Don't mess with a pregnant lady

Well, we had our last prenatal class last night! It was a breastfeeding class done by a lactation consultant. Geeze! I didn't know there were so many factors that went into breastfeeding! I hope I can get it figured out pretty fast. And unfortunately, there were no funny questions from the over-anxious girl this time. The only one that was fairly funny was when the consultant was talking about all the vitamins and proteins and antibiotics that are in breast milk, she mentioned that there was lactose in it and the girl asked if, since she was lactose intolerant, if it was going to make her sick. The consultant just explained that it was lactose in cows milk that people are allergic too, and the fact that it was her body's natural production, it wasn't going to make her or the baby sick.

Also, can I just say what a gentleman my husband is? We got this random snow storm last night and Bryant was the only husband that went to get the car and pull it up in front of the hospital while I stayed nice and warm inside the double doors. As I watched the other couples run out into the sideways blowing snow, I could tell that the women were a little mad that their husbands were making them walk out to their cars. Glad my husband still believes in chivalry.

Today, we had another checkup and this was the first time they checked for dilation and effacement. He said I was only dilated to 1 1/2cm and he didn't say anything about effacement other than that women who are having their first babies tend to be pretty thin anyways. So I'm not sure what that means. He said not to be discouraged with only 1 1/2 because it just depends on my body and the baby, and I could very well go from 1 1/2 to 10 overnight, you just never know.

(photo at 36 weeks, I'll be 37 weeks on Thursday!)

I'm not too worried seeing as she has always been right on track and she still has 3 weeks to go. There is a lot of growing that can be done in 3 weeks. Of course I'm more than ready to have her here, but ultimately, she should come when she's ready, that ensures that she will be the most safe and most healthy.

Then, I had to deal with the rudest secretary on the planet. I swear, every time I go in, there is some problem and they are just flat out mean sometimes. As we were checking out and stuff, she said "oh by the way, you haven't paid us yet". My insurance is supposed to pay 100% of everything. This includes co-pays, visits, lab tests, and labor and delivery. I also recently got on my mom's insurance and it's considered secondary insurance.

When I told the secretary that my insurance should pay for everything, she said that they decided that they no longer want to accept my insurance and I owed them 180 bucks in "doctor fees". When I argued that they can't suddenly deny the insurance that they have been using for the last several months she said "Yes we can. We have the right to decide which of your insurances we will consider to be the primary insurance. So are you going to pay us today or what?" (see? rude...) So I told them I didn't have 180 bucks to just hand over today, she said "well you had better pay us next week because we have to have that money before you deliver and you're due in 3 weeks." Sheesh!

So I talked to my Mom and apparently, her insurance will actually cover that 180 bucks, I just have to bring in another card. Also, I'm filing a complaint to the doctors about how rude she was. There was a much better and nicer way to handle all that.

Also, embarrassing moment for today:

The first thing you do for a checkup is a urine sample, as most everyone knows. Well, not 3 minutes after I gave them the sample and I was waiting in the room for the doctor, I suddenly had to rush to the bathroom again! So I flew out the door, right past the doctor and the nurse came running up to me asking if I was OK as I was literally running to the opposite side of the office where the bathroom was located, shouting "I'm fine! Just have to use the bathroom!"

Yeah I looked like an idiot.
Probably the most embarrassing part was when I got back, the doctor clapped me on the shoulder chuckling and asking if I was now ready. He said it happens all the time, but I still felt ridiculous. Curse this squished bladder!

Anyways, I guess if baby Stokes is not quite ready, I've got more time to get her room finished and some more cleaning done. I'm currently in the process of washing all her clothes and blankets (the most fun I've ever had doing laundry!) and organizing them according to size. So my kitchen and laundry room are a disaster!


Also, I'm so close to finishing my online classes that I actually enjoy doing the homework! Every bit makes me that much closer! The goal is to be totally done by next week! Wouldn't that be awesome if I finished my classes, had Baby's room done and my apartment cleaned by next week? Then all I have is work and I can coast on auto-pilot until this baby decides to come!

Fish are probably the least of your problems...

So last night was our 3rd prenatal class at the hospital! I tell you what, I'm super excited that we only have one more because after 15 minutes of sitting there the old back started to ache again, and I sat there twisting and turning and bending in my chair trying to get comfortable for the next 2 hours and 15 minutes.

But this class really has been so informational and so helpful! This time, we went over the cost of having a baby (yuck, they don't tell you this before you decided to get pregnant. Probably because then no one would want to get pregnant...) and then we had a lady from the Welcome Baby program that's done through United Way come by and tell us about their services. They offer home visits after the baby is born and they basically just go over a few things with you, and offer you a list of resources like where you can get free eye exams for the baby and play groups, so I signed up for that.

Then they had a pediatrician from an office that was down the street and he gave us a quiz with questions like "at how many months should a baby start walking, how many until 50% of their language should be understandable, how big is their stomach after they are a week old..." That kind of stuff. Bryant and I did pretty well, but it was tough because I was going off of my nieces, and two cousins milestones and they all have developed differently, so it's hard to pin point an exact time frame.

Then he let us ask questions we had, and surprisingly, it was mainly the husbands that were doing the asking. My favorite question though, was is it safe to have animals around? It's a totally legit question and a good one for us since we have Ace, but one girl (the same one who asked the "what does labor smell like" question if you will recall...) asked "is it ok if we have fish?" the Pediatrician said "oh yeah it's totally fine to have fish." and she said "but is there any risk the baby could get salmonella from them?" and the Pediatrician got a funny look on his face and said "well, possibly if your baby somehow got into the tank, pulled out the fish and were to play with them. But fish generally don't have salmonella and I don't think your baby is going to get into the tank..."

This girl cracks me up every class because she is so overly worried about everything. Her other two questions were if it was necessary to burp your baby if you were breastfeeding (uh, yes, they are still eating and still get air in their tummies) if you could breastfeed exclusively until they were 18 months old (hey, this is your personal preference, but you have to remember that they will have teeth by then... Plus, just personally, that seems a little old to still be breastfeeding). And if it was ok not to get their immunizations in case it causes autism (well, personally, I'd rather have a kid with autism then a severely sick or dying kid... just saying. And didn't she hear that the doctor who published that research came out and said it was totally bogus and that he made it all up?)

Anyways, after the pediatrician visit, the nurse showed us basic child care, like how to bath them, swaddle them and change their diapers. I was surprised how many people in there have never changed a diaper in their life. How did they all get away with it?! Lucky ducks... I was elbow deep in diapers between several babysitting gigs, two brothers and a sister...

All in all, a good class! Only one more to go and it's a breastfeeding class.

As for Baby Stokes:

I had another appointment today. We are officially down to once a week visits! Once again, everything looked great! She's still low and basically in the same position as she was 2 weeks ago. We discussed Group B Strep again because in the prenatal class they said that 80% of womens water won't break on it's own and that the baby was safe from group B strep if you were given antibiotics before the water broke. Then, of course i've been dreaming almost every night that my water breaks (usually at work) and I get panicky. The Doc said that if it does happen to break, they give me the antibiotics like normal and she should be fine. He said that without treatment, the chances of her being infected were 1 in 100,000. And even if she were to get infected, they just giver her the antibiotics right after she's born and it's all good.

I also set up an induction date just in case she's stubborn and won't come on her own. They try to shy away from inductions so the soonest they would do it was a week after her due date. But lets all cross our fingers she's not a late baby! I want her to come before my in-laws have to go back and seriously, my back can't take this anymore, let alone 5 1/2 more weeks...

A tale of bowling and epidurals

Today, Bryant and I both had the whole day off, which is becoming more and more rare, so we took the opportunity to sleep in, go to Parkers for lunch (mmmm... onion rings! Cheap onion rings!) and hit up the bowling alley!

We decided to just go to Jack and Jills bowling, but that was a bit of a mistake because it was a lot more expensive and it was waaay crowded.


We had to wait about 20 minutes for a lane, but we kept ourselves busy playing air hockey.

(I'm going to say that my face looks fat due to water weight... At least that's what I'm hoping it is)

It was nice to actually get out and do something rather than just going out to eat for a date. I have to say though, that after holding and 8lb ball, I've decided that I don't want this baby to get to be more than 8lbs! It's not too heavy to carry in your arms, but carrying that in my belly would be so uncomfortable! I have a whole new respect for those moms with 8,9, 10 lb babies. Sheesh!

Speaking of babies, we had our 2nd prenatal class tonight. I really like these classes but they are way too long to have pregnant women sitting in a hard chair. By the end, we are all hunched over with our husbands rubbing our backs. (I should point out that Bryant actually got up and stood behind my chair to give me a really good back and neck massage. Thanks babe!)

This class, the nurse brought a bucket full of things that you might see during your labor, like a hospital gown, forceps, a vacuum, monitors, different types of needles or swabs, and, well, I got the razor... And we all had to guess what they were and what they would be used for.

We also went over cessarian sections (C-sections) and different reasons why you may need one, took a "virtual" tour of the triage room, labor suite, mother's room and nursery and all the rules and procedures associated with them.

We also watched a C-section video and a vaginal birth video. These videos really didn't bother me. Bryant kept asking if I was ok and if they were just making me nervous, but to be honest, I just found them interesting.

But remember that girl I mentioned from my post about our first class that was asking weird questions, like what it smelled like during labor? She got up and left during both videos and looked like she was either going to pass out or cry. I felt really bad, I hope she does ok. She also seemed really concerned after the nurse said that after you deliver, they like you to feed the baby within the first hour. She kept asking repeatedly what would happen if the lactation consultant didn't show up to help her and what if the baby wouldn't latch. The nurse had to reassure her that they would make sure a lactation consultant would be there and everything would be fine.

After the class, I noticed the nurse took her aside and told her that she really didn't need to be so anxious and that she needed to remember that birth was a normal and natural thing. She told her that the more she was stressed, the harder labor was going to be for her. I really hope she does ok, for her sake and the baby's.

The only thing so far that has really freaked me out, was looking at how HUGE the epidural needle was! Seriously, it's like 6 inches long! Thankfully, the nurse said you don't feel that needle (but you do feel the needle that numbs your back up first) and that only a small part of the epidural needle actually goes in. It's big because they feed the catheter through it.

I'm actually really looking foreword to next weeks class. Mostly because they are going over basic parenting techniques, such as diapers, bathing, feeding, that kind of stuff, and I'm interested to see how Bryant does. And well, lets face it, it's been a loooong time since I've made a bottle...

Valentines Day and Baby Update!

Yesterday was Valentines Day. I was really excited and I had some fun things planned that I wanted to do, but unfortunately, I'm still sick. Bleh.

I did however, get to go to a romantic lunch with Bryant. He was able to get off work a little early and he called me and had me meet him down at the Chefs Table in Orem.

Sooo yummy!

We had a gift card there that Bryant won a few months ago from work, and we didn't use the whole thing so this was the perfect day to use the rest up!

(yuck, I'm really starting to look bloated aren't I?)

I had the chicken salad sandwich with a salad and Bryant had the fillet minion (spelling on that?) which I stole a few bites of...


Afterwords, Bryant wanted to take me to a movie or bowling, but I was starting to lose energy fast and my nose was blocked like the hoover dam so we headed home and I took a long nap.

Then, we headed off to our first prenatal class! A few of my friends have told me not to waste my time there, that I would know exactly what to do when the time came, but honestly, I'm so happy I went! I learned a lot and I'm looking foreword to next weeks class!

We learned about warning signs to look for, the different stages of labor and delivery, and then learned some breathing and relaxation techniques (which Bryant just sat there and giggled because I couldn't breath at ALL through my nose!). Bryant was a good sport and really supportive the whole time. It feels good to know that he's going to be a good "birthing coach".

The lady who teaches the class did a really good job. She's been a labor and delivery nurse for 13 years and is pregnant with her 7th baby (I'd say she's well qualified to teach the class at this point...) And she answered everyone's questions, no matter how odd they were, like the one girl who asked if she would shake uncontrollably after she delivered or what it would smell like during labor and delivery and if there was any particular smell to be worried about (obviously, she's been reading too many weird things on the internet and is getting a bit anxious or paranoid. Really? What does it smell like when you deliver a baby? That was not even at the very bottom of my list of concerns...)

As for Baby Stokes...

I had another appointment today and, once again, she's super healthy and everything in looking great! I'm still gaining weight right on track (a pound a week! Sounds like a lot, but the doc said that's what he wants me to gain) my blood pressure is normal, her heart rate is normal and her head is nice and low (which means her feet are still always in my right rib cage) and she's growing perfectly.

I go in again in another 2 weeks, then we start weekly appointments to be checked for dilation and all that fun stuff. It's crazy to think that here I am, almost 34 weeks, and she could (safely) come anytime after 37 weeks. Which means she could come in 3 1/2 weeks if she was ready. (I think with how well she's been doing so far, she will come pretty close to her due date though)

So there you have it! My valentines day and a Baby update! I'm off to go clean up the crib we just got from my aunt!