My baby is a baby magnet

Apparently my baby is a baby magnet. I have been so busy at work, and so very tired! My last two 12 hour shifts, I have delivered 3 babies each, and been very close to a 4th. Friday, I had a student on her last day of integration, which means she is ready to graduate now, so I let her do most of the work. It was great, but I still had to run around be there. My back hurt so bad by the time I got home. I wear a maternity support belt, but being on my feet and running around for 12 hours straight takes it's toll! It's especially bad on night shift. Luckily, I have my last night shift of the pregnancy on Tues. Maybe someone will take pity on me and I can have some sleep while I am there. Send some prayers! Of course with my recent track record, that won't happen...

What a difference 2 weeks make!

Well gang, I'm 32 weeks pregnant which means 8 months to most people.

The fatigue has returned with a vengeance. I am super tired all the time and very much not looking forward to my night shift tonight. I don't know how I am going to function. I have been awake for about 4 hours today and can't wait for my nap. The baby is moving for much longer stretches now. I think it was almost a hour straight yesterday. It's great except when I am trying to go to sleep and the baby thinks it's fun to grind his or her little head against my bladder and then punch it a few times just in case I wasn't paying attention. It's quite fascinating to watch my belly roil and try to identify which body parts are cruising by. I am very pleased to report that my little one is vertex (head down) already and in a good position.

Shawn and I are making good progress on the nursery. The crib, dresser/changing table, and feeding chair are in place, and some wall hangings up. Here's the obligatory photo of the father-to-be putting the crib together .



We started registering for baby supplies. It's quite overwhelming. We began at Target because the baby section is at least manageable, and then did Babies-R-Us on Saturday. My cousin is giving us a bunch of necessities, which will be great. I have lists of things we need compiled from various books and friends, but it's still like learning a foreign language with all the baby lingo. Convertible car seats, travel systems strollers, air-flow bottles, organic cotton, sleep sacks, etc. It's enough to make my head spin.

Shawn and I begin our childbirth classes next week. We are doing Hypnobirthing and it's a 5 week course. We won't finish until I am 39 weeks pregnant, so we'll see how the baby feels about the timing. Then we have both a breastfeeding and parenting class mid February. We have been reading lots of pregnancy, parenting, baby care, and babyproofing our marriage books, but I still don't feel even the remotest bit prepared. I guess you can't ever truely prepare for somthing like this though. We promise to do our best!

Nursery Woes and Pregnancy Musings

Here's me at 30 weeks.  

Shawn was off last week.  One of those use it or lose it vacation times.  He really wanted to use that time to paint the nursery, since I was going to be working so much.  We had gotten a bunch of paint samples from Lowes a few weeks ago, we just hadn’t made the final decision as to which one to go with.  I wanted a soft sage, and Shawn wanted a brighter, more childlike color.  We compromised with a fun limey green, which turned into mintchocolate chip once it hit the walls.  I really didn’t like it, but Shawn had spent so much time on it, I felt bad.  We tried to live with it for a few days, but I hated it even more.  Then we bought a comfy chair for feedings, a chair and a half with ottoman, which turned out to be so big we had to take the door off the hinges to get it in the room.  Then with this huge chair and ottoman, mint green walls, and my raging hormones, I ran out of the room and burst into tears.  We went shopping the next day for a new color and now it looks great.  It’s a nice, bright sage, softer, but still bright and childlike.  We were smart this time and brought a carpet square, wall hanging, and fabric sample from the chair to the paint store to be sure we would be happy.  

Here's the original color.  It looked much more obnoxious in person.

And here's the new one. It looks much better in person. 

Now that the paint is on the wall, there is some furniture in the room, and more on the way, we are feeling pretty good.  I have been doing some great bonding with my baby the last few weeks.  The movement is getting more personality.  I can feel individual body parts and am having fun poking the foot and feeling it kick me back.  All of my midwifery books talk about the psychological transformations that occur during pregnancy and the preparation for motherhood.  It’s funny how I am totally normal.  First trimester was very self centered, all the changes that were happening to me and my body was totally separate from the life I was growing.  I knew I was pregnant, but it still didn’t feel very real.  I kept scrutinizing every change as if to verify the pregnancy.   I would almost chant, “I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant,” to keep it real for me. 

Second trimester was hard because I felt like I should be bonding with my baby, and glowing and happy, but it still felt very distant.  I would feel the movement and know it was the baby, but it still felt very alien.  Other people were happier about my pregnancy than I was.  I mean I was happy, don’t get me wrong, but I was just detached, like I was keeping the baby at arms length.  I couldn’t get attached. 

Now that I am truly into the third trimester, I am embracing this baby and the new life Shawn and I are going to have.  I rub my belly all the time, and having fun showing it off to friends and coworkers.  I don’t even mind when they rub my belly without asking.  (Of course strangers haven’t done it yet and I think that may make me a little crazy.)  I love having people feel kicks and seeing their faces light up when they really feel it.  I’m happy.  It’s nice.  Shawn has been fantastic too, very attentive and loving.  He has the cutest giggle when he feels the baby move.