Gas and Constipation

I’ve been having a lot of gas lately.  I’m not sure if it’s related to me taking Tums for all my acid reflux or not.  I basically get acid reflux everyday now.  Usually at night when I’m trying to sleep.  It’s super annoying.  The Tums provides some relief but I don’t really want to take Tums every day.  I only usually take it before bed but I am taking them every time I try to go to bed.  I’ve also been having some constipation lately.  I eat a small handful of prunes every day to help with it and it really has helped.  I haven’t had problems in a while but the last couple times I went I noticed some blood on the paper.  A very tiny bit, almost not noticeable.  It kind of hurt to go too.  I’m now wondering if I have a hemmoriod or something.  If it’s not back to normal by my next doctor visit I’ll mention it to her.  Oh, the joys of pregnancy.

Fruit Cravings

I went grocery shopping today and got stuff to make chili.  Once I got home I started seriously craving fruit.  I ate a tomato, strawberries that I got because I saw they were on sale, a cup of applesauce, some peach juice and a handful of prunes.  I also felt incredibly thirsty and drank two full glasses of water.  The nice cold water was really refreshing.  I wanted to eat more tomatoes but I needed them for the sauce base for the chili.  Just kind of a funny craving I had today.

Lunch at The Bun Shop

I went to lunch at a bao sandwich shop with my friend.  She wanted to take me to lunch, knows I like bao and found a place she wanted to try.  I’ve been making time to spend with all of my friends so it was nice.  The place was called The Bun Shop.  It was more like a mini bao sandwich.  Like a mini taco but with bao bread instead of a tortilla.  It was the size of a taco off a food truck so two was the perfect amount.  In fact there is a food truck called The Bun Truck which we’re pretty sure is affiliated.  I got the beef and pork belly buns.  The beef was really good.  Plus we got edamame and crab rangoons.  All really good.  I’d go back. 

Afterward we took her two dogs for a walk in the park down the street from her house.  I was really glad to get out and get some exercise.  Plus her dogs are really friendly and cute.  She actually had knitted another baby sweater for the baby which is really nice. 

Another Dream

I had another dream that I had my baby.  I guess going into labor has been on my mind lately.  I don’t remember the dream much.  Only that I was able to hold my baby and this time it was a boy.  I guess maybe the mystery behind the gender has been on my subconscious mind too.

Labor Dream

I had a dream last night that I went into labor and had my baby.  Joe was working so my friend drove me to the hospital.  She agreed to be my emergency contact person to take me to the hospital if I went into labor early while Joe’s working.  Joe’s paternity leave doesn’t start until the 6th.  I got to the hospital and my doctor and pediatrician was there.  I had them call Joe.  Randomly there were medical students in wheelchairs there watching and I yelled at them to leave.  I had my baby before Joe arrived so my friend was there as my support person.  I got to hold my baby and it was a girl.

Tenth Prenatal Dr Visit

Joe wasn’t able to go with me to the doctor today.  He’s been working insane hours and needed to sleep which is probably good since I had my Strep B test today.  Step B is a bacteria that can be present in the vagina or rectum that’s harmless to adults but can be harmful for babies and can infect them during delivery.  If I test positive I’ll be given antibiotics during delivery and that’s about it.  The doctor had to do a swab of my vagina and rectum.  The rectum swab was kind of painful and caused me to scream out a little bit.  Kind of painful but quick.  Then she just did the heart monitoring. 

She mentioned that my mucus plug could come out at any time but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll go into labor (it can happen weeks before labor).  The mucus plug coming out is called The Bloody Show, which is a horribly unappealing name if you ask me.  It basically looks like a period but should be less and less every time I go to the bathroom.  If it doesn’t lessen over time I should call her or go to the hospital.  The plug keeps bacteria out of the uterus to protect the baby but comes out as labor approaches.  She went over how to tell if my water breaks.  It can break without contractions and if that happens I should just go to the hospital.  She also went over how to tell if contractions are real labor or not.  I have been having cramps lately but they’re very irregular and sporadic.  They’re most likely Braxton Hicks contractions that are basically practice contractions.  Obviously labor cramps will come regularly and increase in intensity and frequency as time goes on.  Once they’ve been consistent for over an hour I should go to the hospital.  She said I don’t need to call her first but I’m welcome to if I want.  The hospital knows to call her and she’s on call 24 hours so they’ll call her in for the delivery.

I asked her more questions and she was very informative and helpful in answering.  I went over my birth plan with her.  I asked her about getting the epidural and if it will slow labor if I get it before being 6cm dilated as the woman in the labor class mentioned.  She actually seemed kind of mad at the teacher of the class and said they were misinforming people and that it isn’t true at all.  All labor is different and paced differently and an epidural has no affect on dilation.  She said that in her personal opinion she recommends that I get the epidural if I want it as soon as I can get it so that I can be alert and enjoy my labor instead of being miserable and in so much prolonged pain.  She said getting the epidural earlier will make labor and the birth of my child a much more pleasant experience.  She said she’s going to call Valley Presbyterian Hospital and tell the teacher of the labor class to stop misinforming her patients.  Apparently there have been several other patients of hers that asked about if an epidural slows down labor.  She also said that episiotomies are no longer performed because most women tear during labor normally and an episiotomy just makes the tear worse because there’s an incision and then the incision will tear too.  She said episiotomies are only performed now a days if the baby is actually stuck.

I asked her again about the rib pain since it’s worse but she said it’s just something I have to deal with until the baby is born.  She also asked me if I was eating less.  She said it’s common because my stomach is so crunched up against my organs there’s not much room.  I also asked her about the mole that appeared near my nipple and when I showed her I noticed that a second smaller one had popped up as well.  She looked it over and said it was normal and that she’d actually seen bigger ones appear on other patients.  She said she could place the order for my breastpump now so they should be calling me in a week to confirm shipping.  I feel a lot better now after discussing everything with her. 

She scheduled me to come back in a week and a half when I’ll be 37 weeks.  Wow, in just nine days I’ll be full term!  She said she’ll do an ultrasound next visit to see the position of the baby as it’s going to be pretty much set where it is until delivery and that after that she’ll see me every week until the baby arrives.  I can’t believe how close we are!

After leaving my appointment, I went to the hospital across the street to finish my pre-registration.  I had to fill out an admittance form for myself and the baby and give them my insurance card and driver’s license to make copies.  That was basically it.  I didn’t have to submit my co-pay or anything, which is good because I’d rather get a paper itemized bill in the mail. 

Pancakes at The Griddle Café

This morning I went with my friend to breakfast at The Griddle Café.  I’m trying to spend quality time will all my friends before the baby comes as I’m sure I’ll be busy once the baby’s here and not really have much time to spend with them for the first couple of months.  She suggested The Griddle Café.  Their specialty is pancakes and they have a pretty extensive yummy menu. We’d both been in the mood for pancakes so it was a good choice.  The place was pretty popular.  There was a line out the door and a forty minute wait.  I ordered two pancakes not knowing they’re huge.  Like the size of an entire dinner plate.  I would have been good with one.  I only ate a pizza slice worth before I was full so I took the rest home.  There’s enough pancake left to eat it for three or four more days.  I got the caramelized banana and walnut one.  My friend got the raspberry lemon one.  It was definitely more like a dessert than a breakfast but good.

Cinnabon and a Movie at CityWalk

Today I went to CityWalk with a friend to see a movie.  We wanted to do dinner and a movie but to save money we cooked and ate dinner at my place and then went to CityWalk since parking and the movies there are pretty pricey.  We’d both actually be craving Cinnabon and there really aren’t any places around to get Cinnabon near where I live so we got one there at CityWalk and snuck it into the theater to snack.  We saw Deadpool.  Overall I’d say I was entertained by the movie.  There were some funny parts where I did laugh but I’m not a fan of raunchy or vulgar humor at all so I wasn’t really down with those parts.  I did like that it was different though.  I’m so sick of all the superhero movies because they’re all the same.  This one was definitely different.

Originally we talked about seeing a horror movie like The Boy or The Witch but I’m not sure how the baby would like that.  Its hearing is fully developed now and it does react to loud sounds so I was wondering if all the jump scares combined with me jumping or tensing up would bother it.  We got isle seats so I could easily get up and go to the bathroom during the movie.  There’s no way I can make it through a two hour movie without having to go at least once.  It was a good time and I’m glad I got out for a bit.  I like going to CityWalk but usually avoid it due to the parking being so pricey.  Though apparently if you see a movie there you get a 5 dollar rebate back on parking so that helps a little.

I'm Huge!

Wow, I think my belly really popped up overnight.  I’m big and I feel big and heavy and pregnant.  My belly looks like a bowling ball.  I’m definitely at the very uncomfortable stage of pregnancy.  Sometimes I just get cramps.  I can have acid reflux, back pain, rib pain, cramps and fatigue all at once.  It’s hard to move around or bend over.  I just feel heavy.  Joe’s been pretty sweet and has massaged my back the past couple of nights when he gets home from work even though I know he’s exhausted himself from working such long hours.  My skin just feels pulled and stretched out.  Some days I have such frequent urination I’m literally going every twenty minutes.  I can actually feel the baby shift its weight directly onto my bladder sometimes.  The rib pain and acid reflux are the worst.  I can only lay back when I have rib pain and the acid will just keep coming up.  The Tums don’t help all that much.  The cramps are pretty unpleasant too.  I also noticed that there’s now a mole that appeared above my left nipple that wasn’t there before.  I have a doctor’s appointment coming up soon so I’ll ask my doctor about it then.

The baby is now kicking me pretty high up near my ribs.  It doesn’t really hurt, it’s just odd that there’s some skin poking out all the way up there.  Joe likes to play with the baby and feel it moving when he gets home from work.  He brought out the soothing music machine and played it for my belly.  The baby still gets the hiccups a lot.  Usually three times a day.  It lasts for about 2-3 minutes at a time.  I ordered the rest of the stuff from my baby registry so I’m just waiting for it to arrive.  I have a months worth of diapers and wipes.  I still need to wash all the clothes and linens but after all that I think we’ll be totally ready for the baby to arrive.

Valentine's Day

Joe and I ran an errand which required a bit of a drive.  It was nice to go for a drive and get out and spend time together.  He’s been working so much lately I haven’t seen him or spent much time with him in weeks.  We went to Wood Ranch for dinner.  Joe wanted to eat there.  I was craving some freshly baked bread and I like their BBQ chicken salad so I was happy to go and dinner was yummy.

Baby Shower

My two best friends threw me a baby shower at a tea place I really like in Pasadena.  It’s actually right next to Pasadena City Hall where Joe and I took our first look wedding pictures.  I’m really not used to people doing anything for me so I was very grateful and a little embarrassed/uncomfortable to have them spending money on me.  It was a really nice place.  There were two other baby showers and a birthday party there as well so it was super crowded.  We had a small corner off to the side.  My three friends came as did Joe’s mother, sister, sister-in-law and nieces.  I was a little sad and disappointed that nobody else I invited showed but I was still happy for the shower.

My friend got me a purple Mom To Be sash to wear and had a craft table set up so that everyone could paint or draw with fabric marker on a onesie.  Everyone made a onesie and then we all took pictures holding them together.  They had asked me beforehand what games I wanted to play but I find most baby shower games to be gross or somewhat insulting to the mom.  Painting a onesie was the only thing I really wanted and thought would be fun.  Anything involving food in the games just seems gross.  One of the other baby showers was a girl and they had a baby headband making station as their craft so people were super gluing flowers and rhinestones to head pieces.  I thought it was a cute idea but that’s a lot of headbands.

I didn't really have anything tea time to wear.  I had a dress that I thought would be perfect since it had room for my belly but when I tried it on, it looked very unflattering.  I tried on a bunch of other dresses and skirts but nothing looked good.  I decided not to buy anymore maternity clothes since I'm only a month away and don't really need anything else so I just went with my maternity shoot boots and jeggings and a shirt.  Unfortunately I don't have much in the way of pastel or light colored maternity shirts but it looked good with the purple sash. 

My friend even made me a cake that said Welcome Baby with a little turtle on it.  It was funny because she said she wasn’t sure what to write on it since we don’t know the gender.  It was a three layer lemon cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting.  Really yummy and cute!  My other friend who lives near me had driven me there and took me home which was nice.  Unfortunately I had rib pain the entire car ride and during the shower.  Sitting up just always leads to rib pain.  I took the last two onesies home so Joe and I could paint them together.  

 

Playing Music for Baby

I read that the baby’s hearing is fully developed now so it’s the ideal time to read to your belly and play music.  I played some Death Cab for Cutie and Coldplay on my iPhone for the baby because I thought it would be mellow and it started moving around like crazy.  It looked like a beating drum on my belly and actually started to hurt after a while so I had to turn the music off.  I can’t really tell if the baby liked the music or really didn’t like it.  I guess next time I should try lullabies instead or something more soothing.  Maybe the soother sound machines I got for the baby, like the sleep sheep or sea dreams soother.  I’ve also been reading books to my belly but haven’t noticed any reaction or movement to my voice.  It’s interesting that there was so much reaction to the music though.

Hospital Tour

Joe and I took the West Hills Hospital Tour where we’ll be delivering.  They gave us a form to fill out to pre-register which is step one but we still need to go in and have them make photocopies of our insurance cards and driver’s licenses, fill out more forms and pay the co-pay to finish the pre-registration.  I won’t get into the debate on the American medical care system but it’s clearly flawed and stupid when the most important thing is making someone in labor spend thirty minutes filling out paperwork to make sure they can pay.  I really think having a healthcare system that is profit based for insurance and pharmaceutical companies is one of the greatest downfalls of our country.

The person giving the tour wasn’t very good.  She didn’t seem to know that many answers to questions.  Plus, she had a continuous cough the entire time.  But we did get to tour the facility.  Normally West Hills offers private rooms but just our luck they are starting construction just when I’ll be delivering and they will lose three rooms at a time so it’s likely I’ll have to end up sharing a recovery room.  The worst part is that she said they will have to force the dads to go home in shared rooms since there’s no beds for them.  That is total and utter bullshit!  I want my husband there with me when we have our baby.  It really kind of makes me want to change hospitals.  Valley Presbyterian Hospital is actually the closest to us.  They only have shared recovery rooms but they let the dads stay on cots they have available.  They don’t kick them out.  Unfortunately, our doctor is only contracted to work out of West Hills Hospital so in order to switch hospitals we’d have to switch doctors again which I do not want to do.  The only thing we can do is just hope we get lucky and there aren’t that many deliveries the day we have our baby.

We received a small packet of useful information about pre-registration, visiting hours, what to bring to the hospital and she told us if we are coming outside of regular hours to go to the ER and they will admit us to the maternity ward.

This is all very new to me.  I have never spent the night in a hospital ever.  I’ve actually only been to the hospital three times in my life.  Once when I was a kid and fell off my bike and needed stitches and twice Joe took me to the ER.  Once when I was throwing up blood after my botched gum graft surgery and once when I sprained my shoulder.  I felt kind of scared touring the hospital actually.  I know I can do this.  People have babies all the time but it’s still a little scary to think about.

CPR Class

Joe and I took the Heartsaver AED Adult and Infant CPR class at Valley Presbyterian Hospital.  The class was free except for the 15 dollar handbook.  Joe left work early but the class was at 6pm so rush hour traffic made him 30 minutes late.  He missed the adult CPR part but made it for the child and infant part which was the most important anyway.  We went over adult CPR and choking, how to use an AED, child CPR and choking and infant CPR and choking as well as what to do in emergency situations.  At the end I got my two year certification but since Joe was late he has an incomplete.  Not that it matters.  We really just wanted to go for the infant and child part, which he got there in time for but I'm actually CPR certified now.  Hopefully I’ll never need to use it.

Ninth Prenatal Dr Visit

We went to see the doctor again today.  No ultrasound, just the heart monitor.  This time Joe and I had a small list of questions for the doctor since we’re gearing up for delivery.  I asked her about the rib pain and she said the baby is pretty big now and probably comfortable where it’s sitting so it’s unlikely to move.  It’s not a concern unless it’s so severe I can’t take it.  That would maybe be a sign of a gallbladder infection.  As for the rash, it’s probably fine since it’s not itchy but I can use cortisone cream if it gets itchy.  As far as the blurred vision, I shouldn’t be concerned unless I start to get headaches.  So that’s all well and good.

We asked if West Hills Hospital is baby friendly.  She said it was and explained the procedure after birth to have the baby resting skin to skin to allow bonding.  West Hills offers private rooms and the baby can stay with us the whole time.  We asked about delayed clamping and if it would interfere with bonding time.  She said the cord is pretty long so I can still hold the baby while waiting the delay.  If the baby is a boy she would perform the circumcision but probably the next day after the baby feeds and goes to the bathroom.

We told her our choice for Pediatrician so she wrote it down.  She’s familiar with her.  Also I had heard that I could get a breastpump through my insurance so I asked her about that.  She said she can order it for me at 35 weeks.  They don’t allow ordering any earlier but it’s done all through her office since you need a doctor’s okay to get it but they’ll mail it to me and I won’t have any out of pocket costs for it.  That’s pretty exciting because a good breastpump is over two hundred dollars.  A mid range pump is in the hundred dollar range.  She said they send a pretty good one.  It’s not really free since we pay for our insurance but I definitely want to get some mileage out of our insurance plan for whatever we can get.  We’ll save quite a bit of money not having to buy a breastpump.

She also asked us if we’d taken any prenatal classes and was very impressed when we listed them all.  I guess most people don’t take them or wait until the very last minute.  She was happy we were prepared and referred to us as overachievers.  Pretty funny.  I really like the new doctor.  She’s very informative, helpful and friendly.  We decided to stick with her to deliver our baby since we’re going over everything we’d like with her and we don’t know when my regular doctor will be back and I don’t want to switch again at the last minute. 

Queen Mary

I went with my friend to the Queen Mary in Long Beach.  I found a Groupon to see the Princess Diana exhibit and figured it’d be a nice outing.  The exhibit was pretty big with a lot of letters, newspapers, plates, dolls and menus.  We learned a lot about the royal family.  They had some of Diana’s and Kate’s dresses on display plus the tiara’s they wore on their wedding days. 

After the exhibit we toured some of the ship and then went to have afternoon tea in the ship’s tea room.  The tea was very small servings for the price but surprisingly filling.  The sandwiches seemed more like crostinis.  We got a choice of two but it was two small circles of bread with a scoop of egg salad on top of one and a scoop of chicken salad on top of the other.  The sandwiches were good but not what I was expecting.  Then we had scones and three bite sized desserts.  All in all, I’d say the tea isn’t really worth the cost but it was a nice experience. 

After tea we finished exploring.  We went out to the front of the ship and also down into the engine room.  The ship was surprisingly empty so it was actually kind of creepy down in the engine room.  We got a validation at the tea room but unfortunately if you stay longer than three hours they charge full parking which is 18 dollars!  I wasn't happy with that ridiculous rate but then I never really end up going down to Long Beach.  It’d been years since I’d been there so I’m glad we went and I did want to see the Princess Diana exhibit.

Rib Pain

Lately I’ve been having pain high up on my right side ribs.  It usually happens when I sit at my computer.  It helps a little if I lean back at my computer desk or sit on the couch leaning back but it can hurt quite a bit and is very uncomfortable.  I looked it up and people say it’s the uterus expanding upward and the baby making its own space.  I’ve also noticed a rash or something on my belly.  It’s little spots like acne but on my tummy.  It doesn’t really itch or anything.  I have the occasional itch all over my belly which I think is normal belly stretching itchiness since it’s the same it’s always been.  And I’ve noticed that once in a while I suddenly have blurry vision.  Not often at all but randomly it’ll be kind of hard to see.  I looked that up and apparently it’s also normal.  My goodness a lot of weird crap happens to your body when you’re pregnant.

I sleep on the couch all the time now.  For the past three nights I’ve had really good sleep.  I get up to go to the bathroom like usual but end up falling right back asleep so I’m so thankful that I’m getting sleep now.  However, my acid reflux is back and as annoying as ever. 

Maternity Photos

We got our maternity photos back today from Anna Mae Lam Photography.  I love how they all turned out.  We got 137 pictures but I picked out the top 30 or so to post online.  I have to say that seeing the pictures I definitely think I picked the right time to take them.  I was worried my baby bump was going to be too small but I think it looks good.  In fact I think I actually look a little fat in some of the pictures so 32-33 weeks was a good time to take them after all.