Here's the technical update on the baby's development:
Your baby is growing rapidly now. This week she weighs about half a pound more than she did last week (about 2 1/2 pounds total) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is getting bigger to accommodate her growing brain — which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.
My glucose tolerance test came back completely normal, but my iron was a bit low. After a little light-headed scare on Tuesday, I have learned the importance of staying VERY hydrated and constantly-fed. (Don't freak out, but my blood pressure dropped to 100/50 while I was at the doctor's office that day. I was kept under a watchful eye and not allowed to drive, and given very good instructions on how to prevent such "spells.") I've been packin' PB Crackers and Cliff Bars and other snackable items. And, I've been told by my doctors to move more slowly. So now I'm waddling in slo-mo...very attractive! I do find that I feel really good if I eat every hour and a half, or so. And the slight increase in my iron (just through my diet) has helped, too.
I think Dan has finally hired enough staff, his sales are picking up, his store looks GREAT, and, how many times can I say how much he likes his boss? This guy is really doing his job well - helping his managers meet their goals by advocating for them, getting them to think outside the box, and motivating them with positive reinforcement and optimism. Who ever heard of such a thing?! We like this guy. A lot.
We started our Childbirth Preparation courses a few weeks ago, based on the "Birthing from Within" model. (Where else would one birth from? everyone asks me.) It's a very informative class, that helps expecting couples prepare for their own way of giving birth, rather than a step-by-step instructional on one method of coping with pain. Part of the course focuses on the technical stuff - vocabulary, biological/anatomical/physiological functions. The other part is - this might sound hokey - more of a self-exploration, especially for the mom-to-be. How do I instinctively react to and cope with pain? What are my pre-conceptions of labor? What is important for me to consider? It's been an educational experience for both of us, and very reassuring that Dan and I know and support each other well. We've been through a lot in the past few years, and I think our pain-coping skills (while mostly emotionally based) will come in handy.
Dan's going to be so great as a birthing partner. Not only does he have the strong back and quadriceps that I will most likely require as I squat, stand, hang and dangle myself around the delivery room while dilating, but he also has that gentle spirit that some of you have had the pleasure of witnessing. Plus, he makes me laugh like nobody else. That MIGHT come in handy, but I might not be in the mood for jokes.
Part of the course is bio-research: what is the story of my birth and Dan's birth? This has been interesting...I will try to spend some time this weekend creating a post for each story, for those of you who are interested. I'm hoping that labor patterns are genetic, though..so far my preganancy has been very similar to my mother's pregnancy with me, and she had only 2 1/2 hours of hard labor with me. I'm not getting my hopes up, but wouldn't that be nice?
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3 comments:
I'm glad to hear that the pressure is easing up at Dan's work.
How one copes with pain is a good question. About five different answers for myself popped into my head at once, including but not limited to pharmacopeia, execration, and passive surrender to the television. On occasion I go the new-agey route and visualize my pain as a color, then fight it by visualizing a different color. So for (minor) example, the poison ivy itching on my left arm right now seems sort of an orangey-red or coral color, and I can make it quiet down by picturing my arm awash in swimming-pool blue. Unlike benzocaine, however, the pain relief-by-palette requires steady mental concentration.
That's so cool! I don't think I've heard of that method before. So, how does it work? Does the mind associate certain feelings with specific colors, or is it more individual than that?
I dunno. I don't think this is anything I learned anywhere or have read any theory of (I just call it new-agey because it seems kind of that style). Willful synaesthesia, basically.
It is not something I think about at all. I just think "What color is that pain?" and it will seem obvious to me. Most forms of pain are hot colors, predictably enough, although I think I have sometimes experienced certain forms of pain as chartreuse green or dark grey-purple-blue (bruise-colored, basically, though not necessarily associated with a physical bruise). It is also important to visualized the pain in the body--it's not just a color, it has a shape or appearance too. So the poison ivy the other night was like thin lines or ridges of the coral color, as if someone had drizzled lines of glossy nail polish INTO my skin. Other forms of pain are more cloud-like or like cartoon lightning bolts or whatever . . . again, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what it should be like; I just request the visualization from my brain and I know right away.
This is getting weird-feeling, to type this out! It's one of those things that you just experience but have no idea whether other people do the same thing, too.
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