Another great night of class last night! We learned about the transition phase of labor. It definitely sounds like the most intense part so far. Next week we'll learn about the final stage and pushing. We practiced relaxation techniques again, finding different comfortable positions and practicing slow-paced and modified-paced breathing. I tried laying over one of the medicine balls this week. I liked it because I could keep our little girl out of my ribs and I was able to breath better. :P I know she'll get lower and begin to drop closer to the time of her birth, but as for right now, she is more than happy to lay high in my abdomen, making breathing a challenge. Another relaxation technique we tried last night was a full body massage! It was AWESOME! I'm not sure the husbands were as thrilled about this particular technique since they were the ones having to give the massages, but us wives sure enjoyed it! :D The only thing was that she wouldn't allow them to touch our ankles, because it can induce labor. I was already aware of this. Michael and I already have a plan that as soon as October 1st hits, he's going to give me daily ankle massages to try to get our baby girl ready to show up. If nothing else, maybe she'll be ready to come on her due date instead of showing up late (like so many friends and family members seem to have problems with). We will see. The class was very informative again, this time about our rights and choices during and after delivery. I was pleased to find out that a lot of the choices we've made about how we would like labor, delivery, and post-pardum to go are standard procedure now at Wesley and the Birthcare Center. :) Just a few less things to worry about. So instead of me having to put my foot down and insist on at least an hour of skin to skin contact after the birth, this is the standard procedure, so they will just do it. I won't have to fuss and fight with them. :) Seems like they really do as much as they can to accommodate the mother and baby in this process, and to make the healing process the best that it can be. :) So while labor and delivery is a somewhat scary sounding time, I'm actually more at ease and more calm and resolved to the idea since attending these classes and being more aware of what's coming.
She will be here in 66(ish) more days!!! I simply cannot believe it! Where did the time go??? It seems like just yesterday I was looking at the countdown ticket online and it said 250 more days. I remember sighing and thinking, that's going to take FOREVER to get here!!! And while some days it's seemed like the pregnancy has really drug on, for the most part, I would say it's gone very fast. Especially since we've gotten to the third trimester. We're been much busier lately and that seems to make the time go by faster. The weekly childbirth classes and bi-weekly doctors appointments are making things go quickly. We're getting down to the last couple of months! She'll be here before we know it! I can't wait!
Michael is not worried about the labor and delivery aspect of our little girl's arrival. Probably because it will not be as intense of an experience for him as it will be for me. I know he'll be my cheerleader through the entire thing, and I'm looking forward to having him there by my side to help me through it all. When Michael thinks about our little girl arriving, he doesn't think so much about the labor and delivery as he does about seeing a very tiny person with his eyes and my nose and bringing her home and having to take care of her. He's said on more than one occassion that he imagines himself just staring at her, wondering what to do. I think he's going to be an amazing dad and that he's going to slip into his new roll perfectly and without complications, he's less confident in his abilities. :) It's just entirely new territory for him. At our class last night our instruction mentioned that newborn babies love hair and necklaces and beards because of all that new sensory input that they have never experienced until they arrive outside of the womb. I couldn't help but think, "October, hmmm, Michael will definitely have his beard then. She's going to love that!" :P My only thought was that she might not love the scratchy kisses as much, but we will just wait and see. :)
Today is our 30 week (and 4 days) doctor's appointment. My doctor told me that he likes to get everyone in at 30 weeks, and then we see each other every 2 weeks after that (until the last month when we should be seeing each other every week). I assume this will be a normal, run-of-the-mill appointment. We'll check my weight (groan) and blood pressure. Then we'll measure my belly and listen to little girl's heartbeat. He'll ask if we have any questions or concerns (we never do, we're very low maintainance patients). But this week we finally have questions! Thank you childbirth class!! We need to ask our doctor at what point in labor does he want us to call him? Does he consider full term at 37 or 39 weeks? And is it possible for me to get the whooping cough vaccine while I'm pregnant so that our little girl has a little immunity built up right off the bat? In case you haven't heard, there is a whooping cough epidemic going around. Not a huge deal for adults, but a very big deal for babies because they can't get vaccinated for it until they're a little older. It can kill a small baby. So I encourage any of you who are actually still reading this, if you're going to be around Sis', Chelsey's, or my little babies (especially this holiday season) please consider getting vaccinated for whooping cough. If you choose not to, please know that the second I hear you coughing I'm taking my baby back and we're leaving from where you are. I'm not putting my daughter at risk because you wouldn't bother to get a $25 vaccination. ;)
Ok, this has gotten very long, and I've run out of things to say, so I guess I'll call it good. I'll try to update again in the next couple of days about how the appointment went today. :) Have a great Tuesday! Love ya!
-Michael, Jen, and Baby Voss
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