Luckily, Mauri only has one more week of work before having September off for the biological fishing stop. I will be a lot more comfortable when he isn't out of cell phone reach for so many hours a day, and when he isn't so many hours away from home, just in case.
Knowing that the baby's arrival could now be coming at any time, I'm starting to think that there are a few things that I should be doing to prepare for it. I haven't packed a bag for the hospital yet, nor have I tried out putting the car seat in the car to make sure it is all OK.
I have been getting together with some of my friends, because I know it will be more difficult soon to see them for awhile. Even now, though, it is more difficult, because my hand situation hasn't improved, and it's harder for me to get around and do what I want to do.
Anyways, this week Tuesday, I went to my class as usual. This week there were so many people that we could barely fit in the classroom. I was going to take the opportunity to get the phone number or information for the other new friend I had made in class, just in case one of us were to go into labor, so that we could keep the other informed... but it turns out she had already had her baby last week!!
So, that makes me the most advanced one in the class now.
The newbies started a discussion about their fear of labor, so we talked a little more about contractions, and how to handle the whole labor process. It turns out that the girl sitting next to me is so terrified, despite having many more weeks to go, that she doesn't sleep at night, and is taking anti anxiety meds. She started sharing med information with the girls on the other side of her, and it seemed so strange to me, especially since they are so young, and I haven't so much as taken a Tylenol since being pregnant. I've gotten by on prenatal vitamins, and using drops of eucalyptus essential oils on my pillow to sleep better whenever I have a cold.
I also don't share their same fear of labor, despite being much closer to it than they are. I'm a little bit worried about the unknown, and how things will go at the hospital, and how I'll respond to thw whole situation, but I'm not paralyzed by fear like the other girls seem to be.
Another girls has nightmares at night about her baby being born with spots on his face. I guess I can relate to having that same sort of dream earlier in the pregnancy, but I'm not so worried about that sort of thing really. Having had so many ultrasounds by now, along with the amniocentesis, makes me a lot more confident that my baby will be as normal as he can be with the parents that he has. :)
Those conversations took up the majority of the class, and the midwife started to remind us that next week will be the final class since she is on vacation for all of Sepetember. It turns out that they don't have anyone else scheduled to give classes or appointments to the girls who have her as a midwife, so most of the other girls were pretty upset. One had even picked up a complaint form, and the midwife seemed happy with that. Being the public clinic, the wokers tend to be overworked and underpaid, and in my experience, they have to many patients, and not enough time to see them all. Not getting anybody to take over when somebody goes on vacation doesn't really help things.
For me, the timing is OK. So, no, my midwife won't be there when I go into labor, but the chances of her being there were pretty slim anyways. (I would have had to be there on a Friday)
I'm not upset that I only have one more class to go to too, and one more appointment with her right afterwards, so that I can relax until my due date, or until the baby comes, whichever comes first.
She decided that we could bring our partners to the next class, and that we will go over pain management techniques, and ways that our birth partners can help us out. Hopefully Mauri will get out in time to be able to go with me to the class.
With that, we moved onto the exercises, and I reminded her that she had wanted to show us how to push during the last class. She decided we would do it right after the relaxation exercises instead, since the "boys" would be at our next class.
Being the only one with a baby at full term, I was only one that she let do the pushing just as it should be done because "it isn't a problem if yours were to come out right now anyways."
So ended the class, and I was headed to the stairs to leave, but instead followed the other girls to the elevator so I could chat with them a little. Seven of us were in the elevator at once, and we joked how the capacity was said to be 16 people, and that we, in a way, were 14. The elevator headed down to the main floor, but the door only opened a couple of inches. So we used the call button.
Outside, the cleaning women pried open the doors, and scolded us for being in the elevator with so many people. We answered that the capacity was 16 people, and one of them told us that not near that many should be in it, and that earlier in the week the fire department had to come to get people out of the elevator and that they had almost run out of oxygen. And to think we were joking wbout getting stuck there and having our babies in the elevator.
It seems to me that in a health center, only the most senisitve, weak, and comprimised patients are taking the elevator in the first place. If it isn't a safe elevator, then maybe they should have a warning outside, or, better yet, look into fixing it!!
After class, I called a friend of mine who had shared the same private doctor, to see if I would be missing out on anything if I were to cancel my last appointment. She told me that she didn't think so. She had been charged less than me, but still ended up not going to the last one herself, because they really hadn't been doing much at the last appointments, and it felt like they were just taking her money at them.
She said by then, she was being followed at the hospital anyways.
It turns out that a lot of the other girls seem to have appointments with doctors at the hospital to follow the pregnancy. In my case, though, since everything seems to be OK, I don't have to go back until my actual due date, unless the baby decides to come earlier. I feel pretty confident that everything is OK, though, so I called the office to cancel my appointment.
Luckily, I got the nice receptionist on the phone, and she didn't ask why I was cancelling (but I was prepared with the truth about my annoyance at the last 2 appointments if she had asked). She knew right away who I was just by my voice. I guess I made an impression a few weeks ago. Anyways, she was pretty nice about cancelling, and asked me if I wanted her to call me about scheduling a follow up visit after having the baby. I told her that I hadn't really thought about it. So, she told me that I could call if I decided that I wanted one, about 6 weeks after having the baby, to check and make sure that the uterus and everything else is back to normal, or at least headed that way. I agreed that I would think it over and call her if I decided to go back.
A little bit later I got a call on my cell phone, but I didn't make it to the phone in time. It turns out that I got a message from her telling me that I could go and pick up the dvd of my last visit if I wanted.
I haven't decided if it's worth my while. I don't really want to see the stupid assistant again, and we didn't really see much at the last appointment.
Eveything else has been going pretty much the same as the last 2 weeks or so. I get tired pretty easily, but my main annoyance is the swelling. I'm feeling OK, though.
So, I guess I'll leave you with the 37 week email info:
How your baby's growing:
Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.
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