Friday, November 12, 2010

Baby Shower & Almost 33 weeks!

So technically I'm only 32w4d, but once I hit Friday I'm pretty much rounding up to the next week. I'm a cheater, but whateva!! So hard to believe, 33 weeks sounds close...7 weeks is crazy, I mean if I get real carried away I could almost justify rounding that down to 4 weeks...well that's a bit of stretch but still.

I am getting a little nervous about being ready. Being in between homes has been nice in some ways cause I haven't been stressing about the nursery, or finding the perfect gender neutral bedding (which I swear doesn't exist). But now I'm starting to feel a little panicky about how its all going to work without my perfect little nursery ready to go. I registered for a bassinet, which people tell me they use for the first few months anyways...and my pack.n.play comes with a changing table. I guess being a new mom is all about figuring it out, so I'm sure it will all be fine. But I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to our house being done, and moving our new little family into our own space finally!

In other news I had my first shower this last weekend! My mom threw this for my family and girlfriends. It was a good "starter" shower, to get me back into the shower swing of things. Opening gifts in front of people, super awkward...and when its quiet and you feel 20 sets of eyes on you waiting to see how you react to wait for it....yep another set of bibs (while adorable and I registered for them, it goes get hard to really get reved up with the same enthusiasm as the first 4 sets)!! And I'm a sweater, I get nervous and I start pitting....sorry gross but true! But at the end of the day, it was a super fun shower and Skooter got some amazing stuff, including my crib from my college friends!!!

We also had our labor class the day before. A friend had mentioned it was sort of a waste of time, but I totally disagree. The day did start off a little rocky when the girl sitting in the chair next to me had a seizure within 15 minutes of class starting, SO scary but we got word she and baby were doing just fine an hour or so later. We got to go on a tour of the hospital and see all 3 rooms that would be part of the delivery process. The nurse was great and gave us a bunch of great advice about labor. Some of the highlights I got were:

- If you're not sure whether you're in labor or just braxton.hicks....take a long shower. If you get out of the shower and the contractions are gone, they were just braxton...but if they're more intense time to call the dr.
- She said if there's nothing else you remember it's to try not to tense up during contractions. Try as hard as possible to relax, tensing will only make it worse.
- We watched a labor video which was pretty graphic, and afterwards she noted these were all obviously natural labors. She said an epidural video would be pretty boring...which I plan to do, so that made me happy. Boring labor sounds like happy labor to me, hah!
- She said do not wear a bra when you change into your gown, especially not a sports bra. She said if you do need a c-section in the end, they are a huge pain to get off with all the other things hooked up to you. Random but I thought it was a good piece of info!
- She had a fake pair of hip bones, and told us how it really doesn't matter how big you are on the outside...it all depends on the size of the whole between your hips. This woman was teeny tiny, like 100 lbs, and said she had 9 lbs babies. I have pretty narrow hips, so here's hoping I have one huge gaping hip hole, ha!
- Do not buy new pajamas for the hospital post delivery, or if you do get some cheapy nightgownish type thing that you can pull up for cleaning up down below (she warned you will bleed on whatever you're wearing), and its easier for breastfeeding.

So while the idea of labor got a lot more real (holy crap in 7 short weeks I WILL have to push this baby out of me), it did make me feel more prepared which is always a good thing! And here's a pic of hubs and I post-shower!!

15 comments:

manymanymoons said...

Sounds like a great class. I am so focused on getting pregnant that sometimes it crosses my mind that if I ever did manage to get pregnant (and stay that way), I would be freaking out about the labor (on the inside of course, because from what I hear infertile women are just supposed to be so grateful to be pregnant that they aren't supposed to complain or worry about labor...such crap). :)

Samantha said...

I loved our class but I really appreciate you posting about yours because there's some things I didn't know... Like the bra thing. Makes perfect sense but who woulda though! I sure was planning on wearing a nursing sports bra but now I guess I'll be ditching that until after baby comes!

You and the hubs look fantastic :)

Secret Sloper said...

You look sooooo cute in that pic. I can't believe how soon it is!

Deanna said...

You look so great! Congratulations on getting so close to meeting cute Skooter! :)

Marianne said...

What an adorable picture!

It's so nice to hear an update from you. Glad everything is going well!

Anonymous said...

You look so cute!!

I thought I'd chime in given that my birth was less than a week ago...it's all very fresh!

I kind of disagree about the pj's. Granted, I had a c-section, but I pushed to a +4 station and her head was coming out, so I did bleed. Maybe I'm vain (okay, probably), but it really helped me to get in the shower each day and to put on an actual outfit. I saw several girls in the hospital who hadn't showered or changed out of their gown and for me, it just felt nice to feel and look as back to normal as I could, despite the huge puffy belly still.

Also, I can attest to the whole hip thing. If you look at me and my sister, she's TINY. I'm NOT. She literally is tiny, like a size 0. I'm NOT. She pushed 2 kids out with little problems (though it was a lot of work, but no problems). My birth canal was not big enough to push Wren out and she wasn't even that big of a baby. So I agree...it has nothing about to do with how big you look from the outside, otherwise I should be able to push out a 13 lb baby! :)

So exciting that you got such great stuff (a crib, OMG!). I can't believe you only have 7 weeks left!! It goes so quickly!! Here's hoping you get everything you need and things go well for the rest of the pregnancy!

Anonymous said...

#1 You look so cutie! I am obsessssssssed with that dress. Where did you get it?! LOVE! I covet if for Thanksgiving. :)

#2 I am so awkward in present-opening situations. Hubs and I had a "joint" shower at home before our wedding with all of my parents friends and I think I drank 2 solid glasses of wine to calm my nerves during the gift opening portion. Haha, obvs not an option!! But I'm sure you were gracious and wonderful!

#3 Good stuff on the new house. When do you guys move in? It will be so wonderful to have your own family space soon. I'm sure this time with your 'rents, while wonderful in its own ways, will make you appreciate that all the more.

Congrats on 33 freaking weeks, ZOMG! xoxo

R.J. said...

You look adorable! Thanks for sharing the tips from the class - I skipped birthing class because of the feedback I had heard and also the 90% chance I'll have a C-Section, but now that I'm getting close I feel so unprepared!

Andrea said...

Bring on the boring! Epidural here I come :) Thanks for passing along all the great advice...good stuff.

So happy that you had your first shower, so sweet :) And I want your dress in that picture! Seriously, I'm ordering it, or one very similar from Nordstrom :) Love it and you two (well, you 3) look absolutely adorable...PB&J, right!

Wishing you all the best as you race for the finish line!!!

HUGS

Chelle said...

I can't believe you are already 33 weeks! It seriously seems like you should be maybe 20. It has gone so fast!

I didn't like my showers either. Not that I wasn't super appreciative, cause I was, but I don't like being the center of attention and being expected to "react." So I can totally relate there. I can also relate with the sweating thing. I am that way too. It really sucks, doesn't it?!

You look so adorable in the shower picture. I hope you made out like a bandit on the baby gear front!

Alison said...

I totally get the shower awkwardness...but at least it's over and Skooter got lots of good stuff :)

You look great and it's SO exciting about your new house! How fun it will be to decorate the "real" nursery when you know if Skooter is a boy or a girl (I'm leaning towards girl now, BTW).

And, thanks for the hospital tips - stuff I would not have thought about!

Anonymous said...

I totally get the shower awkwardness, too. You look sooo cute. I love that dress!

Those hospital tips are great! Thanks for posting them.

Littlest True Blue said...

Your shower sounds great! And you look so cute! I'm glad you posted the hospital tips because I am clueless! We haven't even taken our prenatal classes yet! ahhh!!! I'm so excited to keep reading your journey and finally meet your little guy/girl!!!!

Anonymous said...

Aw that picture is too cute -you look AMAZING. :)

Thanks for all your hints & tips - we're taking a class too but not until about January so I'm trying to soak up all information until then!

Mrs. Chapman's 2nd Grade Class said...

You look soooo cute!! So glad your first class went well. Sounds like you got lots of useful information. Not long now. :)