week 35
Holy cats!! Let the countdown begin. Karl's birthday is this week and we said once we hit that, we'd have ONE whole month left. That's like four weeks until Baby Koester's arrival. YIKES!!!
My belly is for sure getting bigger (as you can see). I noticed the heaviness last night too. It's much harder to move around, but I am thankful I do get to move around. I still feel good. Karl and I have enjoyed feeling Baby Koester's feet and butt move along my stomach. We try to reach and grab them. It's the craziest feeling ever on the inside and from the outside feeling in!
Friday night and Saturday (all day...and yes, on a 65 degree day) Karl and I took a Childbirth preparation (Weekend Express) class at St. Francis. I'm really glad we took this class. Yes, we had to watch some more videos (yes, I cried again - I can't help it...all that work and then poof, baby is out. Such a miracle beyond words.). It was nice to see three different stories of women - all who were "planners" and not one baby plan worked out the way they had hoped. It reminded me to keep an open mind through this whole adventure and know that I can't predict anything. Every birthing story is different but I did pick up a lot of tools that will help me.
What I loved about the class was a pediatrician was brought in to share a lot of insight into those first two years of childhood. It was nice to ask questions and have him provide us with a ton of info. Like I wanted to know just in case we have a boy, how to care for our peanut's little "peanut" once it's circumcised. And Karl had questions about temperatures and when to bring baby in. And we learned all about day care snot nose...it'll be continuous for two years. Nice.
The second thing I loved was a Speech Language Pathologist came in (feeling really lucky right now that my sister-in-law is one) and talked about the importance of Tummy Time. Seems with all the toys out there these days, parents are more willing to lie their kids down and leave them on their backs all hours of the day, which creates muscle and skull issues and lots of development issues. It was crazy to see the difference between a child who received no tummy time and one who did from the time they were born to 6 months. Their heads were even shaped differently! We for sure will be doing lots of tummy time.
We also were able to tour the birthing center, which we both loved! I can't believe I'm going to be staying in a hospital...overnight too. Maybe longer. I don't really know what that's like, but the rooms look somewhat comfortable. We met a couple in our class who are expecting twins on the same day we are...and also have our doctor! Guess we'll be fighting for attention if we both are on schedule.
We also had to watch a video on Shaken Baby Syndrome which broke my heart into a million pieces. I couldn't help but think of my BFF whose son was shaken at 6 months. The man in the video lost his son because of it, and I kept thinking over and over and over, My BFF is so lucky her son survived. But it still SUCKS. Why, oh, why did this have to happen?????
All and all I'm feeling a little more prepared with things and can't believe baby's arrival is almost here! Don't forget to place your guesses for Baby Koester's gender and when he/she will arrive into this world on Baby Hunch! No password needed!
Holy cats!! Let the countdown begin. Karl's birthday is this week and we said once we hit that, we'd have ONE whole month left. That's like four weeks until Baby Koester's arrival. YIKES!!!
 |
| I'm just starting to feel the baby drop! |
My belly is for sure getting bigger (as you can see). I noticed the heaviness last night too. It's much harder to move around, but I am thankful I do get to move around. I still feel good. Karl and I have enjoyed feeling Baby Koester's feet and butt move along my stomach. We try to reach and grab them. It's the craziest feeling ever on the inside and from the outside feeling in!
Friday night and Saturday (all day...and yes, on a 65 degree day) Karl and I took a Childbirth preparation (Weekend Express) class at St. Francis. I'm really glad we took this class. Yes, we had to watch some more videos (yes, I cried again - I can't help it...all that work and then poof, baby is out. Such a miracle beyond words.). It was nice to see three different stories of women - all who were "planners" and not one baby plan worked out the way they had hoped. It reminded me to keep an open mind through this whole adventure and know that I can't predict anything. Every birthing story is different but I did pick up a lot of tools that will help me.
What I loved about the class was a pediatrician was brought in to share a lot of insight into those first two years of childhood. It was nice to ask questions and have him provide us with a ton of info. Like I wanted to know just in case we have a boy, how to care for our peanut's little "peanut" once it's circumcised. And Karl had questions about temperatures and when to bring baby in. And we learned all about day care snot nose...it'll be continuous for two years. Nice.
The second thing I loved was a Speech Language Pathologist came in (feeling really lucky right now that my sister-in-law is one) and talked about the importance of Tummy Time. Seems with all the toys out there these days, parents are more willing to lie their kids down and leave them on their backs all hours of the day, which creates muscle and skull issues and lots of development issues. It was crazy to see the difference between a child who received no tummy time and one who did from the time they were born to 6 months. Their heads were even shaped differently! We for sure will be doing lots of tummy time.
We also were able to tour the birthing center, which we both loved! I can't believe I'm going to be staying in a hospital...overnight too. Maybe longer. I don't really know what that's like, but the rooms look somewhat comfortable. We met a couple in our class who are expecting twins on the same day we are...and also have our doctor! Guess we'll be fighting for attention if we both are on schedule.
 |
| Karl checking out the room |
We also had to watch a video on Shaken Baby Syndrome which broke my heart into a million pieces. I couldn't help but think of my BFF whose son was shaken at 6 months. The man in the video lost his son because of it, and I kept thinking over and over and over, My BFF is so lucky her son survived. But it still SUCKS. Why, oh, why did this have to happen?????
All and all I'm feeling a little more prepared with things and can't believe baby's arrival is almost here! Don't forget to place your guesses for Baby Koester's gender and when he/she will arrive into this world on Baby Hunch! No password needed!
