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35th Week of Pregnancy

My 35th week of pregnancy has come and gone. I will officially be in my 9th month tomorrow. Pretty scary. We’re “celebrating” by getting an ultrasound of BS early tomorrow morning to see how big he may be and to get a more realistic due date, even though it will still be estimated due date.

• We took a Newborn Care Class from RealBirth. It was for about 3 hours. We learned some useful stuff during the first 2 1/2 hours, the last 30 minutes was less useful, probably why she covered it last. If you take the class, definitely bring food!
• BS is still moving around and kicking up a storm.
• We also took a Childbirth with Epidural over the weekend. It was six hours on Saturday and another six hours on Sunday. We watched three different child births on DVD. After the second one, I just couldn’t watch another one. But what really really freaks me out was the various states of undress the mothers were in. I’m just not comfortable with that many people poking and prodding me while I’m close to naked. I think that scares me more than the pain of giving birth.
• Since taking the class, Henry is more than happy to get me water or anything to drink in a very timely manner. Keeping properly hydrated will help prevent early labor, something we both don’t need.
• The baby is now packing on fat in my belly.
• I’m still having very very odd dreams. I woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday from a dream where I was being chased by the undead, and while I was running, I could feel myself breathing really hard. And then while running, I some how got the ability to fly and flew to the top of a building. Trying to land on the building is what ultimately woke me up. I landed a little too quickly. I never had these kinds of dreams pre-pregnancy. I found a site that is a guide to pregnancy dreams.
• I keep telling BS that he can’t come early. Lately I’ve been telling him that he has to at least wait till we move before he can do anything. We’re moving next Wednesday, so it’s right around the corner. But packing is an issue since I can’t carry that much and Henry usually has to work late. I will miss the staff that works in this building, they’ve always been very kind to us and more so with me being pregnant. But I am looking forward to more space.
• If you need pregnancy clothes, you can save 10% from Posh Maternity using the code MAS10.
• I read some birthing traditions of my people. It kind of makes me happy that I don’t actually live in China. Some of it just sounds ridiculous. But I will be drinking that ginger-vinegar thing. My parents and Henry’s parents both have some brewing for me. I checked with my doctor and it’s ok to drink if you’re breast feeding. And usually sitting in the ginger-vinegar are pigs feet and eggs. The vinegar helps draw calcium out of the pigs feet, which will be good for me. The eggs will give me more protein. So it probably tastes gross, it definitely smells gross, but if it may be good, I’ll give it a try. Though my mom says you’re not supposed to start drinking it until the 6th week after birth.
• I’ve been having a lot of trouble breathing. It means that the baby is not in place yet and is still crushing my internal organs, including my lungs.
• I’ve been wondering what kind of outfit to bring the baby home with. Not necessarily which clothes, but we’re having a kid in July and it should be hot and warm, though if this rain keeps up, I won’t really have anything to worry about. Anyway, if it’s a regular July day, it’s going to be hot and humid and sunny. I don’t want my little guy sweating like crazy and I also don’t want him in the sun too long. Yes, this is the kind of stuff that goes through my head, think what Henry has to go through after 13 1/2 years! I did read that you should bring a kimono style shirt so that you don’t have to worry about a fussy baby when you’re trying to put a shirt over his head.
• My feet have been swelling more. Usually the right one is bigger than the left one. It’s really not fun seeing how pudgy it can get and seeing my cankles.
• I waddle everywhere I go. But when I try to hustle, usually one of two things will happen. I’ll either get a stitch on my side, or get a Braxton-Hicks contraction, forcing me to slow down to my waddling pace.
• We learned about oxytocin in our childbirthing class. Now Henry is afraid for me to do anything that releases too many oxytocins because he doesn’t want to trigger labor. Get your mind out of the gutter! It’s more like don’t eat too much spicy stuff. And he wants to save all the back rubs for the big day because he thinks I’m going to need a lot of that. And massages release oxytocins, so he doesn’t want to do anything that will trigger an early labor.