36-week belly

 

It was bound to happen eventually: my new breast pump

A big purchase that we made recently was a breast pump. Once again, I am proud to say that we got a great deal off of craigslist. I bought the hospital grade double breast pump from Medela for about $85 (New, I think they cost around $300). At first Dad and I were skeptical about buying something so special second-hand; we were mostly worried about hygiene. But our birthing class instructor - and my sister-in-law - taught us that none of the parts of the breast pump one buys ever touch the milk or breast. When you buy a breast pump like the one we did, it does not include the tubing and bottles that come into contact with your own milk/body. These extra parts you buy separately - and new, so the consumer can rest assured that everything is clean.

In any event, in commemoration of the big buy, here are some pictures of our new purchase. Now, to figure out how to use this thing (I think we still need to get the accessories before we can actually really see it up and running - not to mention that I'm not making milk yet, so there really is no way to test it on me yet, at least). Doesn't this thing look crazy complicated?

Great Thread on OBs in LA area

It's too late for us now, because we have already settled with the mid-wives at UCLA (which on the whole we think are pretty great), but I found this great thread on mothering.com offering some useful insights on supportive obstetricians of natural childbirth in the area. I'm putting the link here for my own records:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=419487

I found this on-line when I was actually looking for tips/suggestions on a good pediatrician in LA for our soon-to-be-born baby boy. I still haven't found that yet... and am a total loss on where to start (none of my friends have babies). If anyone out there has any suggests, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

My Belly at about 26 weeks!

We took this picture at the West LA Obon Festival this year, already more than 8 weeks ago (on July 26). To see our pictures from that day, have a look at our google photo album! I just fixed this pic up (blurring out the edges) with picasa. You can tell my extremities are kind of swollen (lot of typical pregnancy bloating) by just looking at my hands...

Incidentally, I think this photo proves that my stomach was already pretty big, even before that picture, down below, was taken around 30 weeks.

Around 30 weeks?

We found this picture on Scott's phone, and I like it a lot. Scott and I just figured out that it was taken more than 4 weeks ago, around August 17. I am convinced that when this was taken, my belly was already much bigger than it looks in this picture... I am carrying the baby low (everyone says this is because the baby is a boy), so maybe there is a chance that my right leg is covering up some of the bellly bulge in the picture. In any event, this pic shows how happy Dad and I are relaxing on a beach in Redondo. We had just picked up a crib that a friend of Scott's gave to us (his friend's kid has already outgrown it)!!! After we met Scott's friend, we went to the beach for about an hour to kill time before heading to one of our final Bradley birthing classes.

10 Easy Things I Never Thought Would be a Challenge

As I head into the home stretch (we only have about 6 more weeks before this little boy is coming to us!), I am seriously struggling with the increasing size of my belly. (FYI: I weighed in today at my 34 week check-up at almost 170 pounds- Ugh!) Here are TEN very VERY mundane things that I can no longer do without putting a lot of thought and/or energy into:
1) Roll over in bed
2) Stand up from a sitting position (and by the same token, Sit up from a reclining position)
3) Breathe
4) Stand on one leg (to change clothes)
5) Get in and out of a car...
6) Sit with my legs crossed (seriously, they are too swollen to fold over anymore!)
7) Sit with my legs even together (they don't allow room for the big belly)
8) Go even about 30 minutes without having to go to the bathroom
9) Sit in reclining chairs, bucket seats, and on bar stools
10) Stand upright for more than 5 minutes

32-week Sonogram: My Baby's Face

Yesterday we got an ultrasound to confirm that VJ is situated head-down in the uterus, ready to go for the birth already. The good news is that he is - so there should be no worries about our having a breach baby, and thus having a C-section (for that reason, at least). We also got a glimpse of VJ's face - although it was very VERY hazy.



Here is a transcription of our dialogue:
(Dad Scott is hanging out in the back, playing the important yet silent role of camera man/)
I am saying to our mid-wife: "Is that the top of his head?"
"Yeah," the mid-wife whispers. "Look, he's looking around!" I exclaim.
She responds, "Yeah," again and then chuckles.
Then the image changes, and I ask: "What's that?" She says, "His Face." [PAUSE]
"Ohhhh, I see!" (I see it, but it is VERY VERY hard to make out any real features. VJ's face is on its side; his chin is on the far left of the ultrasound monitor. The most visible thing on the sonogram is his right eye.)
"You see?" "Yeah!" Then the image changes again. Our mid-wife is about to show us VJ's healthy beating heart. The video winds down now, after 30 seconds.
From what I can tell, our little guy has a very square jaw - don't know where he got that - and big eyes (I DO know where he got those).

Weeks 30 and 31

Time is flying - and I mean FLY-ing by now. I was still getting over the shock over having just reached week 30, when I got an update today from babycenter.com about this week, week 31.

For the week 30 visit to the medical center, Scott and I got to meet another mid-wife. (I'm not sure if I have mentioned it before, but we will be meeting with each of them individually during our next health check-ups over the coming weeks before the delivery).

We were VERY pleased with this last one that we met. She was very patient and listened carefully to all of our questions. Also, she did not seem surprised by our 2 ongoing questions/concerns about the Hep-lock and Routine pitocin for 3rd stage labor. Even in contrast to the last mid-wife, whom we also liked, this week's mid-wife did not try to convince us that we should just go along with the institution's policy. After stating the pros and cons, she simply indicated that this was a decision that was up to us.

The mid-wives at our medical center say that it is the baby who picks which mid-wife will deliver him. (Since there are 4 mid-wives who rotate at our hospital, we won't know which one will deliver the baby until the day VJ decides to come out). Based on our last visit, I'm hoping that VJ picks this mid-wife! (Scott was very pleased with her too).

Now that we are in week 31 already, I'll summarize the major developmental milestones for VJ this week. Apparently he is now 3.3 pounds, he is heading into a major growth spurt this week, and he can turn his head from right to left. Also, he is moving much more now - which I don't need to read to figure that out.

Last night at our baby birthing class, my instructor was so surprised when it came up that I have not felt my baby hiccup-ping in my stomach yet. She seemed incredulous. I was surprised that she was so surprised. I didn't know that that was so common by this stage of development. I'm determined not to worry about that for now though. When VJ is ready to hiccup, I'm sure he'll let it rip~! : )

Post-script: I just had a look at some on-line postings/pregnancy e-forums, and found out that some women/babies don't get the hiccups at all... while other women have babies that get the hiccups several times a day! I was also surprised to read that fetuses can start getting the hiccups as early as 9 weeks after conception. Most of the mom's that wrote about their babies having the hiccups said that they didn't start feeling this activity until at least weeks 30-32....

Swimming with the Baby

Last week I started swimming every other day as a way to relieve the strain of carrying all of the extra weight I have been building up. It has been great. I swim for about 40 minutes per visit, and continue to feel really great, even hours after the swim. I have never liked swimming so much as I do now. A woman I met at the pool says that the water pressure is great for swelling too. I didn't know that, but given how much better I have been feeling afterward, I'm not surprised.

In order to start swimming I had to buy my first pregger swim suit (ugh). Here is a picture. Again, this is not me in the picture - it's a model for Target, where I bought the scary thing. (I'm actually much bigger in the tummy now than the woman in this pic.)

Also, I decided to join the YMCA. I decided to go with them after first making a visit to Bally's, which had a "special deal" going on. Turns out their deal was not so special, once you added in all the long-term obligations and restrictions. I next visited the Y after that and was so pleasantly surprised. The Y has a financial assistance program for low-income applicants like myself, which makes the pricing much more reasonable. Also the YMCA that I will be joining in West LA has FREE child care (at least 1 hour per day for kids aged 6 weeks to 1 year, and then 2 hours per day for kids up to age 10!), free group exercising classes (including yoga), and free Mommy and me swimming - among so many other things. I've been very eager to sign VJ up for swim lessons once he's born, so I am very happy about all the Y's programs for kids and families.

Until then (when the little guys is swimming in pools rather than Mommy's amniotic fluid), I'll just keep enjoying the Y on my own. (They also have better parking than most clubs around LA too).

Dodgey Stomach and General Gripes and Complaints

This week - Week 28 - was a bit rough. For the first time in the pregnancy I got a bit ill and, as my mom says, I "fed the fish." (Although since I wasn't on a boat when it happened this time, I guess I fed the septic tank) Anyway, it happened the evening after we had gone to a Dodgers game, sat in the sun for several hours, and eaten a "world famous" Dodger Dog. (Great game by the way, Dodgers kicked some Arizona behind and we got to see the new player, Manny Ramirez, score his second Homer at the Dodgers Stadium.) After the game we went to Korean, which is basically what got fed to the porcelain gods. (Trust me, after this recent experience, I won't be eating Korean food for a very VERY long time.)

After a difficult Sunday night, I had a hard time keeping food down for about the next 12 hours. Fortunately I never risked getting dehydrated, and started feeling a little better the next day. We had an appointment with the mid-wife on Tuesday and were able to hear that the baby's heart beat was still nice and strong - so, apparently - hopefully - no damage there. (Throwing up is pretty common for pregger ladies anyway, right?)

Still, I was feeling kind of nauseous for the rest of the week - until about Thursday. I also caught some kind of bug/cold that had me sleeping a lot this week also. I only started feeling "normal" (as normal as a pregnant woman in her 3rd trimester can feel, right?) again on Friday.

VJ has been kicking a lot, so we know he is getting along well in my ever-expanding, cushy yet tumultuous stomach. As for me, putting aside all the excitement of my Dodgey stomach, sore throats, and excessive nasal drip, I definitely felt a difference in size and my general "well-being" this week. For the first time in the pregnancy, it has been getting hard for me to turn over in bed, and when I lay on my right side, my stomach can begin to ache as the weight of the baby seems to tug quite strenuously on my chest. When I get up from laying on my left side, the area between my rib cage and heart seems to ache. To try to diffuse some of the pressure, I have been putting a pillow under my belly/baby so that it doesn't fall so far/pull so hard in order to reach the bed.

I want to say that I enjoy being pregnant, but this week has definitely challenged me in ways that make it hard to be properly gushy and enthusiastic. I try to remind myself that we are really lucky - the pregnancy has been relatively smooth and healthy. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to having my body back all to myself in a few months.