Childbirth Class

Here is the 34 week belly photo! Boy, am I getting chubby! The belly is big, but now I think my face is filling out and I am feeling very round everywhere. I am really trying to perfect the waddle too.

Sean and I enjoyed our childbirth class yesterday. A lot of the information was what we had read in books, but something about having the time to focus and have someone describe it to us was helpful. We also learned some massage techniques, breathing techniques, and laboring positions to try during the big event. We spent quite a lot of time on the birthing ball (essentially just the stability or exercise ball). I felt very self conscious and awkward when we were supposed to practice breathing techniques. We did deep breath, yoga type breathing which I think is my style. But we also did "Hee Hee Hoo" and variable "Pant Blow" breathing and I just couldn't be serious. I kept laughing and losing count and it really just seemed awfully complicated. Who knows, though, maybe in the midst of contractions I can fall back to it if needed.

We watched one video on the stages of birth and saw a couple of births, but we didn't dwell on that too much. We also went through medical interventions and cesarean sections. I really need to work on coming to terms with a c-section if it comes to that. I can't quite describe the anxiety that rises inside me when I hear about the whole procedure. I surely hope I can have the natural birth experience that I want, but I also realize I need to work on becoming more open-minded and realize that I can't predict how it will go and in some cases drugs and surgery are best. I guess I am most worried about losing control of the process and having things "done" to me. The good news is that Concord only has a 25% c-section rate which I believe is quite a bit lower than the nation's average. They also only have a 36% epidural rate (some hospitals are in the 90th percentile), so they are very in tune with women who want to go med-free.

There were about 7 couples in the class. Only one of them was due before Sean and I, while the rest were due sometime around Thanksgiving. One couple was expecting twins, however, and thought they would go early than their due date. We didn't have too much interaction with the other students, but some of the comments throughout the class were really funny. All in all, it was a good experience and just nice for Sean and I to have the time to sit and focus on this after all of the home-seeking drama that has been consuming our time. We are touring the birth center (called "the family place") at the hospital on Tuesday evening and I am looking forward to seeing exactly where the whole thing will go down.

34 Weeks

Today marks 34 weeks for Butterball. Time is truly flying! I had a check up on Wednesday. It was very routine. My fundal height hadn't actually changed since my last appointment, still at 34.5, so maybe Butterball is not going to be so huge, but just had an early growth spurt. It is all such speculation anyway. His heartrate was good and strong at 140 beats/min and overall things are going well. He has recently found my ribs and has a habit of pushing against my hip bone while pressing his feet into my ribs at the same time. He is also really active at night which contributes to some sleeplessness on my part. Not to mention my pelvis could fall apart any day now. The midwife said this is kind of par for the course. On the upside, my cold has run its course and I am feeling much better.

I am excited because Sean and I have an eight hour condensed birth class tomorrow at Concord Hospital. I am not really sure what to expect. I hope it is informative and not just a repeat of what we have been reading. If anything it will be fun to see other pregnant people and watch how other couples interact.

Well, this week has been a house-buying roller coaster. Just when we thought our luck had changed, we had home inspections on the cute cape we were going to buy. Turns out there is some question regarding the reliability of the septic system. It was rated in poor condition and the inspector anticipated it getting worse and failing within 1-2 years. It is not something the sellers were willing to negotiate and they got their own inspector to say that it was working perfectly fine. Sean and I really debated as to whether we wanted to roll the dice on this, but in the end we have decided to bail and just get a rental. It was a really tough and emotional decision, but in the end I think we would rather play it safe when we don't anticipate being able to put in a new septic should it fail in the next two years. I am really disappointed that we couldn't find a home to buy. It really doesn't seem like it should be as difficult as it has been for us. But my goodness, we gave it a really good go, and I think it is time to just settle into a nest to anticipate Butterball's arrival. We will try to better prepare ourselves and get back into the house-buying market next year.

I have gotten lax with belly photos, but I will try to take one tomorrow and then update the blog with birth class stories.

Under the Weather

I have managed to get a cold! Stuffed sinuses, sore throat, cough and all. As if it weren't enough that I feel like I could be supporting my own solar system with this belly! My body is achy, but I don't know if I can blame that on the cold or pregnancy. Probably both. I am drinking lots and trying to sleep a lot. Everytime I take a nap I wake up thinking I feel better with lots more energy, but then I get tired really quickly. I am definitely not very productive at all.

Today is a very rainy Friday so it does feel fitting to be curled up drinking tea, but I really hope I kick this thing quickly. I have avoided all meds throughout the pregnancy so I am trying to forgo anything now. I wonder what it feels/sounds like to Butterball when I am sneezing and coughing.

Today marks 33 weeks, just 50 days til due date. I will get an new belly photo up soon with more updates. I hope everyone else is well!

More House Photos

Here are more photos of the house. This is a side view. Note the shed with the tree in the right side:

Here is the back of the house. It is a bit dark from the shade and the yard doesn't have a lot of grass, but I think that can be remedied easily:

Here is the patio in the back yard:

Here is one of the rooms. I am not sure if we will make this a living room as it is shown or it maybe our bedroom:

Here is part of the kitchen:

Here is the bathroom. It is tiny, but I love the clawfoot tub:

Here is the mudroom:

Here is the room that the seller was using as a bedroom. It has one of the fireplaces in it (the other is on the other side of the kitchen). I am not sure that we would use this as the bedroom. We may make it the living room:

Here is one of the sleeping lofts. It is really cute, but only had a rickety antique ladder going up to it that we would need to replace for a little more safety. It will make a great room though:

The woman who owns the place just had it jam packed full of furniture so it will be interesting to move our own things into it. I wish I had had time to take more photos as I missed the dining room and some other touches, but I guess I will do so when we actually move in.

I sure hope all the inspections go well. I am excited, but after everything we have been through, I won't get crazy excited until closing day.

Offer Accepted!

Well, it didn't seem possible, but we are one step closer to actually being homeowners. We completely didn't expect it, but the sellers came back on Tuesday with an exceptionally reasonable counter offer and we took it. The contract is signed. Here is the super cute antique cape that could be ours: It is over 200 years old, which just adds to the charm in our opinion. It has some neat history, originally being the home of a coopersmith:

Being so old, it definitely has its quirks. It is quite small, but cozy with 2 fireplaces off of the central chimney. It has 5 rooms, one of which is a mudroom, plus two sleeping lofts, one of which is more likely best for storage. It has a very small cellar/basement and it has a shed with a giant sugar maple growing through it. There is a nice backyard with a patio. The back is a bit overgrown with trees so it is very shaded, but I bet we could open it up. I took more photos, but I am having a hard time getting them into the post. I will try again in another post.

We are very excited, but there are still some hurdles before we get the keys. We have all the house inspections on Monday and then of course we have to get our mortgage application into the bank. If all goes according to plan, then we should be closing October 6th. Hopefully Butterball will be content to wait til his due date and that will give us ample time to get moved in a prepare for his arrival. October is going to be one crazy month.

32 Weeks

It does look like I am housing a giant baby! I had my 32 week check up on Friday. It was extremely quick and routine after everything that went on Thursday. I met one of the midwives at the practice, but unfortunately she typically does not work in that office and would not have the potential to deliver Butterball. She was very nice, but I do wish they had told me prior to scheduling an appointment with her that she wasn't a regular.

So, now everytime I meet someone new I have to update them to the whole history of moving from Akron and the various things that have occurred throughout the pregnancy, etc. I was explaining that everything went really well with the hydronephrosis ultrasound and also that we were assured there was no problem with growth given the two vessel cord. She asked how big they estimated the baby to be and when I told her five pounds, she looked at my record and then was quite surprised that I was only 32 weeks along. I told her I was skeptical of the measurements. So, then she checked Butterball's heartbeat and it was a strong 135 beats/min. She then measured the the uterus growth (fundal height). It is at 34.5 cm currently. They generally say that cm = weeks in pregnancy. She tells me it is 34.5, and that yes indeed, this is going to be a big baby. Okay, people, I get it, I have a HUGE baby! Thank you for the emphasis.

On the other hand, I guess I was a little overzealous in my last posting. I think I misunderstood the conversation with the doctor on Thursday. Sean swears that he only estimated that Butterball will be 7.5-8.5 lbs at birth. Sean was the one asking if he would be 10-12 pounds. So, 7.5-8.5 seems completely normal and manageable (she says having never done this before). At any rate, it is all just a guess. It has just become very comical how everytime I turn around people tell me how gigantic the baby is going to be. I have another appointment in a week and a half, so we will see what the new midwife has to say.

On to the much anticpated house news. We finally got "closure" on our short sale. In this case though, closure is that the bank finally came back and rejected our offer, countering 20K higher. The whole thing was so shady, we finally decided to just let it go. I can't believe we put an offer in on that place on June 20th and now in September after months of being assured we had verbal approval, they pull this. There are so many shady things that the seller's agent did it is not even funny. We are writing letters to Better Business Bureau, NH Real Estate Association, etc. Our agent has caught him in lies. The whole thing is just really sad. What a first time home buying experience.

Now, the good news is we just today put an offer in on another house. Could this be the third time is the charm? Who knows. It is certainly the most charming house though. It is an antique cape built c.1805. It is quite small and very quirky, but I just think it is adorable. It is not a foreclosure and it is not a short sale, so we will know early this week if we get it and if we don't, it was not meant to be and we will be renting. I am excited either way to know what our fate shall be. I won't go into too many details or post pictures just yet in case it doesn't go through, but keep your fingers crossed that this goes smoothly.

Overall, it has been a lovely weekend. We went to Concord last night and got some great Indian food. Today, Sean and I went to visit Jon and Kate and Annalise in Maine. It was such a nice visit and it is so exciting to see how much Annalise changes in just a couple of weeks. I got to hold her quite a bit and she has such great facial expressions now. I can't help but hold her and think about how I will be holding my son in a very short time now.

Well, cheers and happy Sunday!

Not So Worrisome

I am sorry to have left you all hanging after the last post. The past week has been a whirlwind for me and I dare say I didn't know what to write until after our appointment today.

So, we saw the perinatologist. We first met with a genetic counselor and then we had the ultrasound and then we spoke with the perinatologist after he assessed the results. All in all, the news is good. Regarding the hydronephrosis, what they do is measure the accumulated fluid in the kidney. At the last ultrasound it was measuring 10 mm. At this ultrasound, it was still measuring 10 mm. This means it certainly hasn't gotten any worse. Furthermore, it turns out that 10 mm is not that bad in the grand scheme of things. It is right around the cutoff they use to distinguish normal vs. abnormal. The doctor said that with these circumstances 95% of the cases resolve themselves. He didn't think it was necessary to consult a pediatric urologist. He thought that from here on out, we just continue with normal prenatal care. We just need to make the pediatrition we choose aware of the findings and then after birth, Butterball will have his own ultrasound around 2 weeks of age to check up on the kidneys. I think things couldn't be better at this point.

As for the 2 vessel cord, all is looking well. The single artery has compensated for the lack of its counterpart and is looking large and healthy. One of the big concerns of the 2 vessel cord is that the baby could potentially have growth problems toward the end of pregnancy (which is why we got the last ultrasound in the first place). The doctor said that we absolutely, positively do not have an issue with growth. In fact, Butterball is still measuring 2-3 weeks ahead for growth. He has very long legs and is estimated at about 5 pounds. And that is with (hopefully) 2 more months of growing to do. The doctor said to expect a BIG baby! Of course this was a bit concerning to us even though we are thrilled Butterball (aptly named) is growing well. The doctor did specify we are not talking sumo wrestler and that he estimates Butterball will be in the 8-10 pound range at birth. I suppose only time will tell on that one.

The level II ultrasound did not seem any more exciting than any of the other ultrasounds we have had. They did focus in on the kidneys and heart pretty closely, so that was cool. The technician could not get any good pictures of Butterball's face though. His head is situated quite far down in my pelvis and he is facing my back. I guess he is shy. We did see his hand opening and closing at one point. He was also pretty active and kicked the probe a couple of times. He still has a full head of hair.

I have my 32 week prenatal check up tomorrow so I will get back into the swing of belly pictures and more updates. Thank you all for your good thoughts after my last post.