Womb with a view

On Monday, May 10th, we went back to the doctor and had ANOTHER sonogram. I also had to do the glucose tolerance test. Whew, I passed the glucose test! It actually wasn't as bad as I kept hearing- the stories varied from "it's pretty icky" to "" I threw up after drinking the stuff". Yikes. I thought it tasted a little like those icy pops that I used to get as a kid (the long skinny plastic tubes that you kept in the freezer)- only thawed out and syrupy sweet- not something I'd want to drink everyday, but tolerable. I did get the advice to choose the orange flavor (the lady at the lab said definitely do not choose lemon- it tastes like Alka-Seltzer). Because I am Rh negative, I also had to get another Rhogam shot (intramuscular- ouch). I have one more of those coming to me after I deliver little Peanut.

Having another sonogram was great! That is definitely one perk of being "Advanced Maternal Age". Everything looked great, she was laying across my abdomen- from hip to hip. Once again, she had one hand up on her face and her ankles crossed (Matt laughed as he pointed to my crossed ankles as I lay on the table). The sonographer was able to get her to uncross her ankles and confirm that Peanut was a girl (the sonographer said she'd bet her reputation on it- sounds good to me!). Good thing because we have very girly little dresses lining the closet and if we had a boy he'd grow up to write a book about how his parents dressed him as a girl for his first few months of life! Peanut was about 17 inches long and weighed about 2.9 lbs, she was measuring a couple days ahead. At the end of the sonogram, she pointed out that she could see a bunch of "fuzz" on Peanut's head and said she should be born with hair. According to the old-wives tale, all this heartburn and reflux I've been having for 10-11 weeks now would also suggest she will have hair. If hers is anything like the hair I had at birth, it will be dark and stand straight up (like a little troll doll)! I'm on a 2 week appointment schedule now with the OB so I go back this Thursday before we leave for Fresno. We will discuss pediatricians and my birth plan! Yay!!

We are off to Fresno on Thursday and will return the following Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to relaxing a bit (ahhhh... the Crawford pool!) and also the 2 showers that are planned over the weekend. We're pretty lucky that so many wonderful people want to throw a shower for us! I only wish I could bring Barley and Cooper with us on the trip because I will miss them a ton!!

Saturday was spent at our first childbirth class offered by our hospital. We took the abbreviated class so we had to watch 2 DVD's before class and then spend 3 hours with several other couples mostly sitting on the floor learning relaxation techniques. We did get a tour of the maternity area and like I expected, it isn't the fanciest or most up to date birthing center in the KC metro (some seriously look like pretty hotel rooms), but we chose this hospital because they have one of only three level 3 acuity neonatal units in the city and are one of three hospitals in the city that staffs a Pediatrician, OB, Anesthesiologist, and Perinatologist 24/7. It just makes me feel safer. Oh, and the other 2 hospitals that also have those things: 1 is kinda scary (ok, REALLY scary as it is the county hospital and not in a good part of town- we'd be lucky if our car was still there when we left the hospital) and the other is a teaching institution so they have tons of residents (and my doctor doesn't go to the other two). Tonight, I start the Bradley Method classes (aka- natural childbirth). Matt has to be in North Carolina so he won't be there, but no worries because we will be taking these classes every Monday night until Peanut is born (they usually last 12 weeks, but I'm due in 10.5 weeks, so we'll see how many get completed)!

Hopefully I'll be able to post some room pictures soon. Slowly but surely it is all coming together. More slowly, but we still have a few weeks to get our act together!