that he should have to be involved with the actual birth in some way besides a spectator. I'm not downing anything that he has or hasn't done to this point, just stressing my feelings... I didn't make this child alone, I shouldn't be alone in the experience of bringing this child out of the womb.

Anyways - so first meeting was supposed to be a combination of class 1 and 2 which is Exercise and Nutrition, since I'm gestational diabetic nevermind that I've been doing my yoga for months now, this seemed like an unbelievable waste of time. The instructor explained the exercises, we did the exercises... then went into relaxation mode - which is prego mommas laying on a mat, on our side with a pillow between our knees that allows the hip/knee/ankle joints to all be level, then coach's rub and soothe us into relaxation... it's nice but doesn't need to be 1/4 of the class in my opinion. 
2nd meeting went about like the first but we had a video of a woman in labor to start with, then went over our study guide questions. This class was supposed to be "Pregnancy", basically an overview of the body and how it protects and provides for growing baby along with the changes that occur - by this stage in the game if we aren't all aware of that, it's SAD!!! I'm sorry but with all the technology available to us, you have no excuses if you haven't looked up at least the basics of this sort of thing by now!!! Crap... most of this stuff I learned in either elementary, middle school or very least junior/high school! 

So what did I do, I composed a letter to my instructor after hearing my husband vent the exact same.. ummm.. we'll call them worries as I had about the class. My letter expressed my concern with more or less wasting my time, wasting my husband's time, wasting money, whatever it is that we are doing in this class it just wasn't meeting my expectations - so could she kindly help me with making sure not only that I don't lose interest but more importantly that my husband doesn't lose interest. Her response comes and I reply to it with an even longer and more detailed email stating LOTS of not only personal information but goals and plans and how everything should be working in my mind... I did apologize somewhat because I don't want her to think that I'm criticizing her or her teaching methods, I just didn't know what to make of these early classes - even though I knew what the topics would be, I wrongly assumed that there would be "more" to this... what that more was I'm not sure but I knew it needed to be more something! Her 2nd response was thanking me for opening up and a half-assed attempt at making a conviction statement that "hopefully tonight's class will be better"... I'm unsure and just hoping that something will come from it that will help both me and J to feel a little more confident in my choice of birthing classes! 

I will admit that I wish I'd just waited until the other instructor I had lined up was available...

Anyways - tonight's class 4 which is about the coach's role... I guess we'll see what happens next...





I found this article while surfing around today, it kinda talks a little about natural birthing and would fit well with the ciriculium from class 1 and 2 in my opinion... so I'm posting it with this - just for reference maybe one day soon!
http://www.motherrisingbirth.com/2012/06/how-rock-a-long-hard-home-birth.html