 november 2000
here is baby ziggy and mama laura at eight months gestation. here is another photo for your viewing pleasure, if you'd care to see me from a different angle. no matter which way I turn, I still look huge!
you can see in the background of the picture that we have almost completed the baby's room. we are still looking for an area rug for the bedroom and michael decided that we will wait till the baby comes home to get the blinds. he wants to get pink mini-blinds if it's a girl and blue mini-blinds if it's a boy. sounds good to me!
at my last mid-wife checkup I weighed in at 150 pounds on the nose. I was 115 pounds at the wedding in march 2000, so I have gained an easy 35 pounds so far. the midwife expects me to gain at least five more before the baby is born. our expected due date is december 28, 2000 but michael is convinced that it will be january 6, 2001 by the time baby ziggy is ready to join the family. we will know soon enough (seven weeks). :-)
I am starting to get very uncomfortable and have begun to waddle instead of walk. I have to take very small baby steps so it takes a lot longer to get to work in the morning (I do a 20-minute walk to the El from the train every work day). I won't even start telling you how much time I spend shuffling to and from the bathroom once I'm there. I can't really call this exercise but it is the closest thing to it for me right now. I can barely bend enough to tie my shoes, much less ride a bike or skate (hahaha, wouldn't that be a funny sight?).
we have been working on our birthing plan and have finally agreed on such important items as circumcision if the baby is a boy (we decided to leave things as nature intended), when to leave the hospital (as early as possible) and when to cut the cord (when it's obvious that the baby has no more need of it). we are also planning what to bring to the hospital (just in case we make it, hehehe), like relaxation helpers for the last part of labor and clothes and such just in case the baby and I have to stay over for a night.
michael is planning to come home from work if we start labor during the day, and he will stay to help me through the entire adventure. we are going to stay home as long as possible, probably for at least eight hours or so, until the contractions are at least 3-4 minutes apart and 1.5-2 minutes in duration. this is longer than most women wait before going to the hospital, but we want to arrive at 8cm dilatation instead of 5cm. so we started thinking of things I can do to keep occupied and relaxed while passing the eight hours and I decided to make a lasagna. doesn't that sound like fun? if it really works out, I'll bake some cookies too. this way, we will have something good to eat when we get home as well.
of course this means that we will be doing labor and delivery completely drug- and intervention-free, including the absence of all high-technology apparatus and testing. the only tests that we have had through pregnancy are the standard blood tests, one for high glucose and one for hepatitis B (need to be negative to use the birthing pools). we have not even had an ultrasound since, when we did the research, we found that it is only recommended if the situation warrants, not as a routine procedure. and there is no guarantee that it does no damage to the growing fetus. so we declined.
we went to our first and only birthing class last weekend, a whole day at the hospital. it was fun. we had a great brunch at the corner bakery on st. clair and huron in the gold coast and learned a lot of interesting relaxation techniques and breathing techniques (most of which we will probably not use). I really liked sitting on the big, rubber birthing ball and we hope to pick one up for home sometime in the next week or two. this weekend we are taking elaine and grace back to the hospital with us for a tike hike, which is a special tour just for siblings of the baby's to be. we think we will get the girls something special to go with it, like newborn baby dolls to care for.
over the next couple of weeks we will plan our packing list for labor/delivery and bring the bassinet home from my parent's house and set it up in our bedroom. only seven weeks and counting! we can't wait.
{ back to baby kane }
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