The Once and Future Blog

The Once and Future Blog
...shadows of the world appear...

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Had my 32-week appointment yesterday. Shockingly, I only gained 4.5 lbs in the last 4 weeks. Between the outgrowing of the pants and the swelling of the face, I was worried that I'd put on a lot more than that. So I'm up 23 lbs total - not bad.

The doctor felt my belly and determined that the Papoose is not sideways after all - he's head down. I have no idea how he could tell, because I sure can't, but apparently his head is downward and slightly to the left, his back is just to the left of my belly button (I've been feeling a lot of "pushing" type movement right in that spot, which the doctor said could be him arching his back), and his butt is just above and to the right of my belly button. I felt more hiccups this morning, and they were about where his head is supposed to be, so I felt better. Of course, he could still move - the doctor says he's "like a yogi in there," able to change position anytime at this point. Let's hope he stays more or less where he is.

We also had the first of our two Prepared Childbirth classes on Sunday. It lasted from 9 am - 1:30 pm, but it went by pretty quickly. At first I was surprised to see how much of the information I already knew, especially compared to some of our classmates. But later on, the instructor walked us through the stages of an uncomplicated labor to give us an idea of what happens when, when to call the doctor, when to go to the hospital, what would happen once we got there, etc., and I found that very helpful. We also practiced some breathing exercises, but Andy kept making me laugh during them. He was sitting behind me with his hands on my back, feeling me breathe from the abdomen, and the instructor told the women to visualize ourselves in the most relaxing place we could think of. Just as I inhaled, Andy intoned in my ear, "You're in the liiiiiiiiiibraryyyy..." and I choked on the breath I was taking. (He had a point, though.)

Finally we watched a video of a woman and her husband going through an unmedicated birth. I think I've been in denial this whole time. When I was younger I used to look ahead to being pregnant someday and worry about the pain, but since I've actually BEEN pregnant, I've hardly thought about it at all. Until now. This woman didn't seem like she was in horrible pain, actually, but something about watching it bothered me so much. It was so graphic and uncomfortable looking and...and...I don't know. Let me just say I cried during it, and not because I was moved. Epidural for me, please.

posted by Tricia | 12:11 PM