+ Pokes +
Dearest daughter, what exactly are you poking me with? I think it's a foot, but it's coupled with so many other odd sensations, it's kinda hard to tell. Whatever it is, you've gotten quite fond of sticking it out and leaving it there. Very very very strange sensation.

+ Learning to birth a baby, part one +
So, the first childbirth class is history. Daddy and I concurred that we didn't really learn a lot, but that we're okay with that. There were a couple of things he didn't know about (BM's during labor, episiotomy), so he felt it was worthwhile to have learned anything. Plus, we figure if we feel at the end of the 4 weeks that we knew what we needed to before starting the classes (I do a LOT of reading of books and online), then we'll be just that much more confident going in that we are as prepared as we can be. I agree with him completely. The instructor, Michele, is very much a pro-natural birth former nurse. She quit nursing in 11/2001 when she was put on bedrest 3 months before her daughter was born. After her daughter was born, she never went back. I don't know how to phrase it right, but I can just tell she's one of those people I simply can't relate to. Her approach to birth, life, family, career, and her philosophies about all of them are just completely different from mine. Don't get me wrong, I fantasize about staying home with my children too, but for slightly different reasons and overall a more realistic approach.

Having said that, it will be good for us to learn all we can about this process, and consider all the different possibilities out there. As she said, you won't get an epidural until you're pretty far into the process (which I knew), so you might as well embrace some of the natual-birth techniques for relaxation and visualization to make that first part more pleasant. I absolutely agree with that part, and planned to do just that. Ideally, I'll go as long as I can stand it without the epidural. If I get to the point where I can still stand it and the Dr. tells me it's now or never? Well, I'll make that decision if I get to that point. But I've planned all along to get one, so I won't feel remotely disappointed if I have to. She did say that she didn't think Good Samaritan Hospital does walking epidurals yet, though, which disappoints me greatly. I'll have to ask my Dr. about that since Michele wasn't positive. She hasn't been nursing there for over a year, so she might be wrong.

Anyway, there's the full report. There were six women with their coaches, all husbands except for one female friend/partner (?). We thought we were at 100% girl babies until one couple came in late and she's having a boy. We all looked and carried differently, and 2 people are due 2/27. It will be interesting to watch over the next month to see the changes in us all.

You slept through much of the class, waking up only when I was drinking ice water on a break, and when we were doing a brief relaxation exercise. It was during this exercise that Daddy made the funny comment of the night: "You'd better get drugs because I'm not very good at this." HA! Well, we'll work on that. I think he could be very good at helping me relax, if he wanted to try and was willing to learn. That's why he's there with me! :-) You are vividly awake this morning, however. Not sure why, but it feels like you're dancing! Neat!

...by the way, Blogger decided to cooperate, so Archives are back, in case anyone noticed they've been gone for a while...

+ 31 weeks +
Today is 31 weeks, little one. Can you believe that? We're getting so close to meeting. It's weird that I've spent every second of my life since mid-June 2002 with you, and you're still a complete stranger to me. I wonder what you will look like, what your likes and dislikes will be, what little things you'll do that will make me wonder how I ever lived without you in my life.

Tonight is our first childbirth class. That should be interesting! I'm starting to have some odd little aches and pains in new places. My left ankle hurts, more so every day. I have twinges and pains in private places once in a while. Last night, I couldn't sleep well. Daddy said I was breathing really hard, which I reminded him is because I have a baby's butt in my ribs. Ha! It's true though. More often than not, I'm pretty sure your little baby bottom is right in the middle of my stomach, right up under my ribs. That lets your knees bend down and your little feet kick under my right ribs all day, every day. Your little head and hands poke around nice and low on the left side, which is not very comfortable. But I'm almost positive this is how you're lying, and since it's not breech, I won't complain too much.

+ YAAAAAAAAAAY +
I passed the 3-hour glucose test!!! Yippee! I hate failing tests. :-) I called the Dr's office to find out when I would know my results, and they called me back with the verdict. I asked her if I'd passed all of the blood draws (since I know some people will fail one or two of them and be labeled borderline) and she told me all the numbers were just fine! Thank God! I will enjoy my bag of peanut M&M's after lunch without guilt then. And you will not be an 11-pound baby afterall. Whew.

+ Time trickles by +
From AmazingPregnancy.com:
"202 days have passed since the conception, and you are 64 days before your due date... 76% of your pregnancy has passed, there is 24% left to go."

+ First +
One person from the Labor of Love Due in March forums has delivered her baby, the first from our March group. Her baby was born 1/1, and is in the NICU of course. We're all praying for a healthy outcome, but it's just amazing to me that the babies are starting to arrive! She was 2 lbs, 10 oz. It gives me comfort that you're getting bigger in there, and if you came now, you'd probably be okay. Considering the way you kick me, I don't think you'd give anything up without one hell of a fight!

+ Well, good morning! +
You are an active little baby this morning. More active with this root beer on an empty stomach than you were even with that orange glucose junk. Weird! I'll give you food in a few minutes though, so hang on. Daddy got to see my stomach moving last night, and you let him feel you a little bit. You were so active, but you still pulled your little trick of stopping when someone else touches you. No fair! My assistant was talking to me yesterday when you were doing some kicking exercises and stopped mid-sentence and said, "I saw that! She's moving, isn't she?" Yes, you can be seen making my stomach warp from a distance of 5 feet. Neat party trick, that.

+ Work plans +
I have spent the morning catching up on my work (how can I have a zillion emails when I was only out ONE day?!?!), and one of the emails was from my boss, detailing the plans involving my team and my leave. That's making things a little more real. My asst. manager asked when my last day would be, and I explained to her that I needed to talk to HR first. Joe and I seem to have decided it should be 2/21 though. That's 6.5 weeks from now. Um, wow. Anyway, the game is in play and the plans are being made. It's relieving but still pretty alarming. Maternity leave. Geez.

+ "A 3-hour tour" +
First, I want to publicly thank those folks out there who sent me notes privately about their experiences and advice with this 3-hour glucose tolerance test, and their pregnancies in general. I am amazed what wonderful people there are out there, and though many people keep seemingly independent, unrelated journals, we are still a community. And that community strengthens each of us. The words of advice and experience carried me right into that yicky appointment yesterday and helped me be ready. So, thank you.

Now, on to updates. Yes, it's over. Thank God. It was much better than I'd feared, but still unpleasant. My fear of needles was tested more than ever, as my blood was drawn FIVE darned times (once before the orange drink, then 1/2 hour after, 1 hour after, 2 hours after and finally 3 hours after). They poked both arms, and I have a new understanding of my body (including which veins I want them using in the future and which ones I don't - Youch!). Fortunately, none of the blood draws stopped bleeding (I have had this problem before), and the bruising appears minor. I am quite sore in both arms though. They were 1/2 hour late starting me - grumble grumble - and this place was so pathetically boring it was painful. I had my choice of lemon-lime or orange, and I happily chose orange. The very nice tech told me that was a very wise decision; he's tried both and the lemon-lime made him sick. It was a little sweeter than the one I took at the Dr's office, and the bottle even had sugar caked on the rim. Fortunately, I drank out of a styrofoam cup and it was nice and cold. Then it was back to the TV-less waiting room. Joe didn't come with me after all, so I was on my own as floods of people came and went and I read my book. Most of the time, I was able to concentrate, and when I couldn't I would take a couple of minutes to people-watch. This is a stand-alone lab that does all kinds of blood, urine and x-ray testing, for employment screenings, one-off medical testing and ongoing "standing order" testing for chronic illnesses. It was actually moderately interesting. Except that I noticed by about 1/2 hour into this experience that I was the only one who didn't get to go back, get blood drawn, and leave. People looked at me strangely when I came back out to the waiting room and sat back down. Oh, well. If they'd watched me longer, they would have gotten quite a show from you, Ceili, about 45 minutes after drinking the soda stuff. You were trying to get out of my stomach, weren't you? I seriously had to keep myself from laughing. I couldn't put my book on my tummy because you were making me jump so much.

About 2 hours in, I started to get a bit drowsy. That's probably not surprising as I came down from the sugar high. I didn't fall asleep, wasn't even really close, but I was bored and tired and wanted to go home. This was the test (at 2 hours) they were late for. There was NObody in the waiting room, and by my watch they were 15 minutes late on my blood draw. I finally went and asked the receptionist, who was chatting with one of the techs. Turns out she had been with someone else when the timer went off, and she FORGOT me. She took me back then, and the next was exactly an hour later, but I wonder how long I would've sat in that waiting room alone, waiting for a forgotten blood draw while falling asleep. Yuck.

When it was over, I drove home, munching a bagful of cashews and drinking a bottle of water. That did well, and I ate real food when I got home. About an hour later, I was just out of it, and to bed we went. I woke up about 3 hours later. Yep, I am glad I took a vacation day yesterday. I would've been miserable at work after that. But, all in all, I think I was lucky. I didn't get results as we went, unfortunately, and I don't know when I will get them. I figure the worst-case scenario is that I'll get them when I have my Dr's appointment next Monday.

Meanwhile, you and I are doing fine. Your kicks are crazy-hard sometimes, and I told daddy over the weekend that I will miss being pregnant. He thought that was weird, and asked me why. I told him it was definitely one of -if not THE - most interesting things I'd ever experienced. There are rough moments, and physical challenges, but it really is fascinating to witness my body's changes and see its ability to care for a baby. My dreams are getting more vivid and more reality-driven, as you get closer to arriving. I'm sure that will only be compounded once we start birthing classes this Thursday.