we celebrated our anniversary by attending a "prepared childbirth" class at the hospital, followed up by ice cream from dairy queen. it's a sign of the times, i guess. we joked around that last year we went out to dinner and moved boxes; so i guess we're starting a bit of a trend combining practical and fun. plus, that shows how busy we've been in our married life together: buying a house and starting a family. we had talked about taking advantage of my 3 day weekend (with columbus day off), but with a lot of other things swirling around our calendar, it just didn't pan out. tuesday came and went with little fan fare, but who needs anniversary fan fare when there's a baby on the way? DQ is always a special treat for us, so it added just enough "special" to our day, especially given the fact we were in class till after 9pm.
class was an interesting experience. our instructor was a nurse in the delivery ward who had given birth to 3 children of her own. we truly respected her experience and knowledge, though her presentation became repetitive at times. we watched a video of 3 couple's birth experiences (constractions), talked about how to be prepared for coming into the hospital and a few other random items. we left before the relaxation exercises because it was getting late and we wanted to be able to spend *some* time together on our anniversary. in all, 2 interesting things came of the class. first, when our instructor commented on how all 3 of her children came early, her first 5 weeks early, adam had his first real reality check that the baby is truly close to arrival. i had been worrying about it for a couple of weeks now, but i'm more than happy to have some company on the worry train. of course, we both refuse to let the worrying take over, but it's hard to avoid the occasional wave of "whoa". the second interesting thing was we met a really nice couple due 3 days after us. during breaks over the 2 sessions, we figured out we have a bit in common and it's kinda neat to talk to other people truly going through the same thing we are. adam shared his cell number with them, and i hope they call.
thursday afternoon i had yet another doctor's appointment, back with my main doctor. i talked adam into going, since this would be the last one he could manage, given the rest are scheduled for the morning. it was at 1:15, but despite leaving work a little after noon, we didnt' get there till 1:30. i was frustrated, but what can you do when the red line takes 15 minutes to arrive and the brown line is delayed a few minutes for track work? of course, the desk person didnt' help a single bit. when you sign in, you write your name, dr's name, appt time, arrival time and if any info has changed. so when she asked if i knew if my appointment was at 1:15. . . duh, yes i knew, i wrote it down right there! so i responded "yes, but the train getting me here didn't know." then she has the gumption to ask if i called to let them know i was running late!?!?! "um no, i spent the majority of the time underground, so i couldn't call." and of course, she asked, was any of my information different. it took all the will i had to just answer "no." grrrrr. but, arriving late caused us to see our class-friends leaving, so that was kinda fun. the appointment was pretty fast and typical, with the only addition of a quick internal exam. i gained 3.5 lbs since 2 weeks ago and my cervix is soft and effacing, but nothing more exciting than that.
in the second session of class on thursday we watched a breathing video featuring early 80's fashion, watched a pain medication video, watched a labor video from an up-close-and-personal perspective, practiced some breathing and relaxation techniques and took a tour of the 2 relevant hospital wings. the breathing video was hilarious in that some fake-pregnant woman, complete with overdone shimmery make up, leotard and tights, demonstrated breathing exercises (i swear they all looked/sounded the same) with a creepy husband with a mustache and glasses. leotard and tights? what? being pregnant is uncomfortable enough as it is, as are a leotard and tights while not pregnant. . . who in their right mind would combine the two!?!?!?! adam and i got quite a few chuckles out of the class, but for all the wrong reasons. i suppose it's a good thing we didnt' go to school together; we probably would have never learned a thing, being too busy snickering at everything. the biggest revelation we got from the videos from both sessions is this: adam has no intention of being the dowdy, cuddly husband petting his laboring wife, as depicted in each one. adam assured me he'll be supportive and helpful, but not in the ways depicted in the video. given our mutual dislike of pda, this comes as no surprise and i told him as much. as long as he's helpful and doesn't take any hormonal rages personally, i think we'll both get through just fine. the tour was a bit of a disappointment, as while we saw the general wings/floors, all of the rooms were occupied in both areas, so we couldn't see more than the hallways. i may ask when i go in for appointments, but with morning appointments and a desire to limit my time away (and thus the time i have to make up), i may skip that opportunity. i am excited to hear that the hospital is offering free wi-fi, so we can take advantage of adam's iphone while there and maybe send out some pictures and emails.
saturday was the best day of the week last week by far. with help from karl (bass player in the band) and amy (karl's fiance), we threw adam a "baby daddy" shower for our friends. we had aimed for a party/get together for everyone to just hang out, have a few beers and snacks. we threw out the option to bring a gift, but down-played that aspect. since the family shower was just that: primarily family, and entirely female, we wanted to have an opportunity to celebrate with our friends, and friends of both genders. we put out a good spread of food, got a keg (though it still has some foaming issues), and decorated the basement. we even had some "games" for everyone: a hand-made stork filled with adult treats (liquor-filled chocolates, condoms and cigars), guess the baby food and guess the number of m&ms in a baby bottle.
we had some other games too, but these proved entertaining enough. a few extremely generous friends brought some gifts and we are so grateful!! we had a pretty good crowd and i think fun was had by all. i think gibson had a good time too: for a little while he got to hang out with his friends hermes and iris, then the rest of the time be showered with attention from our guests. he did enjoy karl's ruben dip a little too much, but after a timeout and closer surveillance, he did ok. i had to pace myself a bit, so as to not get too tired, and i lasted all the way till 3am. adam wasn't done partying until 6am! but, being pregnant and a flexible sleeper, i slept just fine despite the continuing festivities. happily, we have mature enough friends that clean up the next day was a breeze, involving cleaning up the food area and putting some glassware in the dishwasher.
it was back to work this morning for me, and man, am i a bit tired. i had stayed up late by sleeping later, but 6am still rolls around way too soon! i dipped into the newly-expanded wardrobe (i have courtesy of my generous friend sarah) this morning and i find myself wearing some fabulous green cords, but with mixed feelings about the waist line. these are over-the-belly pants, with a button and zipper like real pants. it's not terribly uncomfortable, but not all that comfy either. anyways, i made a big purchase this morning: cloth diaper supplies! $150 later i have what i think should last me 2 days. in a compromise with adam, we'll have disposables on hand too, so as to not over stress if cloth diapering proves too challenging at first. i'm thinking positive, but i want to give us the best chance possible too. can't wait to see how this pans out!
No comments:
Post a Comment