8 Month Mark

This week we officially hit the eight month mark. Now there is eight weeks or less until our little bambino arrives. We went to the doctor this Friday and got a clean bill of health. The baby was moving around quite a bit during the examination. The doctor was having a really hard time finding the heartbeat with his instrument. He knew the baby was moving around in there because you could physically see it. But he brought out the ultrasound machine to be on the safe side. He said there was nothing to worry about.

So he brought in the machine and it turns out the baby just didn't want to be poked and prodded. It kept turning around to get away from the doctors touch. So after establishing that the heartbeat was OK, we held our breath and dared to ask for a third time to find out the sex of our baby. However, with all of the moving around, the baby was reluctant to show us anything, yet again. We say she's stubborn, the doctor said, "No, the baby's fiercely independent." I guess that is a nice way of putting it. She had her back turned to us the whole time.

We took two classes this week. One was our labor class. The second was our baby proofing and baby CPR class. It was good to get a refresher on the CPR part. Things have changed in the last couple of years. We also got a glimpse of all the gadgets and gizmos that they have out there to baby proof a house.

Well that's about all there is to report now. Hope everyone is well. Until next week.

Melanie

More Baby Stuff

This week we had two baby classes to take. We went to our second installation of "Great Expectations". This is a labor preparation class. We watched a video of three live births. It was interesting and we learned a lot. The human body is amazing. The whole miracle of birth is also amazing. The video doesn't really dispel any of my nervousness, but it helps keep me informed.


Our second baby class was a tour of the hospital where I will deliver. We got to see the labor room and the postpartum room. The labor room looks decent and it helped to see what my accommodations will be like. The postpartum room is tiny. I have to share the room with a roommate. The hospital has a rooming in policy for the babies. This means that the baby will be with me in my room the whole time. The lack of space worried me a little. There was barely enough room for the bed, one chair, and the bassinet. I worry too about the time I will have to recuperate with two crying babies all night and how I will care for the baby on my own. Luigi has said that he will stay with me so that we can tag team. I guess that the rooming in policy is something that most hospitals do, so I am guessing that everything will be OK. So needless to say the tour also didn't dispel any of my nervousness.


The baby room is pretty much done now. We are just waiting on the crib. We are also searching for a working swing. We inherited two swings. One swing didn't have all the parts and one swing doesn't work on it's own. So it looks like we may be going baby shopping for a swing next weekend. It was fun putting together everything that we needed. I think the part that was the most fun was looking at all of the clothes. Although we aren't 100% convinced that our ultrasound reading was accurate, we are planning and getting ready for a girl. It was fun looking at all of the frilly girl clothes. I washed them and put them away in the dresser and closet. There were so many cute things that we got from my step-sister Connie. If we end up having a boy, we have much less clothes and things for boys. For some reason I feel the need to have this stuff done very early. I still have about eight weeks before the due date. I guess they call that the "nesting".




Next week we will be attending two more classes. We have our third "Great Expectations" class. We also have a baby safety class. This will help us with our baby proofing efforts. Well that's about it for now. Hope everyone is doing well.

Melanie

Give It A Try

After seeing Lynne post a page on this site, I became very intrigued and interested in beginning something similar. I thought I might begin a blog myself to share news with family and friends. I thought it might also be a great way to share news with those that are not close in proximity anymore. I know that Luigi and I have been missing his family since we moved to Northern California. So I thought this might be a nice way to share some of our news and happenings with everyone. This will become especially important once baby Intiso arrives.

This week Luigi and I began a myriad of childbirth and baby care classes. On Tuesday we had a childbirth class called "Great Expectations". This class will be teaching us how to deal with labor and all the fun things that come with that. Next week we will be having the class again and watching a video (yikes). We also have the "Stork Tour" next week in which we tour the hospital where I will be delivering.

The pregnancy is going well. I am definitely starting to show now. The doctor was concerned about my sugar levels and ordered a three hour glucose test. I had to sit in a lab for three hours and have my blood drawn over four times in the same spot. Although it was boring and I ended up bruised on my arm, the results were good. The doctor said that I have no need to worry about gestational diabetes at this point. So that was great news this week. I am also going to the doctor at two week intervals now, rather than three weeks. Next month I will be going every week.

We have started getting the baby's room ready. Thanks to generous donations from my sister Connie and sister-in-law Liza, we have most of the furniture and necessities we need. We will be getting a crib soon from Connie and I think that will almost complete the list of things that we need to get started. We decided, based on several factors, that we will decorate the baby's room with a Winnie The Pooh theme. This was partially based on the fact that we were given a bunch of Winnie the Pooh stuff and the fact that it is very neutral .

The baby is becoming much more active at this stage. Now anytime I so much as sit or lay down, the baby decides to begin their aerobics time. I still get a lot of kicking, but now I get a new sensation as baby grows bigger. I can feel fluid movement, like hands and arms moving across my abdomen, rather than jerking kicking. It's a strange sensation, but exciting.

Well that's about it for now. I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with the postings. My hope is that I can post at least once a month. Best wishes.

Melanie