Friday, November 21, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Ahh hee ahh hee ahh hee ahh hoo
This weekend, K and I attended a childbirth class at a local hospital. It was a crash course (Friday evening, Saturday) covering everything from epidurals and c-sections to baby swaddling. The instructor was a nurse practitioner at the hospital group that I will be delivering at, and she had a 1 year old, and was pregnant with her second. She was very good, informative, and fun to listen to. She also had personal anecdotes, and great insider advice (‘make sure you ask each nurse (the nurses change every 12 hrs) for a few extra panties (the special greatgranny panties), and stash them in your bag to take home.’). As both K and I have not yet reached the exciting final chapters of ‘What to expect when you are expecting’ there was a lot of useful information that was new to us.
She led us through some breathing techniques. Maybe it works wonders while in labor, but chanting "Ahh hee ahh hee ahh hee ahh hoo" while in a conference room in a hospital on a sunny day was pretty funny. She took us out into the lobby and asked us to give each other massages, it was nice, I don’t know if we gained anything from it, and we almost fell asleep next to the stairs. Another activity was a labor and delivery version of the Newlywed Game- How well do you know your spouse? Or at least the avatar of your spouse during actual labor and delivery- questions like ‘What kind of animal do you think your spouse will be during L&D?’ The lad sitting next to me seemed to think her husband would be an ostrich – he would love to bury his head in sand and not resurface until it was all over! I thought (hoped, more like) that K would be a cat, cool as a cucumber. He thought I would be one too. Haha, let’s see. He was asked to guess my pain threshold level on a chart ranging from -7 (Give me an epidural even before labor begins-impossible) to +7 (I can handle anything. anything. a c-section. without any medicine-Impossible) He selected -6 (Give me an epidural whenever safe) – perfect. I am a wimp, and proud of it. Another game we played involved the men leaving the room, and separately making a list of the pros and cons of pregnancy and childbirth.
The list we made had Pros such as (1) Nursery Decorating and (2) Babies-r-us
The list the men made had Cons such as (1) Nursery Decorating and (2) Babies-r-us
K and I didn’t really have much input to offer, at least none that were stereotypical and expected.
The one Con that our instructor said was always on the men’s lists but never on the women’s list was money. Hmm.
The labor instructor talked about the TACO test for water breaking (to test if it is indeed your water breaking, test the fluid for 4 things), and I've already forgotten what the T stands for (I do know, however that it does not stand for Taste, the instructor made sure to point that out to us-ick!) but the rest of the letters are Amount, Color, and Odor.
My least favorite part of the class? The videos. I am sure that seeing the couples go through the different stages of labor, and the actual delivery, was educational in some way, but a part of me wished that I could have just read the book and skipped the visuals. Isn't the book usually better than the movie anyway?
That morning K told me that S had invited us to a surprise birthday party for U. It was at 4 pm, an hour before the end of our class. We hoped the class would end early, or that we could afford to miss the last hour of class. A few times during the class, K went out to attend phone calls. He told me it was S, telling us that we could stay longer, that U was still out at the store. I was gratified that S thought we were pretty important guests if she felt the need to call us to give us blow-by-blow details of what was happening, to make sure we were there for the big surprise. I told K that S was good, that it was pretty hard to have surprise parties these days, especially when it at the surprised persons own home! We went to a store during lunch, bought U a birthday gift, bought something for S too. The last part of the class was on swaddling a a baby, we quickly swaddled a plastic baby, got the instructors okay and left. And wouldn't you know it, not only was S good at keeping secrets, so was K! Yup, a surprise baby shower!! When we walked in and I wished U, he looked a little confused, quickly recovered and took the gift (K hadn't told them the story he told me, but U's birthday was around the corner anyway, so it was a good one). S had arranged for some fun games, she was a great hostess; and there was so many people there; I felt blessed to have so many people care about us so much; especially when we live so far away from family. There was so much great food, it was a great evening!
She led us through some breathing techniques. Maybe it works wonders while in labor, but chanting "Ahh hee ahh hee ahh hee ahh hoo" while in a conference room in a hospital on a sunny day was pretty funny. She took us out into the lobby and asked us to give each other massages, it was nice, I don’t know if we gained anything from it, and we almost fell asleep next to the stairs. Another activity was a labor and delivery version of the Newlywed Game- How well do you know your spouse? Or at least the avatar of your spouse during actual labor and delivery- questions like ‘What kind of animal do you think your spouse will be during L&D?’ The lad sitting next to me seemed to think her husband would be an ostrich – he would love to bury his head in sand and not resurface until it was all over! I thought (hoped, more like) that K would be a cat, cool as a cucumber. He thought I would be one too. Haha, let’s see. He was asked to guess my pain threshold level on a chart ranging from -7 (Give me an epidural even before labor begins-impossible) to +7 (I can handle anything. anything. a c-section. without any medicine-Impossible) He selected -6 (Give me an epidural whenever safe) – perfect. I am a wimp, and proud of it. Another game we played involved the men leaving the room, and separately making a list of the pros and cons of pregnancy and childbirth.
The list we made had Pros such as (1) Nursery Decorating and (2) Babies-r-us
The list the men made had Cons such as (1) Nursery Decorating and (2) Babies-r-us
K and I didn’t really have much input to offer, at least none that were stereotypical and expected.
The one Con that our instructor said was always on the men’s lists but never on the women’s list was money. Hmm.
The labor instructor talked about the TACO test for water breaking (to test if it is indeed your water breaking, test the fluid for 4 things), and I've already forgotten what the T stands for (I do know, however that it does not stand for Taste, the instructor made sure to point that out to us-ick!) but the rest of the letters are Amount, Color, and Odor.
My least favorite part of the class? The videos. I am sure that seeing the couples go through the different stages of labor, and the actual delivery, was educational in some way, but a part of me wished that I could have just read the book and skipped the visuals. Isn't the book usually better than the movie anyway?
That morning K told me that S had invited us to a surprise birthday party for U. It was at 4 pm, an hour before the end of our class. We hoped the class would end early, or that we could afford to miss the last hour of class. A few times during the class, K went out to attend phone calls. He told me it was S, telling us that we could stay longer, that U was still out at the store. I was gratified that S thought we were pretty important guests if she felt the need to call us to give us blow-by-blow details of what was happening, to make sure we were there for the big surprise. I told K that S was good, that it was pretty hard to have surprise parties these days, especially when it at the surprised persons own home! We went to a store during lunch, bought U a birthday gift, bought something for S too. The last part of the class was on swaddling a a baby, we quickly swaddled a plastic baby, got the instructors okay and left. And wouldn't you know it, not only was S good at keeping secrets, so was K! Yup, a surprise baby shower!! When we walked in and I wished U, he looked a little confused, quickly recovered and took the gift (K hadn't told them the story he told me, but U's birthday was around the corner anyway, so it was a good one). S had arranged for some fun games, she was a great hostess; and there was so many people there; I felt blessed to have so many people care about us so much; especially when we live so far away from family. There was so much great food, it was a great evening!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Week 32 of Pregnancy: Fetal Immune System
This week sweetpea is anywhere between 17 to 19 inches in length and weighs more than four pounds! He could grow a full inch more this week alone, and his weight can double before the big debut!
The level of amniotic fluid in my uterus has reached its maximum level, making it likely that I have more baby than fluid now. That's one reason why I've been feeling lots of nudges and pushes — there's less liquid to cushion the blows.
If my uterine walls had eyes, here's what we'd see: sweetpea acting more and more like a baby, with his eyes closing during sleep and opening while awake. And because those uterine walls are becoming thinner, more light penetrates the womb, helping him differentiate between day and night (now if only he can remember that difference on the outside!).
And good news! He has reached an important milestone about now: The development of his own immune system that (along with antibodies from me) will be able to provide protection from mild infections.
This week sweetpea is anywhere between 17 to 19 inches in length and weighs more than four pounds! He could grow a full inch more this week alone, and his weight can double before the big debut!
The level of amniotic fluid in my uterus has reached its maximum level, making it likely that I have more baby than fluid now. That's one reason why I've been feeling lots of nudges and pushes — there's less liquid to cushion the blows.
If my uterine walls had eyes, here's what we'd see: sweetpea acting more and more like a baby, with his eyes closing during sleep and opening while awake. And because those uterine walls are becoming thinner, more light penetrates the womb, helping him differentiate between day and night (now if only he can remember that difference on the outside!).
And good news! He has reached an important milestone about now: The development of his own immune system that (along with antibodies from me) will be able to provide protection from mild infections.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Boston Globe
...... that's what Krish called me when I visited Keera and him in Beantown last week.
And you can see why...
He also made sure to squeeze every drop of opportunity out of my pregnancy. As we would approach a busy street that we needed to get to the other side of, he would turn to me with a 'Raaki (that's what they call me, another story for another day, actually I don't even remember the origin of the name, I probably blocked it out of my memory), show your tummy!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
why 'sweetpea' you ask?
Well, we have Amos Lee to thank! Back when sweetpea was barely a proverbial twinkle in our eyes, kuttan used to sing me this song (and strum on his guitar) that we both loved: 'Sweetpea, apple of my eye'. If you haven't heard it, you have to!:
And then when we found out that there was a pea growing in the pod, we starting calling it 'sweetpea'.
Jo gave me this adorable little pendant made by local artistes, and the name stuck!:
Of course, now that we know that our little one is made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails, we do wonder if he will be offended by the name 'sweetpea' but luckily, he has no say in the matter right now, and 'sweetpea' he will remain to us!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Dot dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot
We got ourselves a little boy scout in there!
(Warning: too much information ahead, read at your own risk!)
I think our little one is trying to communicate with us!
I woke up one morning with an out-ie (belly button pushed out). This changed to an inn-ie after a while and back out again. Can you just imagine him in there, having fun poking and prodding, kuttan thinks he is sending out morse code signals!
Of course, I think the specific signal he is trying to get across to his father is 'S.O.S!!!' after he took us on a ride of the Charlottesville countryside with all its ups and downs.
(Warning: too much information ahead, read at your own risk!)
I think our little one is trying to communicate with us!
I woke up one morning with an out-ie (belly button pushed out). This changed to an inn-ie after a while and back out again. Can you just imagine him in there, having fun poking and prodding, kuttan thinks he is sending out morse code signals!
Of course, I think the specific signal he is trying to get across to his father is 'S.O.S!!!' after he took us on a ride of the Charlottesville countryside with all its ups and downs.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Week 25
We got ourselves an active little fella! Not only does he treat all my internal organs like his personal punching bags, simultaneously, I feel something deep inside that I can only imagine are his tiny little fingers.. uh…tickling?…drawing on?…my uterus. Do you think he is getting artsy and doing a little graffiti up in there? Perhaps leaving some baby hieroglyphics for any future siblings, “Baby #1, Sweetpea was here. April '08 to ???. To all who come after me…when she starts to fold up her legs (He hates that! This little one needs his space!), aim for the ribs”.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
I Am Not Alone
I Am Not Alone Author Unknown
Running errands and talking on the phone,
I am pleasantly reminded that I am not alone.
Little tiny hands a precious rounded knee
pushing and twisting that no one can see.
Oh sweet child kicking up your heels,
it is our little secret that only I can feel.
I look forward to your birth,
when I can kiss your skin,
but for now I will just smile,
As I feel you play within.
Running errands and talking on the phone,
I am pleasantly reminded that I am not alone.
Little tiny hands a precious rounded knee
pushing and twisting that no one can see.
Oh sweet child kicking up your heels,
it is our little secret that only I can feel.
I look forward to your birth,
when I can kiss your skin,
but for now I will just smile,
As I feel you play within.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Hot off the Presses!!!!
August 11:
A minute into the ultrasound the technician said "We normally reserve this part for the end of the ultrasound, but this one's a show-off!" :) It's a boy!!!!
He was moving around a lot, we couldn't get a good picture of his face (on the 3D ultrasound; haven't uploaded a picture). He also had his hand over his face. We got ourselves a camera-shy baby!
A minute into the ultrasound the technician said "We normally reserve this part for the end of the ultrasound, but this one's a show-off!" :) It's a boy!!!!
He was moving around a lot, we couldn't get a good picture of his face (on the 3D ultrasound; haven't uploaded a picture). He also had his hand over his face. We got ourselves a camera-shy baby!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
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