I've been feeling pretty funky this week. Not in the awesome kind of way, but more the nauseous, extremely tired, achy kind of funk. I think it might be some sort of growth spurt. Last week I felt like I could hardly drink enough water, and this week I've woke up starving every morning and even had to get up for a midnight snack a couple times. I'm also lagging throughout the day. My eyes are droopy, brain fried, and all I can think about is a nap from the second I wake up. I've even felt nauseous, but I think some of that is due to my stomach getting squished. Really, it's almost exactly like the first trimester blues.
Considering I'm gaining about a pound a week, with roughly half of that going to the baby, it makes sense why my belly (and everything else) might be aching. I've also been really low on breath lately, almost gasping for air at times. I know this is just comes with the territory, but it's still surprising to me how intense all these changes feel some days. When I sit down now, not only does my belly rest on my lap, but I'm beginning to feel some much stronger kicks in my right ribs. So I think it's pretty safe to say that LB has positioned herself head down, despite the fact that the midwives say they can't tell yet.
Even though I continue to be a bit of a hormonal grump of a wife, we had a pretty exciting week. Birth class was the first one that we both left feeling really good about. Our regular instructor had to leave because her daughter gave birth, so we had a sub who was much more energetic and engaging. We talked about "interventions" this week, which was a topic neither of us had much understanding of. It was really helpful to talk about early induction, 2nd stage induction, c-sections, episiotomies, and the forceps/vacuum. But even more, it I really appreciated how we talked through whether many of these interventions were really necessary, and if so, at what point in labor. We also learned that a true "big baby" is 8 pounds 8 ounces or bigger—much smaller than I would have thought!
On Wednesday, We were scheduled to take our make-up birth class from missing the first week when I was sick with my mysterious stomach bug, but decided we would rather have a night off and played hooky. I was gearing up for a night of smoothie drinking on the couch until I heard a knock on the door and saw a goofy grin come over Arthur's face as he said, "I woooonder who that is?" Not only was it my mom and stepdad coming to say hi, but they brought the crib with them! This is their gift to us that they gave us at our shower, but it was on back-order at the time.
We all had a really fun night putting together the crib and eating take-out thai food, which he had already secretly ordered. We both hadn't seen them in a few weeks, so it was fun to catch up about things like our new Angelcare Video Baby Monitor and our plans to eat my placenta (my mom thinks it's weird and that I shouldn't talk about it on the blog—sorry, Mom!). I also got to ask her what my birth weight was (about 8 pounds) and hear about her labor experience with me. I think I've asked before, but now it's got much more significance ;)
As if the week wasn't already busy enough, Thursday night I had Child and Infant CPR class at Seattle Children's Hospital. I was dragging my heels going since it didn't sound fun, I was crazy tired, and maybe a little nervous about CPR in general, but it definitely ended up being worth it. The instructor was super encouraging and upbeat, which made being there from 6:30–9:15 on a Thursday night much more bearable. I definitely feel like I left with a much better understanding of what CPR is and when to use it. Obviously I hope I never have to use these skills, but am so glad I know what to do, just in case.
The weekend was just as action packed since we had my mom's whole side of our family in town. Lucky for us they were all staying in West Seattle, so we could somewhat go about our normal business. Friday night we made a date night out of getting new glasses and using up CSA produce by staying in. We ended up grilling some whole wheat pizza dough and topping it with truffle cheese and shaved zucchini and summer squash. Quick and incredibly delicious.
After dinner we went for a long walk around our neighborhood looking at houses and picking out the ones we could see ourselves living in. And then finally ended the evening watching the new Gold Rush show where they dive under the ice (crazy!) with a big cup of vanilla ice cream in hand.
I made it to yoga on Saturday morning, which totally set my mental pace for the rest of the weekend. With everything being off from my normal weekend routine and already feeling physically and mentally drained, I managed much better than I expected. I even got to take TWO long baths at the gorgeous rental house everyone was staying in. These were hands-down the highlight of the whole weekend. Other than bathing, I did lots of walking around the city, eating blackberry pie and Trader Joe's Cookie Butter, and I even enjoyed a small glass of wine with the ladies.
We are crossing our fingers that this week will bring us a niece. There is no sign of her arrival yet, but we are eagerly anticipating meeting her with my sis-in-law now being just over 40 weeks. We're heading out of town this weekend for our makeshift babymoon, so hopefully she makes her appearance before Friday. Other than that, I'm hoping to start organizing the nursery for real use and pick out some nursing bras and tanks this week—woohoo! Any recommendations?
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The only one I've tried so far is the bravado body silk seamless nursing bra... I liked it okay but obviously I haven't nursed with it. My friend said she got some from target that she liked a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip!
DeleteThe gals at Village Maternity are excellent. They are great about measuring, giving options, and general knowledge. I was fitted for both girls at 37 (ish) weeks and they were dead-on for sizing. You will think you are buying too bug, because it is hard to imagine them getting bigger, but I promise they do. I also had bravado-so comfy-but loved Anita bras. I recommend three. They are expensive, but two is too few. I preferred ones that were lined, to ensure nip privacy;) village maternity carries both brands mentioned. I lasso liked the long glamour mom tanks, but found I could probably get way with a cheaper version, whereas i needed to spend a bit on the bras, as i never wore my regular bras the entire time I was nursing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heids! Great advice. I think I'll head over to Village Maternity soon to at least get fitted.
DeleteOk, here's my 2 cents :) I do own two nursing bras (both from Target) but rarely wear them. In my 4+ years of nursing I have worn a cami with built in shelf bra from costco nearly every day. I wear it as a layer under every top I wear. A cami with shelf bra was enough support for me, and also offered tummy coverage while nursing, a def. plus in my opinion! To nurse, I would simply lift up my shirt and pull down the cami. Offers plenty of coverage to nurse in public without a nursing cover, and is discrete enough that people usually didn't even know I was nursing. Now, I do have to say I'm not the bustiest of women(probably a B before kids C during pregnancy and while nursing early on) so it depends on how much support you need if this will work for you. Good luck in you search for finding what works and feels best to you. That's what's most important.
ReplyDeleteAlso, For the first days/week I would highly recommend going topless (at home only) :-o Makes figuring out nursing and positioning way easier!
I love the cami idea. I recently saw a woman downtown nursing her baby while she was walking and had a nursing tank on. I didn't realize she was nursing until she passed me and I could see the baby's little nose moving. Genius! Also love the topless tip. That definitely sounds the easiest.
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