Since the last post, David and I took a birthing class. That was pretty interesting for both of us. I thought that most of the class was common sense stuff, but then every once in a while they would throw me for a loop, and I would learn something new. They had a lot of things that were passed around the class as we were learning about them, like vacuum extractors and monitors, which helped a lot and was very interesting. We learned a lot of general information about what happens to your body during labor and delivery, and how to handle different situations that can arise. I think David learned a lot (like why I have to pee every hour). I felt very confident after taking the class. That was until last Thursday....
Last Thursday I went in for a follow up ultrasound. It was so good to see my little girl again! She was head down, and in a great position so far. Her head was turned sideways, not facing the back, but I'm sure she will get the memo when the time comes that that's how she needs to come out. =) She appeared to be sucking her thumb, and was sleeping (or close to it). The ultrasound tech got a good look at her heart, which she was hiding last time, and everything about her looks great!! She's still a girl, and at one point we could see hair on the top of her head!! She was in the 40th percentile for size, which is a good size. I was hoping for a petite little girl. At least until after she comes out. The answer to my next question took me by surprise. I asked if they would be able to tell me how much she weighed at this point. Towards the end of the pregnancy babies usually gain about a half a pound a week, on average. When I was born I weighed 6lbs 13oz. and David was 8lbs 2oz. I was 34 weeks at this point, and hoping to hear that she weighed anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 pounds. My confidence level was high, and I thought to myself, if I do have a little girl I can push her out. I can do this. People do this everyday. The ultrasound tech turned to me and said, "To my calculations she weighs about 4.5 pounds." WHAT? Are you serious? You're telling me that if I go one week overdue that I might be pushing out an 8 pound bowling ball/watermelon!?!?!?! HOLY CRAP! I was happy to hear that she's a good healthy size, but come on! I'm only 5 feet tall!! I'm not a big girl! Depending on the day, I still worry about this. I know everything will turn out fine, but it's just not as comforting to think of pushing out an 8 pound baby as it is a 6 pound baby.
I had thought about getting some maternity pictures taken a while back. I've loved looking at my friends maternity pictures while they were pregnant, and thought it might be nice to have someday. Once I started looking into the prices, and realized that I would probably put one 4x6 in a frame, I decided that I would just have someone I know take a couple pictures of me. On a recent camping trip to the beach, my mom wanted to take a picture of me to take with her on her trip to Africa. I thought, why not see how they turn out if mom takes them? We were pleasantly surprised. Check em out:
