Thirty weeks. 3-0. As in, definitely the home stretch. Excitement is soaring through the roof. Despite our small panic this weekend, I'm getting really excited to deliver and meet our baby girl. I thank the Lord for every day she stays in my belly, but being in the birthing center was quite the thrill. I cannot wait to go back for the real deal!
The fact that I’m almost down to single digits for weeks left is definitely kicking me into a bit of panic mode. I feel like there is still so much to do/read/research/clean/plan for. At the very minimum, I want to finish my breastfeeding, sleep, and birth books and get my hospital bag packed by 36 weeks. It’s hard to find time to read though when we’re so busy with summer activities, life and baby classes. I’m really hoping that the end of August will mark the end of our busy season.
Funny enough, I actually had my first emergency midwife appointment earlier last week. Yes, two in one week! I think I mentioned a few weeks back that I had been experiencing some pain in my ribs, which they say is completely normal during pregnancy since the ribcage can expand up to an inch, so I was never all that worried. I had also been experiencing a really sharp pain in my upper left abdomen, right at the base of my left rib cage, but I figured this was just part of the rib expansion. Until it started to get excruciatingly bad toward the end of the day on Monday. I decided it was worth calling the on-call midwife and asking what to do. Unfortunately, I was only able to talk to the RN, who scheduled an appointment for me to come in the next day. I spent the evening doubled over in pain and trying to convince Papa K that something inside me was about to burst and an emergency was on its way.
By the next morning I was back to my normal dull pinch—much more bearable. I made it to my appointment later in the day without any further pain, but was still happy to be getting checked out. My midwife for that appointment, Mia, was so sweet and gently felt around my belly, listened to the baby, and measured my uterus. Her consensus was that I don’t have any organs in the area where my pain is and that it’s probably a muscular issue from all the pushing and pulling happening, especially since it hurt to just brush my skin. I was so relieved! She offered to refer me to an OB to get a second opinion, but I thought that would just cause more fuss and I wasn’t interested in a doctor making up a problem when she felt so confident there wasn’t anything to be worried about.
In other good news, I got my labs back from my gestational diabetes screening and pre-eclamptic panel and everything looks great. I was surprised to find out that I tested a few points below the low end of normal for my blood glucose. I’m told this is fine, and just means I am prone to getting low blood sugar side effects when I don’t eat. So true! My pre-eclamptic labs also came back normal, except for one liver enzyme that was slightly elevated. They suspected it could have been from my vomiting earlier in the week and ordered a re-test. Thankfully, the new results came back perfect. I’m so relieved to know that everything is as it should be for me and the babe.
My energy levels are generally low this week. I almost feel as tired as I was in early pregnancy and am struggling with not being able to nap during the day. The second trimester weeks really are the golden weeks! Live em’ up ladies! I feel like my days consist of sleeping, eating, drinking, peeing and pooping. Sounds strangely familiar. I also have a booger issue and can hardly keep up with blowing my nose during the day. Goodbye constant drippy nose, hello boogers! Check out this side-by-side of week 10 and week 30. What a difference five months makes!
I haven’t mentioned much about birth class yet, but it’s going well. So far we’ve talked about the stages of labor and what to expect, and also pain and coping techniques. I plan to do a recap of these two classes in one post later this week. The class is a lot different than both of us expected. I guess we figured our classmates would be a bit of the natural childbirth, hippy type, but not so. There are all sorts and types in the class. Not bad, just not what we were expecting. This group is much less dynamic than our Centering group, but still very practical and informative.
I mentioned in our weekend update that this was Arthur’s last week before he starts his new, permanent job. We are still so in awe of God’s grace and goodness on our family, but are ready to get this show on the road. He is so excited to get started and I am so excited to be a mama. Barring any emergency coming up between now and then, my last day of work will be October 5th. Although, writing this just made me realize that’s only two weeks before our due date. For some reason I thought we padded in three weeks! Hmmm....
Now that things are feeling a bit more financially stable, we’ve started to think about planning a Babymoon. Actually, truth be told, we spent the entire week trying to frantically plan a trip to somewhere—anywhere—warm. We figured Labor Day weekend would be our last shot to get out of town before summer is over and while I’m still allowed to fly. But after hours and hours of panicked searching and booked flights, we decided we better stop forcing it and stay local this time around.
With paid vacation time off, we are looking forward to planning something on a bigger scale than just a last-minute long weekend. It will probably look like bringing the baby with us, but we’re thinking it won’t be too difficult to get one of our parents to come along for babysitting. So even though our Babymoon will have to be postponed, we both agree it will be worth the wait. We’ve currently got Hawaii on the brain! Not sure though where we’ll end up over Labor Day. Hopefully somewhere with a pool.
I've also had pediatricians on my brain this week. I figured now is probably the time to get something figured out, but don't have much of a clue where to start. So I've just been talking to everyone I can asking for recommendations. So far nothing all that great has turned up, but the quest continues. I'm torn between seeing an ND (natural doctor) exclusively and finding an MD (medical doctor) who is trained in natural medicine. As of now, Papa K and I are leaning toward an ND with the intent of supplementing with MDs in more critical circumstances. I really want a pediatrician who is going to practice preventative care through nutrition and looking at our baby's body holistically over treating symptoms and illnesses as they come up. Of course we need someone who can treat illness though too. I found an amazing clinic called Wallingford Pediatrics, but when I called to schedule an interview they told me that they just learned their practice will be closing. I was so, so bummed.
I suppose that's enough thoughts for one post, but here are a few more to close. Arthur had his Conscious Fathering class this week and loved it. He said he would definitely recommend it to other to-be dads and gave it an 8/10. He even came home jabbering about things I had no clue about! Good thing one of us knows how to soothe a baby properly. He also learned how to pack a diaper bag and avoid getting puked on in the face. All important stuff to a new parent. Other than that, we're looking forward to getting back in the nursery soon. It's about time to get some art on those walls, but I don't have any clear ideas of what to do just yet. I'm picturing some hand painted abstracts. Babies appreciate modern art, right?
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