Archive for February 21st, 2006

Author: erika
• Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

We had our 30 week checkup yesterday and everything looks good. I don’t have anemia nor do I have gestational diabetes. Wooohooo! My weight gain as of yesterday is exactly 20 pounds. Twenty pounds at 30 weeks — I guess that’s not too bad. My fundal height is 30.5.

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We stopped by Babies R Us yesterday to make our final choice on the motif for the baby room. We’ve decided on the Malawi theme by Kids Line. Although we both love the Froggy Tales theme, it didn’t seem visually stimulating and I could see us getting tired of little froggies. At least the Malawi has lots of little animals and we can switch them around. We picked up the border so now we can pick up some paint!

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On Sunday we had our last childbirth class. They covered a lot of things like the pain medications, ceseareans and what to do to help speed up labor. I am trying to keep an open mind as far as drugs and c-sections but I’m hoping to be able to do the whole thing without any drugs or being cut open. I’ve cut out caffeine, modified my diet and even avoided getting new highlights all so that the baby has a better chance at life — I’d hate to throw drugs into my system after all that. Plus, I can imagine that breastfeeding and bonding is more difficult when you’re (mildly) sedated.

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On Friday we stopped by our first daycare center. It is right down the road from our house and from Jay’s work. A few of the ladies that he works with highly recommended it; we are currently on a waiting list with 2 people ahead of us (they only have 6 infant spots). I’m hoping we can get in but in the meantime I think we’ll have to sign up at some other places just in case we can’t get this one right away. The weekly cost is $290 but Jay gets a 10% discount because of where he works. Over a thousand dollars a month just to have someone else watch our kid. Ugh.

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Author: erika
• Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

How your baby’s growing: Your baby’s a bit more than 15 1/2 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and fills out your uterus. His eyes open and close, he’s able to distinguish between light and dark, and he can even follow a light source back and forth. Once he’s born, he’ll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he’ll respond to changes in light but will have a visual acuity of only 20/400 — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (”Normal” vision in adults is 20/20.)

How your life’s changing: You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you’re having any trouble sleeping. You might also feel clumsy, which is perfectly understandable. Not only are you heavier, your balance is off and your joints are loosened, thanks to pregnancy hormones. Those loose joints can actually cause your feet to grow a shoe size –permanently.

Remember those mood swings you had earlier in pregnancy? The combination of uncomfortable symptoms and your hormones may result in a revisit of those ups and downs you felt in the first few months. It’s normal to worry about what your labor will be like or whether you’ll be a good parent, but if you can’t shake the blues or feel increasingly anxious or irritable, talk to your doctor or midwife. You may be among the 10 percent of expectant women who battle mild to moderate depression during their pregnancies.

And if you think you might like some kind of pain relief for labor and delivery, now’s a good time to look into your options.

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