Baby shower #2

My fabulous coworkers threw me a baby shower a couple of weeks ago. They, of course, went way over the top. Lots of people were there and I was very overwhelmed. Here are some of the highlights:

The decorated conference room.

Sitting at the head of the table full of gifts.

The personalized M&Ms they had made for me.

The M&Ms were in little bags for everyone to take.

Really yummy red velvet and vanilla cupcakes from Sprinkles Cupcakes.

The room full of people watching me.

Opening gifts.

It was a wonderful afternoon. I was surprised and overwhelmed and very thankful to Amy, Rebecca, Alison, Alex, Katy, Matt and Dr. Marder for putting so much work into everything and making me feel so important. And thanks to everyone who came and all the wonderful gifts.

37 weeks - Full Term!

How your baby's growing: Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

How your life's changing: Braxton Hicks contractions may be coming more frequently now and may last longer and be more uncomfortable. You might also notice an increase in vaginal discharge. If you see some "bloody show" (mucus tinged with a tiny amount of blood) in the toilet or in your undies, labor is probably a few days away — or less. (If you have heavier spotting or bleeding, call your caregiver immediately.) Also be sure to ask your caregiver about the results of your Group B strep culture. That way, if the result isn't yet on your chart when you get to the hospital or birth center, you'll be able to give the staff there a timely heads-up if you need antibiotics.

It may be harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well at night. If you can, take it easy through the day — this may be your last chance to do so for quite a while. Keep monitoring your baby's movements, too, and let your caregiver know immediately if you notice a decrease. Though her quarters are getting cozy, she should still be as active as before.

While you're sleeping, you're likely to have some intense dreams. Anxiety both about labor and about becoming a parent can fuel a lot of strange flights of unconscious fancy.

How I'm doing: I'm excited to have made it to 37 weeks. The baby can come any day now. I still have 7 more days of work though (Tuesday, April 15th is my last day). I'm excited for that day to come because it means the baby is almost here but I'm also a little sad. It's going to be very weird to be off work for 4 months or so. I haven't been off work/school for 4 months since I started going to school in 1984. I'm sure I'll be so distracted I won't notice. And I'm sure I'll stop by a few times to show off the baby.

Speaking of work, my work buddies threw me a surprise shower on Wednesday of this last week. I knew they were planning something but I didn't know what or when. They planned it to take place during our regular weekly group meeting--which I kind of had a feeling it might fall during that time since we're all gathered then. BUT, it was much more than I expected. Lots of balloons, pink tablecloths, decorations, Sprinkles cupcakes, and personalized M&Ms. That and a lot of people focused on me for an hour. I was very overwhelmed with the generosity displayed. Baby Pope got a lot of nice gifts. A lot more books and clothes, her swing, cute and tiny shoes, lullaby CDs and a lot more. She's definitely a spoiled little girl already. Thank you to the "HSU" (which is my work group at the VA, the Health Services Unit) and especially to Amy, Rebecca, Alison and Katy who I think were the major conspirators. Apparently Scott knew about this for several weeks and was able to keep it a secret and even taunt me asking me if I'd looked at any of our registries recently. He's a better liar than I've given him credit for in the past. Thanks again, I'm really lucky to work with really great people.

We also had an appointment with our midwives this last week. We talked to them again about their "overdue" protocols since most likely I'll end up being late and not early unfortunately. Unlike a lot of prenatal providers, our midwives do not do regular internal exams until I'm 41 weeks pregnant (or 1 week "overdue"). A lot of providers will start to do exams at around 36 weeks. This is why some women can give updates about how dilated and effaced they are before they're actually in labor. The problem with this is that dilation and effacement don't really tell you anything about when labor will start. It's possible to walk around 3 cm dilated for several weeks and it's possible not to be dilated at all and go into labor later that day. So it gives people false hopes or unnecessary grief knowing this number. FYI- effacement refers to how thin or short the cervix is. The cervix needs to open (dilate) and shorten (efface) before the baby can be delivered. The cervix dilates to 10 cms and effaces to 100%. Our midwives will not start talking to us about induction at all until I reach that 41 week appointment. At that point, we'll see how the baby is doing and go from there. If my amniotic fluid levels are good, the baby seems happy and is not losing weight we'll hold out until about 42 weeks. Things start to deteriorate at 42 weeks so induction would be in the cards at that point. Hopefully we won't make it that far. The new hospital opens at 40 weeks 4 days. We don't want to have this baby during the transition. I don't really want to be wheeled to the new hospital while I'm in labor or shortly after birth.

My next appointment with the midwives is on Wednesday morning. I'm meeting with them weekly now until the baby comes. At this appointment I'll get my group B strep test done. Remember I'm hoping for this to be negative so I don't need IV antibiotics during labor which would make me more confined to the bed. But if I am positive this could mean a chance of some nasty things happening to the baby if I'm untreated so we'll definitely go for the antibiotics.

I've still been having contractions a couple times a day. Nothing really notable about that. I'm also still going to yoga twice a week when I can. This morning I went to water aerobics and yoga. In my water aerobics I got a lot of "advice" from an older woman who thought I shouldn't be doing anything but sitting at home I guess. Thankfully she didn't stay through the whole class. Just like anyone else I can tell when I'm pushing myself too hard and I don't do it. Exercising makes me feel better not worse. We had our last birth class this last Thursday. Technically speaking we should know how to birth this baby now. We'll see how much we learned sometime in the next month.

35 weeks, only 5 weeks to go!

How your baby's growing: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How your life's changing: Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

From here on out, you'll start seeing your practitioner every week. Sometime between now and 37 weeks, she'll do a vaginal and rectal culture to check for bacteria called Group B streptococci (GBS). (Don't worry — the swab is the size of a regular cotton swab, and it won't hurt at all.) GBS is usually harmless in adults, but if you have it and pass it on to your baby during birth, it can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection. Because 10 to 30 percent of pregnant women have the bacteria and don't know it, it's vital to be screened. (The bacteria come and go on their own — that's why you weren't screened earlier in pregnancy.) If you're a GBS carrier, you'll get IV antibiotics during labor, which will greatly reduce your baby's risk of infection.

This is also a good time to create a birth plan. Using our form will help you focus on specifics — like who'll be present, what pain management techniques you want to try, and where you want your baby to stay after you deliver. It will give you a starting point to discuss your preferences with your medical team. Childbirth is unpredictable, and chances are you won't follow your plan to the letter, but thinking about your choices ahead of time — and sharing your preferences with your caregiver — should take some of the anxiety out of the process..

How I'm doing: I'm doing very well. It's very exciting to know that we're having a girl. We are very much ready to meet her now. We're feeling more pressure to have a name decided on now. We have a first name settled on so now we're just deciding what the middle name will be. We have 3 choices but we could still go with something completely different. We may wait until we see her to decide. And we're still not telling a soul. Surprisingly, I've been able to keep this a secret.

Our glider arrived at the baby store yesterday, so we'll be picking that up over the weekend and getting it set up. Scott really likes it and thinks it's really comfortable and I think he's going to try and take it over before the baby comes. If Tony were still with us I know he'd think it were his too.

I have one more biweekly appointment on April 1st and then I'll start seeing the midwives every week. They didn't mention the Group B strep test so that may or may not be happening at my next appointment. It's very important to me that I don't screen positive. If I do, I'll have to be hooked up to a continuous IV throughout labor which will mean a much less active labor and that in turn might make a medication-free birth more difficult. Many people say the worst position in labor is the one you've been in for the past 15 minutes so movement can be an important pain relief technique.

We have two remaining birth classes. I feel like we've learned a lot through this process and are well prepared for childbirth. I am not afraid at all even after watching many births on video and hearing many stories of difficult births. Learning more about birth, even talking about dealing with pain, makes me more excited to go through the process rather than scared. I think this will help me to relax; which I hope is the key to a less painful birthing process. But I'm not crazy and I still hope that I'm one of the luckier mothers who has less painful but still productive contractions, the baby moves into just the right position, and that her head isn't too big (although I hope all the DHA supplements I've been taking daily have helped her brain to develop well).

My last day of work is April 15th. Not too much longer to go.

It's a GIRL for sure!

We had an ultrasound today and the doctor was able to confirm that we do have a baby girl on the way. We were very excited to find out of course. But more importantly, the baby girl looks healthy and perfect. She's measuring right on target and 5 lbs 6 oz. Measuring by ultrasound isn't an exact science of course and I've read that weight guesstimates can be off by as much as a pound. But given the measurements from today she's in the 52nd percentile for weight. But we already knew she was perfect. She was squishing her face into my placenta when we were trying to get a good picture of her face but we did see her heart beating and her little hands. She looked great. My amniotic fluid levels also looked good. She is also head down and getting ready to go.

Her positioning was the purpose of the ultrasound today. Our midwife was pretty certain that she felt her head down at our appointment yesterday but they usually do an ultrasound to be sure. It's much more difficult to deliver a baby breech so being head down is important, especially with our birth plan. Now hopefully she'll stay that way.

As I mentioned we had an appointment with one of the midwives yesterday. The baby is doing great. Her heartbeat was in the 140s and everything else seemed to be fine. She's moving all of the time so that's no problem. She doesn't like when I lean forward when I'm sitting. She'd prefer I recline so she has more space. I'm feeling much more restricted in my lung and bladder capacity. I'm looking forward to her "dropping" or engaging in the next few weeks so I can breathe better but I'm not looking forward to the added pressure that will put on my bladder. I've also had mild heartburn that should ease up with the added space as well.

Not much else to report from the visit. I've set my last day at work. I will go out with a bang on Tax Day, April 15th. That will give me two weeks before my midwife-given due date of April 30th. Remember that I still think my due date is April 25th. Not that any of these dates matter all that much since everything is just an estimate. Babies are on their own schedule. Right now I'm still hoping that the baby will stay put until at least May 4th when the new hospital opens so I can enjoy my private room and plasma TV. I may change my mind as I get closer to the 40-week mark. There is a full moon on April 20th so perhaps that will influence baby's arrival? That is one old wives' tale that does appear to be true.