Birthing class and midwife visit

In the past few days, Ryan and I have been very busy with pregnancy-related appointments. We finished up our birthing classes, so now we are fully prepared for labor (or at least as ready as we are going to be). We were given a lot of tools for natural pain management, and we are prepared to labor at home before going to the hospital. We just need to buy a birthing ball. The doula gave us a lot of comfortable positions for me to sit, stand and lay in while I am going through contractions. I feel pretty prepared, but I guess I won't really know until I am actually in labor. Hopefully I still have a few weeks before that happens!

Yesterday, we also went to the midwife for our weekly visit. Yes, now we are in the homestretch with weekly visits. They measured my fundal height (35 1/2 cm, so we are in the "normal" range). The baby's heartbeat is in the 130 beats per minute range, also the "normal" range. I also had my Group Strep B test (not fun, but not terrible either). We will get results next week.

Ryan and I have started packing our bags for the hospital, since we know we could be going at any time. I still need to make a final trip to Target to get some necessities for our bags. Some of the things we are packing are kind of funny...like our "digital fireplace" dvd for pain management/relaxation. I'm just ready to feel a little more settled instead of having my life so up in the air. Hopefully that will come soon...

4 weeks until baby

As of Wednesday, we are 36 weeks pregnant. 37-42 weeks is considered full term, so we are really almost there! However, I think it would be perfect to have this baby on December 2 (my due date). I'm hoping she can hold out until 40 weeks so she doesn't have to share my birthday OR Thanksgiving.

Baby Sugar and Spice apparently weighs almost 6 lbs (the size of a crenshaw melon apparently...if anyone knows what that is). She is definitely head down, and it looks like she is positioning herself in a good spot so she can make her way out easily when the time comes. My midwife has put me on a regiment of Evening Primrose Oil to "ripen" the cervix as well as Red Raspberry Leaf Tea to strengthen the uterus. These supplements should help me to not go too far past my due date and help labor progress more quickly.

Ryan and I began our Parent Education for Childbirth classes last night at Harmony's Family in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver. This is located within walking distance of fabulous Belly Bliss where I had a wonderful pre-natal massage. Regina, the doula teaching our class, has been great so far. Ryan and I ended up with a private class, so all of the attention is focused on us, our needs and our questions. That's very nice!

The class is very geared towards preparing Ryan to be my labor coach. We watched a video about the stages of labor and another video about pain management (IVs and epidurals). After watching the video about pain management, I definitely am hoping to progress without needing medication (since I'm not into needles, catheters and the idea of being tethered to a bed, immobile) but I understand that an epidural is a tool that is available if I need it. We discussed how Ryan can help to keep me in a calm state during my contractions so I can feel positive about them instead of dreading them. If I can keep a positive attitude that the contractions are a good thing (progressing the labor and the baby along), then I think I can handle it.

We also discussed Optimal Fetal Positioning. This is one of the most important things to know about the labor process. If I can do my homework for Optimal Fetal Positioning during weeks 38-40, hopefully baby will be in the right position to progress labor along. We want baby head down with her back towards my tummy. My "homework" is to make sure I spend as much time as possible leaning forward instead of reclining backward to ease her into the optimal position. My pelvic tilt exercises help with this, but I can also do other things like leaning forward while sitting, not propping my feet up and reclining in those last few weeks, sleeping on my (left) side, etc.

Tonight we go back for another class. Looking forward to learning more!