35 Weeks

[sal_amanda]

OH MY GOD I'M 35 WEEKS PREGNANT AND I'M FREAKING OUT!!!!!!

Okay.  Got that out of my system.  I'm not sure which part of all this freaks me out the most.  Labor and delivery could be pretty scary.  My own personal post-delivery recovery, not the least of which is the possibility of up to 6 weeks of bleeding in an area that will be needing some major healing anyway, does not sound fun.  Taking care of a newborn is absolutely terrifying.  The financial end of things isn't so great.  And the prospect that this child is my responsibility for many, many, many years to come is a bit freak-worthy, as well.  

In any case, we finally have the baby's room pretty much set up.  Granted we only have one crib sheet at the moment, which probably won't last us very long, but at least the crib is made up.  And with all our cute little oceany things hung up on the walls, it looks, as John declared the other day, like a real room.  I suppose that sounds like a funny designation, but it's been a boring guest room and then a somewhat filthy haven for Mike, so it does have a real purpose now and it appears to be happy about that prospect.

I packed up stuff for the dog and I'll get that to my parents' house one of these days so all they'll have to get is him when the time comes.

I still have to pack a bag for the hospital, but I have some things already gathered and made up a list of what to take.  I'll probaby get on that this weekend at the latest, though some of it will be last minute things to grab.  It seems like a lot of stuff that everyone tells you to take. 

Meanwhile, I think it's cruel of nature to make it difficult to get some good sleep while I still have the time to do so.  It's so hard to get comfortable and then the nasal congestion kicks in and wakes me up all the time.  It blows.

On top of that, I have this waterproof thingy under my sheet, just in case I were to be one of the few women out there that have a major water breakage gush (contrary to popular TV representation, that only happens about 10% of the time) and in case it were to happen while I was in bed.  I refused to get a vinyl mattress cover because that would be noisy and annoying.  Target had a full mattress cover that was vinyl underneath, but soft on top.  We were going to get that for $30, but then found basically the same thing, only it covers just part of the mattress.  On the plus side, it was only about $7.  On the minus side, there's nothing really holding it in place so in all my tossing and turning and whatnot, it gets all bunched up and wrinkly.  And because there's not an ounce of any kind of natural material in it, it makes me very, very warm.  Still, better than the possibility of ruining a mattress, I guess.

Comments

[sal_amanda]

I've been freaking out for a while, to be honest. I think I read too many baby books.

Yeah, I don't know how people really pack everything ahead of time. I just know there's stuff on the list that won't get packed until the last minute. Which is really why I have the list, so I don't have to think about it at all when the time comes.

Once again, TV would have you believe that when you're ready to deliver it happens just like that, but I know there will be time to get everything together. We packed comfy clothes for John on the total off chance that I'd have to leave immediately and he'd have to meet me there, but we know that what will likely happen is that he'll just change into them before we leave. And if he's at work, there's probably going to be time for him to come home to get me first.

If only it went as fast as it does on TV, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

[flutteronby28.livejournal.com]

yay for baby ellie! shes almost here ;)

[sal_amanda]

Ach, no. If it is a girl, there will be none of that Ellie business. We're going with Nora for a nickname for Eleanor.

And how are you so sure it's a girl? ;) My mom has a pool going for the gender and date. It's a dollar to get in on it. You want in?

[flutteronby28.livejournal.com]

no i dont want in - and nora is way too sophisticated for a little girl. she can be nora when shes a famous artist. plus it reminds me of nora jones - and as pretty as she is, she is also pretty boring

[sal_amanda]

Ellie is John's grandmother, and it makes me think of old ladies, regardless. I just really, really don't like it. I love the name Nora and would probably choose it on its own even if we weren't going with Eleanor.

That's the thing about baby names. Everyone has a different perspective of what's good or not and has names that remind them of someone or other, for better or worse.

Forget the whales...Save the Afterbirth!!

[(Anonymous)]

I once knew this woman who's water broke while doing the after dinner dishes. (knew her pretty well actually;-) When it happened I very calmly and rationally instructed her to sit down while I packed a few things together, then off we went to the hospital. Now this was only the beginning of the trek because she was not dilated at all, and this had to be induced. This of course gave me time to say "honey, I'll run home to get a few more things" as we were told it would be an all night affair. Check in time was approximately 7pm and labor went on until 6am the following morning. So I kissed her on the check and ran home. Now while she was hooked up to IVs, I took the opportunity to get some quick carbs and threw a frozen pizza in the oven, and cracked open a Molsons Brador. (just had some shipped out to the coast) After about 45 minutes I then maintained my calm cool attitude and proceeded to pack some toiletries, but not before settling in for a good long DUMP! I had the Sunday edition of the San Diego Union already in a strategic place in the bathroom, so this had the makings for what was a memorable crap! As it "turned out" it seemed as though I was the one giving birth the way I "labored". Twenty minutes, 4 sections of the Sunday paper, and many beads of sweat later the eagle finally landed with a splash that was felt on the back of my ass! This thing was so big I thought it was going to end up sinking an Aircraft carrier in the harbor if I was able to flush it down. Following this accomplishment, I dashed out the door with amazing speed and alacrity, which was little wonder feeling as though I shed at least 10 pounds. Arriving at the hospital, I rejoined my wife, explained that the "traffic was hell", and proceeded to go through the rigors of waiting. Once fully dilated, one of the nurses called me over and said "dad..come see this". Now as I explained before, I was rather proud of my logical and rational behavior throughout the night. The only difficulty I had experienced was the pinching out of that stubborn exhaust pipe. Walking over to the foot of the bed the nurse pointed out an extraordinary sight. The crown of the babys fully haired head was poking out. The swirl at the top of its head was unmistakable. Still I maintained my composure, while Mom was starting to get rather testy exclaiming "why wont this baby just come out?" Now it was time, as the Doctor finally made his appearance seemingly at the last possible moment and it was off to the delivery room! Still playing the role as "Joe Cool" I got all dressed in the proper operating room attire, walked into the room and witnessed a miracle. Once that baby came into the world, away went all that logic and reason I composed myself with that night. I'm not talking "fainting on the floor" irrationality, but an adulation and hyperventilating as I said over and over...it's a little girl, with feet, hands, whooa, it just came out of you! This turned into sobbing, shaking, and the redundant repetition of saying the same thing over and over. The whole time I was standing with the baby as they cleaned her up, and put the little wool cap on her. I came back down from Mt. Olympus by that time to notice the attending nurses around the room had streams of makeup running down over their masks, and thought to myself..so much for my joe cool stature. I followed baby "Gina" out the door as they were taking her to the nursery and was rounding the corner of the door as I remembered "shit..my forgot something!" Went back and saw my wife lying in a heap on the table saying "remember me?" Later the next day I was told the doctor was asking "how the father was doing", as if he knew the mom was going to be just fine. Looking back on that day I can clearly see that I also was ment to "labor" that day, in the delivery room and in the bathroom!

Re: Forget the whales...Save the Afterbirth!!

[sal_amanda]

I'll be interested to see how John does with all this. He's a very mellow guy normally, but I doubt he's been through anything quite like this before.

Re: Forget the whales...Save the Afterbirth!!

[i-am-solid.livejournal.com]

He'll probably figure out some crazy way to turn a baby picture into a MySpace cursor or something for his page.

Okay, who was that drive-by anonymous commentor? I have a guess. I know that classy narration I suspect...

Re: Forget the whales...Save the Afterbirth!!

[sal_amanda]

John insists he won't be that bad, but I have my doubts. Thank god the hospital doesn't have a wireless connection. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd be adding the laptop to that list of things to pack.

I've been thinking for a while that the anonymous commenter was Uncle, and the last one had pretty much sealed it for me, but this was definite confirmation.

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

You are me, six years ago!!! I feel like our relationship has reached a new level. It's like you are in my head. :)

I actually had an excel spreadsheet for the hospital bag. Still have it, I think.

The funniest thing about the hospital bag is that they tell you to bring all this stuff that the hospital provides. For example, the hospital here provides toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, soap, shampoo, maxi pads, socky-slipper things, and gosh, I can't remember what else. You can pretty much forget anything except the clothes for the baby to go home in. They even provide a carseat, if you need it!

[sal_amanda]

I typed up a list, but I didn't use Excel. I basically e-mailed it to myself.

A lot of what's on the list was recommended by our childbirth educator, who is also a doula, and she seemed to have a good idea of what all the local hospitals will provide you with. I'm hoping the hospital nightgowns aren't too horrible because I don't have any to bring. Or a bathrobe, for that matter.

[i-am-solid.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute, 36 is 9 months right? So, are you due in like a week? Or are babies not really due in exactly 9 months, I have no idea. I'm not mentally prepared for a baby next week. I'm going to need you to wait a few more weeks on that delivery thing, m'kay?

[sal_amanda]

This is why I count by weeks, rather than months. Months gets confusing. Gestation is approximately 40 weeks, though I've read that's kind of an arbitrary date that somebody decided on decades ago because it was a nice round number. In any case, if you count a month as 28 days, 40 weeks is actually ten months. But if you count by calendar months, most of which are obviously more than 28 days, it's more like 9 months and a week.