33 Weeks & Childbirth Class No. 1

OB Appt.
His head is down!!! :D  You have no idea how much joy this brings me. I have been thinking he is transverse, breech, diagonal, doing a yoga pose in there, you name it, I worried about it. Of course! That is my nature. Yug. What a waste of time worrying. I asked my Doc yesterday at our appointment if he could tell me what position little Nuggie is in (that's my secret name for him) and he felt around my lower abdomen and quickly said, "Head down!" This is good. Now he just needs to stay that way, which I am hoping he will since it is tight in there and it is increasingly harder for him to move positions.

Doc also gave me a note to excuse me from doing tours (yay!) because excessive walking is not good for my pelvic pain. That was easy. I didn't even have to beg for the note; as soon as he heard that I am still doing the tours, he said he'd write me an excuse note! :)

I have so far gained 30 lbs. More than I wanted to by this point, but what can I do? I have been being good in the 3rd trimester; was bad in the 2nd, and okay in the 1st. I haven't done any exercising all summer because of the horrible heat and tiredness, so I am not surprised I am packing on the pounds from sitting at this desk all day and commuting for long periods of time. I will just have to watch my diet after he is born and try to get out and do a lot of walking.

Iron is good, Doc said I am healthy and everything's looking great, which I am thankful for!

Childbirth Class
What a trip this was!! Picture this: 7 couples crowded into a family room, all sitting on either chairs or cushions on the floor, cluttered bookcases, very eclectic knick knacks all over the room, and the musty smell of an old carpet. Oh, yes, and a bulldog/beagle mix sticking her head in occasionally to see what's going on! She was super cute!

The teacher is a Midwife/RN who works for the state. She's from Long Island, likes motorcycle tours, and is quite the character! I chose these kind of classes because I didn't feel that doing them at the hospital would have been a good setting for us since they are huge classes and impersonal. I have to say that I wanted to run screaming last night when we walked in and everyone was staring at us and I felt a little claustrophobic, but after about an hour we loosened up and had a good time. Sometimes you have to go through a bit of pain to get to the good stuff. :)

We went over some basic concerns, questions that many people have about childbirth and then she went into the stages of labor. We did some breathing exercises and had our "guardians" (husbands/S.O.) use massage tools on our backs to aid in relaxation. There was a lot of giggling and joking going on, which ticked the teacher off at some points, but it was hard not to since it is a bit awkward and funny to be doing this around complete strangers. She wrapped it up at about 9:15 and gave us binders of info and bags of free magazines to take home.

We have 3 more classes to attend before it's over - tomorrow night and then next Tuesday and Thursday. The last class we have is for a "party" and to return the borrowed DVDs and stuff. I am glad we are doing this, especially for Matt's sake, because he admitted he had no clue about this stuff. He was so cute and took notes about how to treat me during the different stages of labor, and was listening intently to the teacher. I think he is going to be a great coach and I would not be able to go through this without him.

Next step: meeting with my boss soon to tell her when I am going to take maternity leave. A bit nervous, not sure why since it is my right. All I can say is, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!