we've come a long way baby

Last Pregnancy Class at 33 weeks

We finished 1 of the 3 classes we registered for tonight. We would definitely recommend classes, especially for anyone going through the whole process for the first time. We toured our birthing facility and were amazed at the size of the rooms. I kind of got nervous being on the birthing/recovery floor after seeing the equipment and visualizing what would happen in those rooms. It's very nerve wracking knowing what the baby will have to go through and what mom and dad will go through from beginning to end. They have something called the Sitz Room, which totally freaked me out, but is something that will help me heal. I'm kind of worried that Curt may not have something comfortable to sleep/rest on, but we did hear that there is a possibility of the hospital getting real beds for dads too, instead of the pull out beds. We'll have to make a list of certain comfort items that I would like to bring to the hospital.

After the tour we had some physical therapists come to chat about the importance of tummy time and how to soothe baby. We found this segment to be very helpful and informative. The biggest carry home message for tummy time that I learned is that babies need to be on their tummies for developmental reasons.

One of the couples from our class was missing tonight and we later learned that they could be delivering soon as preeclampsia was discovered. She was only at 31 weeks. This made me really sad and worried for her. I hope that she and baby are okay. Sounds like they were going to try to induce labor or do a csection. At our first class this mother expressed concern about excessive swelling in her lower extremities and was worried that the swelling was a bad thing.

Our plan is to still keep things pretty simple as it will make things easier on us. We honestly don't need anything (that I can think of now) as we are borrowing a ton of things from my nephew and friends. Plus I like the idea of reusing things that only get used for a short period in the first year.

hunger pains

Dear Kumquat,

When you get hungry you get restless just like your dad. I find this funny. I watch you roll around in frustration as if you are trying to tell me to get food asap. I hope you have been enjoying dad's singing too. His choice song to sing to you is Bryan Adam's Everything I Do, I Do it For You. This song is quite ridiculous, but I don't laugh when he sings it to you...I find the moment to be quite touching:). You respond by squirming around. My choice song to sing to you is Silver Bells...it's almost Christmas!

Mom

a look of satisfaction after eating a thanksgiving meal

This picture is two weeks old. I think this is when we were at 30 weeks. But it was taken right after a delicious Thanksgiving meal...good times.

32 weeks

Folks, we have eight more weeks until the arrival of Kumquat. Of course we are excited to meet him and to unveil his name to the world :). Kumquat is probably around 3.5 pounds right now, but I'm not too worried about him plumping up as I seem to be doing a good job of progressing nicely myself.

Last night we attended another baby class. Topics covered: C-sections, drugs, SIDS, shaken baby syndrome, and cuddling with baby. I'm definitely not a fan of learning about the "icky and bloody" part of giving birth. Makes me queasy. Right now I also get emotional and a bit sad when I learn about babies getting hurt. During a break period Curt and I were hoping that a more cheerful and happy topic would be discussed...like cuddling! And so when they talked about cuddling and communicating with baby I was really happy :). I was thinking...awwww...that's more like it, something pleasant.

Another thing that came up was the best place to have the baby sleep at night. Up until last night we just assumed that Kumquat would sleep in his crib in his room, but learned that proximity and closeness might help the little guy sleep better at night. So we are thinking about having him sleep in a bassinet type thing in our room, at least for the first few weeks. Makes sense.

Kumquat's movements are super cool and super strong. The placement of the movements is high in the womb. If i'm sitting it sometimes takes my breath away...or I'm startled by the strength and intensity. When this is happening I'm forced to look down from what I'm doing and stare at the belly. Kind of puts me in a trance. My brain is still functioning although I don't feel as quick or sharp all of the time. It's really easy to daydream about the baby. Curt has been helpful in keeping me on task!

Images from November