32 Weeks - Graduates!!

Hi Everyone!

     I'm happy to say that Dave and I have graduated from Childbirth Class, yay! .... but I'm not sure if I feel any different about labor and childbirth than I did before the class.

Pre-Childbirth Class, I was naive to everything.  Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.  Labor really doesn't scare me very much ... I don't know why. I feel as though I have a decent threshold for pain, and at least if I'm in labor, then I know that the end is near. Every contraction is one contraction closer to seeing this little man for the very first time.  It all seems like a decent trade off, if you ask me.   

So, here we are in this class, and though I found it interesting to learn about delivery and birth and how the baby travels out, etc ... I couldn't help but get distracted by one thing ...

Looking around the room, I realized that there were the typical characters that you might see in any "couples" class that you're forced to go to; Childbirth, Pre-Cana, etc.  It almost seemed scripted, to me, in a funny way.  What I mean, is, there are certain people/couples who you know will be there:

The "She's-Way-Too-Hot-For-You, Dude" couple ~ she is dressed to the nines and looks like a pregnant model, and he is wearing a t-shirt with a stain on it and flip flops with socks.  

The "We-Totally-Don't-Want-To-Be-Here" couple ~ can be detected immediately from their constant synchronous eye-rolling and slouched posture.  He tends to nod off to sleep every now and again.

The "Over-Achieving" couple ~ He's wearing glasses, and she is feverishly writing in her notebook.  During the breathing exercises, they're always serious and ALWAYS louder than everyone else.

But what I found most hilarious of all, was the totally stereotypical instructor we had. She was EXACTLY what I had imagined she would be. 

The "Totally Earthy-Crunchy Instructor" ~ donning black pants and a white, linen button-up, hammock-looking shirt that was 10 sizes too big for her.  She, of course, had shoulder-length, frizzy/curly hair, pushed back from her face with the help of an '80s plastic headband ... but her hair was never "in place".  In her headband "bump", there were always a few strands pulled out a little too far.

What made her even better, though, was how willing she was to demonstrate the pain management labor positions for us.  This includes getting on all fours, and sticking out her butt and waving it from side to side in front of everyone, including the "We-Are-Way-Too-Immature-For-This-Class-And-Have-The-Constant-Giggles" couple (... may or may not have been Dave and I).

Don't get me wrong ... she was a FANTASTIC instructor ... She really did go into detail with everything, she could answer everyone's questions, and she knew a lot about the process.  It was just ... sometimes hard to look past all of the tree-hugging to focus on the information.

She DID, however, continuously comment on how labor "isn't as bad as everyone says". She kept saying that it is socially frowned upon to talk about labor being easy, so everyone talks about how horrible it is, thus scaring all of us who are going through it for the first time.

Well, whatever happens during labor, as long as Bob and I are OK, then I figure it's a victory.  Bring it on!!!  Anything to get through these last 7+ weeks!!  It's been getting more and more difficult just attempting to act like a regular human being, so I'm ready for the end.


This week, Bob is the size of a Honeydew Melon! He is about 19 inches long and somewhere around 4-4.5 pounds!  He is in the head-down position at this point, thankfully, according to our doctor, but that could change.

How far along? 32 Weeks, 5 Days

Countdown: 7 Weeks, 2 Days (or, 51 days!!!)

Total weight gain: 31 lbs as of my appointment last week.  I go again next Monday. Gee, I can't wait to report on this next week. I'm so excited .... grrrr...
Maternity clothes? Spent a crapload of money at Old Navy over the weekend. Clothes that fit 2 weeks ago are now too tight.  Bah-humbug.
Stretch marks? No, thank god.

Sleep: Sleeping fairly well!
Best moment this week: getting the childbirth class out of the way!!
Miss Anything? yes ... my old clothes :(

Movement: Yes!!! lots!  Everything I read says that his activity will slow down as he gets bigger ie: more cramped ... but I'll tell ya ... I feel him more now than ever!
Food Cravings: hmmm ... nothing to report on for food cravings right now. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: strangely, gum has made me a little grossed out. 
Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: Nope!

Symptoms: having trouble with deep breaths, and exhaustion ... and still peeing every 20 minutes. But the biggest symptom change this week is SWOLLEN ANKLES/FEET.  My right, worse than my left, and it comes and goes, but it is nasty looking.  My foot looked like a pig foot with little sausages hanging off.
Isabelly Button, In or Out? oh boy ... any day now she will be out completely.  She's still mostly flat, but I can feel a change in her texture.  She's definitely on the MOVE.  GROSS.
Wedding rings on or off? on, but I've talked to Dave about getting another ring to wear.  He thinks it's just an excuse to try to weasel a new diamond out of him (might be true), but honestly, I don't know how much longer I can wear my rings.  Like my feet, I am suffering from some swelling in my fingers.  I don't want to be ring-less ... then I'd just look like a little girl in trouble!!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy!

Looking forward to: Our SHOWER!!!! This Saturday we have our shower, and I can't wait to see all of our family and friends!!!