Another week is flying by! Yesterday Dominic and I went to my 34 week appointment … 34 WEEKS. It feels like the home stretch. All the pregnancy blogs I’ve been reading over the last few months are giving birth and it is so sweet to see pictures of pregnant bellies turn into pictures of little babies! I still can’t quite imagine what it will be like to hold my little one in my arms instead of my tummy, but I know it is coming soon!
Lucina guessed that baby weighs about 5 pounds now and if I carry until my due date he/she should be a solid 8 pounds. Still head down and heartbeat was right around 140 beats/minute. Such a miracle to have this little life bouncing around inside of me. Braxton-Hicks have kicked into full gear, especially in the evenings. Nothing too exciting though, my uterus is just getting ready!
We had a plethora of upcoming decisions to review during this appointment … Group Strep B, Vitamin K, Newborn Screening Test, Newborn Eye Prophylaxis and Circumcision (if it’s a boy). I love that our birth center gives us information to educate ourselves on each of these options. It’s nice to not have a choice dictated to us by what is considered “normal”. There is so much research on each of these procedures and truth be known … it might not be for everyone. You have to analyze your specific siutation and see what actually applies. It’s a little stressful to add more research on to my mounting to-do list, but it is well worth it. Part of me wishes Lucina would just give us her recommendation. But she doesn’t, instead she asked questions, provides examples and gives us tools to learn more. She also gave us a great pep talk on the reality of parenthood … there is rarely a right answer. OMG. That was like a slap in the face. I knew parenthood wasn’t going to be easy, but as we get closer to D-Day it is becoming more real. Nobody is an expert on this topic. Nobody knows for sure. There are no right answers. It’s up to Dominic and I to just do our best.
After the paperwork discussion I had a mini meltdown about breastfeeding/pumping and all the intricacies they both bring. I’m an ugly crier, so it was pretty awesome to be hormonally bawling my eyes out as poor Dominic tried to comfort me. Not. Lucina was great as she talked through all my concerns and gave me a ton of encouragement. I can do this. Lots of people do. And she, and many others are in place to support me. Perfect, one meltdown I can cross off of my pending meltdown list :)
We finished up with routine things … feeling baby’s placement, pee in a cup and a blood draw. We decided to do a round of probiotics before I take the GBS test and add magnesium into my daily vitamin ritual. I was amazed by the power of magnesium and was equally thrilled that the powder comes in raspberry lemonade flavor. Here is the scoop on magnesium …
- Relaxes muscles and helps blood to clot
- Helps to prevent premature contractions
- Less chance of low birthweight and better Apgar score
- “Nature’s tranquilizer” – helps with tension and stress
- Basic treatment for insomnia
I can’t believe we are a few short weeks away from meeting our baby! I told Dominic I wasn’t going to put this out there … but … I’m sensing that our little one is a boy. I don’t know why. I just have a feeling. And I’m going to feel pretty lame if I’m wrong. I think every mother wants their “motherly intuition” to be right. So, if I’m wrong we’ll just say I’m still practicing :)
Two things:I had a few meltdowns over the idea of breastfeeding/pumping. It is scary! The truth is, the meltdowns were even worse when I was told that I couldn't breastfeed, so there definitely is something very natural about the whole process. On a completely different note, I had a serious intuition about the gender of our sweet little baby and I was right, so you might be on to something. OH…and we will get to see our sweet little nephew/niece at Thanksgiving. I'm excited to snuggle him/her!
Two mama's intuitions SURELY can't be wrong…I have thought boy all along!Although I sobbed my way through my 14 week appt. for Eli when I saw little boy parts instead of the girl parts I just KNEW where there. So take my opinion with a grain of salt :)Best nursing advice I have: A year is a long time. If I though about nursing that long I wanted to die. But, I could make it until the end of the month. And hey, that wasn't so bad. So we will go one more month….worked like a charm :)
Make that 3 mama's intuition, because I have thought boy too. I guess we'll see! Not too much longer.
They say that Momma's intuituion is the most reliable gender predictor. With BF, set small goals…say "I'm going try it for one month, then 3, then 6…etc." Truthfully, if you can make it thruogh the 1st – 3rd months, it's a piece of cake after that, but the first month is a doozy!