aning to sit down and write since way last Saturday (a week and a half ago) after my shower, but I just haven't seemed able to get to it. I'm still trying to whittle down my to-do list of things that I need to do before I go into labor, but I just can't seem to ever get completely done. One thing done and another pops up.My sisters and mother did a really great job throwing my shower and it went off really well. There were a lot of people there and everyone was so very generous. It was really nice to see everyone - some I haven't seen in a while. And it was a good mix of people... it seemed just about everyone had someone there they knew and could talk to, so I didn't find myself worrying about people being uncomfortable or not having a good time.
I spent all day that Sunday trying to get everything organized and put away, among working on my to-do list, and still didn't finish. I worked an hour or so (all I could manage after work and dinner and before bed) each night last week and then on Saturday too and finally got pretty much finished except for packing. I worked on that part of Sunday, but mostly relaxed instead.
And Friday I had another appointment. I found out that I am a carrier for strep B. This isn't really a big problem, just more of an inconvenience. It means that I need to take a shot of antibiotics during labor so that I will pass the medicine on to her through the placenta and she will be protected as she goes through the birth canal. If I don't get the antibiotics shot, she still only has about a 1 in 200 chance of contracting strep, which is way worse for her - it can cause mening
itis. But with the antibiotics, she only has a 1 in 4000 chance of getting it. The biggest inconvenience, which may not even be an issue is that if I go past my due date, they can't (or won't) use breaking my water as a way to induce. Breaking the water is probably the single strongest natural thing they can do, so it kinda sucks to take that option away, but I it's better than risking her getting strep and/or meningitis. The reason they won't is because once the water breaks, the chance of bacteria of any kind reaching the baby is way higher. This isn't necessarily the problem either, I don't think (because it's going to eventually break on it's own anyway) but what if they break it and it doesn't work to induce labor? They could break it and I still might not start labor for another few days, during which time she'd be extremely vulnerable to the strep I'm carrying. But anyway, I'm hoping to go into labor without induction - natural or otherwise - and preferably sooner rather than later.The midwife also told me she estimates the baby is 7 to 7.5 lbs right now... !!! What??? I was hoping she'd be no more than 7 when I had her!! I could conceivably go another 3 full weeks... that means she could weigh 9 pounds by the time I have her!! YIKES!!! However, she is just guessing by what she feels and could be way off. But I have decided to take two take home outfits... one newborn size (5-8 lbs) and one 0-3 month size (8-12lbs).
She also told me that she was laying in there with her back to my back, a position which is the cause of back labor (the most painful kind) and that I should spend more time on my hands and knees because her back is the heaviest part of her and gravity will pull her around. I have found this a rather pointless exercise though - first of all, her back is usually facing my belly anyway, and second of all, she spins around all the time on her own. By laying a certain way or by getting on my hands and knees, I can sometimes get her to spin toward the front if she's not already, but she'll just spin back around as soon as she feels like it. I don't really worry too much about it though, for two reasons. First, like I said: she's usually got her back toward my belly, and second: as long as she can spin around by herself so easily, there's just no point in worrying about it.
Just before Christmas, we had maternity pictures made by a girl I went to highschool with, who is now a photographer. She's very talented - if you ever need a photographer for anything, I recommend her. Here's the link:
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