A mind of his/her own….

Last week at my check-up the midwife said the baby’s head was up toward my ribs.  The portable ultrasound machine confirmed and she said that I had a week to turn the baby.  She gave some exercises that had my hips elevated 12” that encouraged the baby to turn.  If that wasn’t going to help, she would send me to a Dr./Acupuncturist that would prescribe moxibustin stick burning as a treatment.  Turns out that if you burn this incense type treatment next to your little toe, your baby has a 70% chance of turning…guess it is a heat/pressure point.  I thought it sounded a bit nuts, but after doing some reading, it seems more common than I thought.

However, today at my appointment the baby turning exercises must have worked because they confirmed that the baby is back from its vacation and back to having his/her head back down where it belongs.  No moxibustin sticks for me.

We have had three wonderful baby showers and a fourth this weekend.  We are very taken back and appreciative of our family & friends’ generosity.  Thank you!  In a matter of weeks, we will have most of the items that we could predict needing and a baby not far behind.  We have assembled the crib and are waiting for our changing table/dresser to arrive to store our clothes & other items.

Tomorrow we finish our baby class and then have 5 weeks to wait for our little one to arrive.  We toured the hospital & rooms last week – they are beautiful.  The rooms are nice and large and have attached bathrooms with whirlpool tubs and large showers.  They also have DVD players in the room and encourage us to bring music to play during the labor, as it might be relaxing.  We are very comfortable with the midwives and the hospital and know that visitors will enjoy the family lounge (complete with computer & internet).  Overall, we are getting ready for the next big adventure.

Ah Newborn Basics…

We have started our parenting classes this week with Newborn Basics and Breastfeeding Basics. Next week we start the three-week Labor, Birth & Beyond Class. Who knew that a breastfeeding class could be so informative and yet entertaining? Back in college I used to write quotes from lectures that made me giggle. Matt & I found ourselves doing that tonight at class. Some of our favorites were:

“Baby is the best milk-getter-outer there is”
“They know how & they’ll go to town”
“If you don’t leak, it just means you have a strong nipple ring”
“The baby probably wants pizza & beer, but you don’t have that right now”
“The breast is not a straw”
“Bring the baby to the restaurant” (mother is the restaurant)
“Years ago women who breast fed survived because breast feeding made the uterus contract so she didn’t bleed to death – isn’t that cool?”

Overall, we learned a lot….all that will be tested when our little one joins us in 8 weeks.

I had my 32-week check-up yesterday and all is well. The baby’s heartbeat is strong, my levels are all good and there aren’t any concerns with the pregnancy.

Other than that we spent some time updating our registry at Babies’r’Us and Target. We are convinced that there are a lot of gimmicks out there that aren’t necessary…so we tried to look into the crystal ball to determine what our potential needs are going to be.

Matt’s Favorite Tips from the Breastfeeding 101 pamphlet:

“7. Breastfeeding is associated with higher IQ”
“47. Breastmilk is free”
“63. Cow’s milk is designed for baby cows”
“64. Human milk is designed for baby humans”
“69. Breastmilk means more sleep for dad”
“72. Breastmilk has never been recalled”
“74. With breastmilk there’s no need to know worry about what brand is better”
“100. Breastfeed babies smell fantastic”