36 down, 4 to go

Well, the myth that pregnant women can't take any medications is busted. I thought going into this experience that if I got sick, I would have to just buck up and take it. Not so. I learned early on that I didn't need to stop my regular meds. I had a cold right at the beginning and was told it's ok to take decongestants and cough syrup. This past week when the Dr. decided that my cold that just won't go away is actually bronchitis, she loaded me up. I have never filled so many prescriptions in my life! She gave me a Z-pack (antibiotic), cough syrup with codeine, and an albuteral inhaler. The cough syrup is great! I haven't slept this well since I got pregnant. I'm afraid I might be hooked : )

The above Dr.'s appointment was also my 36 week check and my last 2 week appt. Now we are down to seeing her every week. Alex is growing quite well, according to the ultrasound from the week before, he is in the 49th percentile. Sounds good to me. Some evidence shows that the size of your baby may be genetic. I hope that is wrong! My mom had 3 kids, Brian 10 lbs., me over 9 lbs. and Brenda 9lbs. One Gram had 7, 2-10 pounders and the smallest being just under 9. My other Gram had twins and they each weighed over 6 lbs. Plus, have you ever noticed that Jason's head is really round and large?

I have gained back about 7 of the 10lbs. I lost when I first came down with the cold, still 6 under where I started! My blood pressure was 98/78. My belly is at 35 1/2 cm. I think Alex may have dropped, he doesn't seem to be kicking me in the ribs quite so much anymore. I think I may be breathing easier too, hard to say with the bronchitis. I don't want to get too excited though, everyone keeps telling me that the first one is always late.

Ikea is evil

Well, we finally got the crib, and I learned two very important facts.

1. Much like a young Jedi must be mindful of the force, Anyone driving through Boston must be mindful of the time. I don't know if we could have hit rush hour any more directly. Clearly, a rookie mistake. It added an hour and half to our trip.

2. Ikea is evil.

Ikea is evil? Oh yes. At least to men like myself, and pregnant women. Let me explain.
A picture of the beast:


See how freakin large it is? That is because it has 3 floors. The first is the parking area, which is cool. I will give credit where credit is due.

However, the next two floors are pure evil. See, you have to start on the top floor. The top floor is the showroom. They literally have nothing for sale up here. It is all display mechandise. You jot down any stuff you want, and proceed to the lower floor. This is when you get to shop, but Ikea doesn't make it that easy. See, all the stuff on the top floor is at the end of a swedish chrsitmas tree shop. Actually, both floors are a maze. The whole store is a maze, and the longer your in it, the more stuff you have to buy. EVIL

2nd Floor:


1st floor:


After we got out, we had to take the elevator down, and I think I saw one guy who got lost, and tried to buy his way out. He had 6 carts, and took a whole elevator by himself.

But, we did have a moral victory. We got a free bath mat. By free I mean it was between the crib and the crib's matress when I checked us out, and I totally forgot about it. Barbie put it on there, and due to the maze, she couldn't easily get to the bathroom till we emerged. So it's really their fault anyway.

So, we escaped with our Diktad crib, Sultan Sussa matress, Vium rug, and of course, free Saxån rund bathmat.

Of course, we didn't get home till 1 am, and that just about murdered Barbie. Luckly for her, she had a doctor's appointment the next day, and she got some good meds. But that is a story for another day.

The Idiots Guide to Childbirth

Well, we had our birthing classes this weekend. I gotta admit, it was pretty informative. And scary. Scary, in that you know when we thought about the baby, or at least when I did, it was always Pregnancy --> Baby. It hit me this weekend that it’s Pregnancy --> Labor --> Birth --> Baby.

But anyway, we had our classes, and they were pretty good. We learned about what we needed to do, and what we could expect before, during, and after birth. I even got to experience pregnancy.





And I must admit, I like Central Maine Medical Center’s maternity ward. They go out of their way to make sure that it’s a positive experience. They keep the baby in the room most of the time now instead of a nursery, which I like. Oh, and they have a NICU(neonatal intensive care unit) so if something does go wrong, they are ready. So all around it was a good experience.
There were two draw backs though.

The first was that each class(there were two) started at 9, and went until 1 pm.

The second was … Mark and Amber. Mostly Amber.

Amber was a pain. First, it seems she did NO research on the area hospitals. What I mean is that she was looking for two very specific birthing methods, and was pissed when the nurse said they didn’t offer them at CMMC. Then she just tried to turn it into the Amber show, which was even more annoying as they were the only couple who seemed to do no research . She interrupted people, and always played the one-upsman. Everyone else was cool though.

I knew she was annoying me badly when, during changing and swaddling practice, I noticed they had swaddled their baby better than us, and I re-wrapped it. I will not lose to them. =)

I’m glad Amber is due a month after us. We won’t have to hang out in the ward.