31 Weeks

Hey bloggy friends! Sorry that I have not been good at posting lately. Things have been very busy around here with the end of the quarter at school, workshops, grant writing and much more! I promise to be better at posting now. Here is the week 31 blog! I will have nursery, baby bag/hospital bag and more this week!

How Far Along: 31 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 30 lbs approx. 

Milestones: All five senses are in working order and his eyes are reacting to light now!

Baby Is The Size Of: a Pineapple

Sleep: Sleep has been good. I have been getting hip pain though on the right side. 

Best Moment This Week: We met with our Doula, Juanita today and that went GREAT! I am so excited to have her be a part of this! Our good friends Marit and Aaron also had their beautiful baby boy, John on Thursday. We are so excited for them! 

Miss Anything?: I miss being able to bend over to pick things up, put my socks on, sit on the couch, get dressed, etc...all with ease! I can still do these things but it is a chore!! My ever growing stomach is really starting to get in the way!

Movement?: Lots and lots of movements and hiccups! He tried to sit up the other night, I SWEAR! I was sitting on the couch and all of a sudden my stomach went alien like and the middle was like a cone! Tim and I were laughing so hard...he wouldn't move either. I think he was planking a couple days ago too. I could feel him pushing out on both sides and my stomach looked like football or rugby ball instead of a basketball! I think it's getting VERY cramped in there!

Food Cravings: No cravings. I have been eating a lot of oriental chicken salads with romaine lettuce from our local restaurant though lately.  

Things That Make Me Queasy: No queasiness! :) 

Gender: BOY

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks some... Nothing serious or strong, but my uterus is definitely getting those muscles ready for the real deal!

Symptoms: LOTS and LOTS of stretching!! I'm short of breathe and have a lot of heartburn too. Things are getting crowded in there. I am peeing constantly. I also found out that I have Strep B which popped up in my urine at the last appointment. Today is the last day on medication for that. Hopefully it will clear up now and I won't have to have an IV during delivery. I am very prone to Strep so it was no surprise that I would have Strep B too. Then of course, because of the antibiotics...I got a yeast infection. I know...a little too much info for some of you but hey...pregnant woman are prone to them as am I normally! Oh the joys of womanhood/pregnancy!

Inny or Outy: It's basically out. Sometimes it's flat and sometimes it's half out but basically...out!

Wedding Band On or Off:  It's off, but not because I can't wear it. It drives me crazy that it is slightly tighter and my claustrophobia sets in and I have a small panic attack. It's just easier to leave it off.  

Mood Most Of The Time: Very happy most of the time. A little stressed lately, but it's not because of the baby. We are excited to get things in order and ready for him to be here!

Looking Forward To: Finishing the nursery (only a couple things to go) and the upcoming showers!

Another fun thing that I want to share is a picture of me along with two other good friends/fellow teachers at school. We are all/were pregnant now. Like I said earlier, Marit already had her baby on Thursday, March 29 so it's just me and Jodie left! Jodie is due May 25. 

From left to right: Marit, Jodie and Me! 

29 Weeks!

How Far Along: 29 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 29 lbs

Milestones: Baby is gaining more and more fat. He weighs in somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5lbs and measures between 15 and 17 inches long! 

Baby Is The Size Of: an Acorn Squash

Sleep: Sleep has been really good this week. I really want to sleep on my back though and am getting very sick of sleeping on my side.  

Best Moment This Week: It was a VERY exciting week at the Ostrom household! Our stroller/car seat travel system came. We just need to get it in the car now! The instruction manual is like a novel! Our gDiapers came! I can't wait to see his little butt in them! Also...our childbirth educator agreed to be our Doula!  

Miss Anything?: I miss sleeping on my back, being able to bend over and pick things up off the floor, walking without being winded, coffee, and being able to go to the closet in the morning and just get dressed! It's a chore and NOTHING FITS!!

Movement?: Lots and lots of movements and hiccups! 

Food Cravings: Still not really having any cravings. Still really like Grape Whole Fruit Bars. I have really like vanilla yogurt with raspberries and granola lately too. 

Things That Make Me Queasy: Not really queasy anymore. Sometimes my stomach is a little upset in the morning when I need to eat, but that's about it. My stomach hurts when I'm sitting sometimes too, like on the couch, because it's so squished now!

Gender: BOY

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks daily! Nothing serious or strong, but my uterus is definitely getting those muscles ready for the real deal!

Symptoms: Still having lots of heartburn and stretching. Braxton Hicks contractions are daily, but not strong. I'm peeing all of the time and winded when I walk a ways! I'm really congested lately and not sure if it's allergies from this gorgeous spring weather we are having very early, or pregnancy, or a cold! 

Inny or Outy: Flat, flat, flat. It pops out now and then but mostly it's flat. 

Wedding Band On or Off:  It's off, but not because I can't wear it. It drives me crazy that it is slightly tighter and my claustrophobia sets in and I have a small panic attack. It's just easier to leave it off.  

Mood Most Of The Time: I've been very happy lately. It's getting very close now so my emotions are a mix of excited, nervous, anxious and overwhelmed all at the same time, but mostly....we are super excited for Graysen to be here!

Looking Forward To: Finishing the nursery, talking with our Doula and the upcoming showers!

Things you should NEVER say to a pregnant woman! EVER!

Ok...I may be slightly emotionally sensitive right now, but some people are just plain stupid when it comes to talking to a pregnant woman! I mean..it's like they lost their filter for any tact and even though they may not mean to come off rude, their comments are just plain ridiculous!

Here are a few of my "favorites" so far!

"Wow...You are HUGE!" Ok...I realize that my belly is getting bigger, along with other parts of me I'm sorry to say, BUT...it takes all I have to bite my tongue and not say something like, "I'm 7 months pregnant...what's your excuse?" HUGE is not a word a pregnant woman EVER wants to hear! Try something like "I'm so excited for you and love seeing the baby's growing progress!" 

"Oh...you're pregnant? I was thinking you were looking a little more 'built'!" Alright, even if you were thinking that I may have gained weight and didn't want to ask if I was pregnant, (Thank you for not asking, because unless you know FOR SURE...NEVER ask a woman if she is pregnant or when she is due!!) please don't tell me that you thought I was getting a little more 'built'! (I had gained 5lbs at this time by the way!)

"TUMMY TOUCHING" - I'm not opposed to tummy touching at all! I'm a kindergarten teacher and am being 'touched' all day long. Doing it without asking...another story! It seems to always be drunk men. My husband and I had a wildlife banquet and yep...2 drunk men, who we knew but still...touched/rubbed without asking! We were at a bar/restaurant eating supper and yep, you guess it...2 more drunk men that night! PLEASE ask before touching! I don't go around rubbing your belly!!!

"You think you're not sleeping now..." No shit! And before you jump to conclusions...I feel great right now and I'm sleeping great thanks! Obviously baby's are up every couple hours and anyone that THINKS they will be getting MORE sleep after they have a baby is just an idiot! 

"Your life is going to change!" Again...NO SHIT SHERLOCK! Thank you for stating the obvious!

"I was in labor for _____ hours and it SUCKED! Just you wait!!" No pregnant woman wants to hear your horror story about labor and delivery, especially a newbie! No one goes into labor/delivery thinking it will be a walk in the park. No pain...no gain! I just don't need to hear a long story about yours unless I ask. 

"Why would you ever want to do that??" Such as cloth diapers...I'm pretty sure that women used cloth diapers for many many years before disposables came along and if we want to take the extra time to wash, clean, etc...what do you care? You aren't going to have to do it! Sorry if we want to be nice to Mother Nature and use cloth diapers at home. We aren't completely against disposables and plan to use them now and then. I'm not judging you for using disposables!! 

"Good luck with that!!!" (said sarcastically) This is what we usually get when we say that we want to have a natural childbirth with no drugs. It's usually followed by said labor horror story mentioned earlier. Excuse me...woman have been having babies that way for 100s and 1000s of years! Instead, congratulate me and encourage me to give it my best effort. I'm a strong woman that can take more than you know!

"I bet your husband's excited you're having a boy!" Yes he is, but he would be just as excited if we were having a girl. We want a healthy baby and he was actually leaning towards a girl. 

"My friend's sister's cousin had a baby that was born with ________" (insert horrible disorder here) We actually DID have a genetic disorder scare and had to go in for a Type 2 ultrasound and genetic counseling. Our baby boy had brain cysts that they found at our 19 week ultrasound. You wouldn't believe the people that told us horror stories about friend's/relative's babies that had the same thing and died or a similar disorder or a disorder that had nothing to do with our baby and our situation. NO ONE wants to hear those stories when they are going through something like that. Be sympathetic and pray for us. Everything turned out fine and the cysts cleared themselves up by the way. 

"It's ok to have a beer/glass of wine! I did and my baby turned out fine!" That's great for you! I'll work on being the best/healthiest mom I can! Thanks though!

Ok, it may be my raging hormones lately, but again...that comes with pregnancy and DON'T point out to a pregnant woman that her hormones must be raging, but some people need to STOP AND THINK before they speak. Pretty sure, whenever talking to a pregnant woman, you should say how great she looks pregnant and how glowing she is, even if she isn't and she is crabby and moody! LIE THROUGH YOUR TEETH! They are already on a wild emotional roller coaster where they are excited and proud to be growing this human being inside of them one minute to feeling like a big fat blob the next. Their body is changing and I think they know that more that anyone! BE SENSITIVE and remember...if you don't have anything nice to say...KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Ok, I'll get off my soap box for today. Blame today's blog post on my raging hormones! :) 

28 Weeks!

How Far Along: 28 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 27 lbs

Milestones: Baby's lungs are mature enough to survive on his own most likely and he is gaining more and more fat!

Baby Is The Size Of: a Rutabaga

Sleep: Sleep overall is good. Last night, I was awaken suddenly by stabbing chest pains and couldn't get my breathe. I wasn't sure at first what was going on. I thought the baby was crushing an organ or putting pressure on my lung or my heart. He may have been but for the next 45 minutes, I was up with sudden shooting pains up my back and chest that would knock me to the floor. I think it was just really bad heartburn, but we'll see. I got heartburn before I was pregnant, but this was unlike any other pain I've had. It was scary, especially being pregnant! The doctor put me on an antacid daily to see if that helps. I seem to get heartburn no matter what I eat.  

Best Moment This Week: Continuing to work on the nursery. We got it painted, decals up, crib is put together...just need the finishing touches! We also had our Labor/Delivery Class which was so enlightening. Check the earlier post about Doulas for more on the class. 

Miss Anything?:I miss sleeping on my back! I miss being able to walk up the stairs and not be winded. I miss lunch meat still! I really miss not having all of these aches and pains and heartburn. I miss being able to put my socks on with ease and bending over to pick something up and not feeling like my stomach is being scrunched!

Movement?: Lots and lots of movements and hiccups! 

Food Cravings: Not really craving anything. Ice water and grape flavored frozen Whole Fruit Bars taste really good!

Things That Make Me Queasy: Nothing is really making me queasy anymore...knock on wood! The morning sickness as subsided to make room for heartburn, backaches, Braxton Hicks and other aches/pains! :/

Gender: BOY

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks daily! Nothing serious or strong, but my uterus is definitely getting those muscles ready for the real deal!

Symptoms: Lots of indigestion and heartburn. It doesn't matter what I eat, bland or not, it's coming back up! Braxton Hicks, side aches, leg cramps and hip pains at night now and then. Acne again...ugh! Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, despite all those things I mentioned. My belly is getting bigger by the day, even though I'm not really gaining a whole lot of weight anymore, but it's definitely stretching and stretching. No stretch marks yet, so hopefully that means I won't have any. 

Inny or Outy: Flat, flat, flat. It pops out now and then but mostly it's flat. 

Wedding Band On or Off:  It's off, but not because I can't wear it. It drives me crazy that it is slightly tighter and my claustrophobia sets in and I have a small panic attack. It's just easier to leave it off.  

Mood Most Of The Time: I'm happy most of the time. We all have our moments, but mood-wise in general, I think I have been a pretty easy going pregnant woman! My husband may beg to differ! 

Looking Forward To: Finishing the nursery and his quilt. 

Nursery Sneak Peak

Here is a Sneak Peak at our nursery. We started out having a Map/Eclectic World Traveler themed nursery, but it's ending up more like an African Safari/Indiana Jones theme but I LOVE IT!!

Here are some before/during pictures. The after pictures will hopefully be posted soon!

Here is bad view, but peak into the room that WAS a catch all for the junk that we didn't have any other place for. It all got cleared out to make room for BABY!!

 Here is the room cleared out and freshly painted. It looks so much bigger without a queen sized bed and a bunch of random stuff!! 

 Here is another "before" view of the room. There was a queen sized bed in here, but we took that out before these pictures were taken. It looks like a lot of work ahead...

 Here is the same view of the room but all of the crap is cleared out and the paint it done! Thanks to my parents, who came over while Tim and I were at work to paint! Tim just had to finish up a bit when he got home. 

 Here is a picture of the same spot, but the crib is up, (filled with some more stuff for the nursery) and decals are on the wall.  There will be a huge 55" x 35" antique map hanging on the slant above his crib and seafoam/aqua paper lanterns hanging over his changing table which is just to the left of the picture as an abstract globe mobile. 

 One last "before picture". I just noticed that our dog, Shadow, is mysteriously in this picture, snooping around at all of the baby stuff! 

 The same corner "after". I absolutely LOVE this giraffe decal! There will be a glider in this corner at well but the cushions are getting recovered to match the room. 

 Here is a foot stool that will be used in the room. I got it from my "sisters" and "surrogate mom" as a shower gift. It works perfectly in this room!  

Last but not least...I had to add a picture of Tim putting the crib together. We were a great team and it actually didn't take very long. Only one swear word muttered by me and not over the crib. Tim accidentally pinched my finger in the crib when he was trying to catch himself from falling over. He has the WORST balance. I love the crib too! It is so much prettier in person than the pictures show. I can't wait for Graysen to get to rest his precious little head in it!

To Doula or Not to Doula???? That is the question!

This weekend Tim and I attended our Weekend Childbirth Class. It was very enlightening and I/we feel much more prepared. Not saying we are totally prepared because no one really is, but we are a lot more confident in the birthing experience. Our question now...Doula or no Doula?? 

For those of you that don't know what a Doula is, Doula means Woman's Servant and she comes and assists in the childbirth process. They make sure that Mom and Baby are as comfortable as they can be and that the labor/delivery process is exactly or as close to exactly what you would like. They aid in comfort measures and provide emotional support. 

When a Doula is present during/after the birthing process: 

• tends to result in shorter labors with fewer complications
• reduces the need for pitocin (a labor-inducing drug), forceps or vacuum extraction
• reduces mothers’ requests for pain medication and epidurals
• reduces cesarean sections by up to 26%
• improves the mother’s satisfaction with her birth experience
• reduces postpartum depression
• improves breastfeeding success
• reduces the length of hospital stays
• builds mother’s self confidence in the postpartum period

We know that we want to try very hard to not use any drugs during labor and to have a natural vaginal birth. I feel very confident in my ability to do this. I am strong and woman have been doing it for hundreds of years! It's what your body was made to do. At last resort, if something should happen, we are not opposed to a C-Section. If we need it, we need it but we want to try every other method before we just at an epidural. I want our baby to come out alert and ready to breastfeed. 

The childbirth educators, who are also Doulas, reassured us that if you can make it to 7 centimeters during the Transition Stage of labor, you can do it the rest of the way. The worst is most likely over. I've never had a baby, but I have been in labor and had my cervix opened and dilated.  I had to get an IUD and since my cervix had never been opened, they had to dilate me and induce me to open it manually. That was AWFUL but I drove myself home having contractions!!! I know that actual childbirth is going to be even more intense but I have faith that I can do it! I really want to try. I will have a WONDERFUL coach who is also my best friend helping me through it. 

An amazing thing about the Birth Center, where we are having Graysen is that we CAN make it our own experience. We plan to bring in relaxing/meditating music, aromatherapy, soft lighting and use the whirlpool tub/shower. They have labor balls, beds that move into all sorts of positions and not to mention that they delivered 900 babies last year alone!! We are in great hands! 

Our only question is...do we get a Doula or not?? They usually make two house visits before hand to go over what you want and the experience you want to have, are there when you go into labor and stay through the birth. They will stay for a couple hours if you want and they will assist with lactation right away as many of them are also lactation consultants. They usually make a home visit sometime within the first month after baby is born to check up and what not. There are several reputable/licensed Doula's in SE MN...we are just debating on whether we will use one. 

Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts. Did you use one? Do you know someone who did? Do you wish you had used one?? HELP!!!!