Baby Care Class # 1 and Birthing Class #3

As mentioned, it's been a very busy week and finally it is Friday - hooray! I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow at the lake :)

On Monday, Jim and I "interviewed" a pediatrician who was recommended by one of my co-workers. Yes, not only do you have to have a pediatrician picked out before baby is born, but you can also have a consultation with them since this could potentially be a long-term relationship. We really liked her so we can check this one off the to-do list.

On Tuesday, I had a doc appt - I will now be seeing my doc every week. She said all looks good and thinks baby is in the right position for birth (which is a good thing because somewhere I read that breech babies can be hereditary, and yes, yours truly was breech).

On Wednesday, we had our first Baby Care class. This class basically takes over from what happens after baby is born. We discussed all sorts of things including disposable vs. cloth diapers - along with practicing putting each type on a baby doll. Jim and I are going to try using both - cloth at home, disposable on the go. There are a couple of diaper services that will wash and deliver clean cloth diapers to you on a weekly basis which is certainly convenient and we planned on doing. However, after evaluating the cost vs. buying our own cloth diapers and doing laundry ourselves, we are going to go this route. Not only is it the most cost effective way, Jim brought up a good point - even though the diapers from the service are clean, we really don't want to think about some other baby's poop or whatever else as we put these on our own baby. Laundry is own of those chores I really don't mind doing and with having a washer & dryer right down in our basement, I think it will work out just fine. So, perhaps we are crazy, but we're going to give it a whirl.

On Thursday, we had our third birthing class. We went over the options for labor pain reduction via medication and epidurals. I am certainly not opposed to having medication or an epidural, I don't have any points to prove by trying to go natural. My feeling is I will just go with the flow and knowing what options I do have, will make my decisions once in labor. If I can do without, great. If I can't, bring on the drugs - ultimately, all that matters is that baby is born safely. The only thing I feel really strongly about is not having a C-section - not sure why some people choose this option right off the bat - but again, if that becomes the only option then all that matters is that baby comes out safe and sound. We also did the tour of the Labor & Delivery floor. There are 24 L&D rooms and while it was pretty quite there last night, September & October apparently are usually the busiest times. So, hopefully when baby is ready, the hospital won't be packed. Touring the hospital brought another level of reality that my pregnancy is coming to an end and baby's birth is right around the corner.

At 36 weeks today, I have 4 weeks to go - in theory. A baby is considered full-term at 37 weeks and the doc said most babies are born between 37.5 and 40.5 weeks - I'm hoping to go the full 40 :) I have 4 weeks of work left, yes, I am working up until my due date on the 10th. And I hope to have a few days at home before baby comes but since everything happens for a reason, I will be ready to welcome our baby whenever he or she decides it's time. Jim is ready too and has been great through this whole thing - I am so lucky baby is going to have as an amazing father as I have a husband.