Last class tonight!

Well, we had a great weekend! Played poker with friends on Friday night. The shower Saturday was great (thanks, Mom and Mrs. Debbie!). It was so nice to see everyone and Gracie got a ton of awesome gifts!

Went to David's stepmother's sister's 50th birthday party that night. Had a great time meeting and hanging out with that side of the family! (And the barbeque was excellent!) We spent Sunday cleaning and organizing our apartment to make room for all of Gracie's new stuff. Still might have to re-arrange our bedroom to make a place for her Pack n' Play (her bassinet/changing table thing), but we will see. I plan to put it together on Thursday. David put the stroller and glider chair together Saturday night. The glider is SOOO comfortable, we love it! We haven't installed the carseat yet. We'll probably do that this coming weekend.

Random thought for the day: Did you know that caterpillars can swim? One just fell out of a tree hanging above one of Gran's birdbaths, right outside the office window, and I'm watching it swim around. It will get to the edge, climb out, crawl around the lip of the birdbath for awhile, then get back in the water and swim around some more. Very funny. Anyway, back to the relevant world...

David and I enjoyed the breastfeeding class last week. Seems as though I will learn it all over again with the lactation consultant in the hospital though, so oh well. Kind of hard to remember everything when I don't have a baby at home to learn on. But that time is fast approaching! Less than 8 weeks until Gracie's due date! I can't believe it; time has gone by so fast. We have our last class tonight, covering Infant CPR and safety. David of course already knows it, having been through EMT school, but I have no clue, so it will be good to know!

Have a great week everyone!

34-week appointment

Went today at 11:45. Got there 15 min early, waited 1 hour 15 minutes just to be called back. Finally I went to the window myself and demanded to be seen, so they weighed me, took my blood pressure, and showed us into a room. The doctor came in 5 minutes later, said, "Yay, everything's looking good", checked the baby's heartbeat, and then said, "See you in two weeks." Seriously? I could have done all that at home! This waiting game is ridiculous, and had been steadily getting worse with all my appointments. It's as though now that I'm this far along, I'm no longer that important, so they don't care. At this point I almost want to change doctors, but that's impossible this late in the game. I just don't even feel like she cares, really. Just reads the chart, says ok you're doing fine, and sends me on my way. I'll definitely go with another doctor next time around.

Anyway, all that frustration aside, the checkup was fine. My blood pressure is 118 over 84, I've only gained 1 pound in the last two weeks, and Gracie's heart rate was a perfect 140 again. I asked the doctor about the low cramps I've been having, and she said that's Gracie working her way slowly downwards, and my muscles and cervix and all that down there are gradually making way for her. She's still positioned head down, which is good. So hopefully we'll have a real easy road ahead. Next will be my 34 week appt., two weeks from today, on Tuesday the 23rd at 4:30pm. The one after that will be my 36 week appt. on Tuesday, November 6th, at which time they will do my first internal exam, to check for dilation and effacement. After that I'll be checking in every week, and if she hasn't made progress by week 39, they'll schedule an induction for a day or two after her due date. Hopefully she'll be a punctual baby!

Our 1st childbirth class went well last week. We learned about the labor process, all the hospital's procedures, and took a tour of the Labor & Delivery floor, as well as the nursery and Post Partum rooms. It was very informative, really set my mind at ease knowing the plan for action now and exactly how the hospital handles things. We have our 2nd child birth class tonight, in which we'll be learning about breastfeeding, diaper changing, bathing the baby, etc. Hope everyone's having a good week!

First class tonight!

Up to this point, I've been pretty excited. "Yay, answers to all the mysteries we have no clue about!" For some reason, this morning, I'm nervous! I keep thinking, "Will anyone there be as fat as me? Will they snicker at my ridiculously huge boobs? Will they roll their eyes when I ask stupid questions? Will David participate, or act like its stupid and want to leave?" Ugh, this is just crazy! I feel like its the first day at a brand new school. *sigh* Oh well, no choice. I realize that I have never even changed a diaper before, so I know I need to do these classes. I'm just being weird.

Gracie isn't helping the situation... I think she's flipped perfectly sideways, with her head in my left side and her feet in my right. So now my belly looks like a big gut and its gross. Although I am extremely thankful that I don't have any stretch marks on my belly! All that lotion helps, I guess. This will be good because I'm considering getting maternity pictures done in the next few weeks. Nothing spoils a good picture like a nasty stretch mark! Hehe...