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So it’s been a little over a month since the last update on the baby. I’ve missed a few things so let me bring you all up to date on events that have transpired:

1. Baby classes
2. The glucose test
3. Doctor visit #7

I guess you really haven’t missed all that much since the events I’m covering have all happened within the past couple weeks or so. This period is just the “sit and wait” phase really…. all the events of the first trimester are simply memories, we’ve adjusted to the fact that we’re pregnant, we’ve had the big sonogram and know the little one’s gender, etc.

The one thing I’ve been fascinated with in this “lull” time is watching Jess’ belly grow…. and grow… and grow. It’s really amazing to stop and think about the noticeable, physical changes that a woman goes through in pregnancy… and what that means to her insides. We saw some really interesting diagrams in the class we’re presently taking (1st of 3 classes) that show how the growth of the uterus displaces every other organ in a woman’s abdomen. There really is no room and all those organs just get squished into whatever space they can find. The resilience and incredible foresight in the intelligent design of the human body is truly mind-boggling. All those organs continue to function and then just “snap” back into place after birth… amazing.

I’ve been pretty bad about getting new pictures posted. I have some profile shots of her at about 26 weeks (we’re in the 28th week now as I write this), so I’ll take some newer ones and post them all soon.

So we’ve started the first of three classes that parents-to-be are suggested to attend to educate themselves a bit before baby arrives (good idea, eh?). This first class is called something like “Preparing for Childbirth” and covers the anatomy/physiology aspects, the ever-so-fun breathing exercises, and options at the hospital like “unmedicated” childbirth versus having an epidural. We’ve attended 2 out of 4 sessions so far and the classes have been fairly interesting, but I know I am, as I suspect all the people in attendance are, quite interested in being as educated as possible on the whole process. The class is small… we had 4 couples the first class and 5 couples for the second, so it’s been good as far as interactivity and being able to have questions answered. I don’t think anything we’ve covered so far has been any great surprise to Jess and I considering the amount of other reading we’ve done to prepare. One interesting thing I noted was that prior to the class, Jess was pretty firmly in the “give me an epidural in the parking lot when I arrive” camp. After learning a bit more about the process and the pros/cons, she seems to be leaning more toward the “give it to me when the time is right” side of things. I’m thinking that’s probably a good move.

A week ago Monday Jess took the “glucose test” which is standard procedure for testing for gestational diabetes. This basically consisted of her drinking some bottle of lemon-lime soda type stuff, waiting an hour, and then having some blood drawn. The results of this test were discussed at this weeks doctor’s appointment and came back as “normal”.

On Tuesday of this week was doctor visit #7… one which I missed. I had the (un)fortunate call of civic duty that day and went to the Superior Court in Vista to serve jury duty. Fortunately I was never called and got to go to Panera for a tasty lunch and 3 hours of free wi-fi where I got a lot of work done and had all the iced tea I could manage.

So Jess braved it alone and was nice enough to sum it up in her own words:

Ok… I am so in love with the doctor I had today. (No need to be jealous). His name is Dr. Silver. What a REALLY nice guy. Oh… before I forget, I think they weighed me in at about 1XX…. so that is about 20 pounds from where I normally am.

Anyway, he walked in the room, sat down, and said “so how are you?” But he really wanted to know. He said that my Thyroid and Glucose were perfectly normal. So he wanted to know how I was doing. I told him I was tired and he said that was probably due to the fact that I am pregnant. I figured. I also told him that I am stressed out, and I named several reasons why:

1. commute each day of 1.5 hours each way
2. projects at home I can’t seem to get done because I am working
3. layoffs at work which means more work for those that are left
4. etc.

Don’t worry… I didn’t mention you [me, James] as a source of my stress! He wasn’t really happy about the fact that I am in the car for 1.5 hours non-stop each day. He said that is really not good for someone who is pregnant. He said if I can’t work from home, that I should at least stop half way through and walk around for 5 minutes. We’ll have to work this issue out.

He asked when I was planning to start my leave. I told him 4 weeks before the birth. He said I can take off sooner if I want to, but that I have to have a medical reason. I told him that I didn’t have one, and he said that I could always complain that my back hurt… no one can really check into that! Of course that would mean that the pay would get decreased earlier!

So I told you about the classes. He recommended we take the one they offer since it will be with their patients and their philosophies. We can look into that tonight.

Then he had me lay down to check my abdomen and measure my belly. The measurement goes from that pubic bone up to the top of the uterus area. He measured it at 29 centimeters, which I guess is perfectly normal. He also asked how tall I was before he measured my belly, and gave a bit of a chuckle when I told him I was 5′1″. He said I am just like his wife… always trying to push the height up a little bit. Super nice guy though.

He seemed very genuine and making sure I was OK and feeling OK other than what his charts show. Took the time to chat with me and make sure I was doing OK. I like him a lot.

So there you have it… that’s how visit #7 went and all is well. Out next doctor visit is in early May so we’ll probably have another lull in baby news here. I’ll try to keep you all occupied with something else…. probably technical. We have started recording baby movements which is fun…. she was sure going crazy tonight. And I’ll try to get those pics posted!