Wednesday, January 30, 2008

32 Weeks!

I can't believe I've reached the 32 week point! Woo-hoo!! Rick took this picture yesterday on my phone, which is why it looks so grainy but since I didn't have another picture available and it had been over a month since my last one, I figured this is better than nothing!
It's been a pretty busy week (and a half--it's been a while since I posted!). This is going to be a long post but here are the highlights:

We decided on a pediatrician last week, which is a huge relief! He was actually the first one we met with but we liked him so much that we decided not to interview anyone else. It's a small practice (him and his dad, plus they're looking to hire another dr. part-time) but there's a branch of NEMC pediatricians adjoining their office, and they've worked out some agreement that if at any time there's no one from our pediatricians office available, someone from NEMC can help us. Which essentially means that if we need to get our little guy in to see a doctor at any time, we'll be able to. Very reassuring! And everyone in the office seemed pleasant and like they enjoyed their jobs, which makes for a great, supportive environment.
We had an OB appt on Thursday and everything still looks good. My dr. did suggest that now would be a good time to take one day off a week to make sure I'm getting enough rest--not because I'm at risk for anything but just as a precaution. I won't argue with that! So from now on I'll have Thursdays off. Yay!
Saturday we had our 1-day childbirth class, which was pretty fun and informative but didn't focus enough on natural childbirth. We learned 3 different breathing techniques to help us through labor, a couple of exercises and stretches we should be practicing, and received a list of pain medications we could opt for if we needed them. Now I understand that they are trying hard to makes sure that women don't feel inadequate if they need to use meds, and I do appreciate that since I personally am not completely opposed to using them if need be, but at the same time I would have liked a discussion on how to realistically get through childbirth without the use of drugs. At least list the various methods/philosophies of natural childbirth. But since there's a limited amount of time allotted for this class I guess they can't cover everything.
One thing that I did appreciate about this class is that the instructor gave a timeline of what a "typical" birth scenario looks like. It made me feel much better about the fact that Rick works crazy 24-hour shifts, 45 minutes from home and could very well not be around when I first start having contraction. I was a little concerned that I'd have to try to get myself to the hospital right away, but it sounds like I'll most likely have plenty of time to get there (probably hours, in fact...). I guess I need to stop getting my birthing information from TV and movies! :-)
Sunday we went to into Boston to get professional maternity portraits taken of my belly (with Rick and my hands included, otherwise it was only belly). David (Rick's bro) shot the photos and from the preliminary, unedited pictures we saw they look pretty fabulous! He'll be giving us a cd of the "best of" photos, at which point I'll post one or two here. It was a lot of fun, and David did an excellent job. I would totally recommend getting maternity photos done to anyone who asks!
Lastly, I received my box of bedding from mom yesterday, and it all turned out AWESOME and is so dang cute!! Yet another confirmation of how talented and creative my mom is. I REALLY want to set the crib up now to see everything in place, but now we're not sure if it will be set up in our bedroom or our nursery so I should wait until we make that decision...sigh...
If anyone is still reading, thanks for putting up with such a long post! Hope you all have a great week!
-Suzi

1 comment:

Sherry said...

Suzi, you are looking great! I had to let you know that if your labor is anything like mine were, you'll have half a day for Rick to get home! =0 Not at all like TV and movie labor.