Baby Duggan is growing!

I'm so glad it's Wednesday, this week seems to be flying by. Yesterday was one of those perfect days of sunshine and 70 degrees. I had Lily at my office for most of the day and we took a long walk at lunch along the Lake...it was so hard to go back inside. Kevin and I jetted home after work and he did a second pass of rototilling the garden and planted a corkscrew willow tree which was given to us by a co-worker of mine. A couple I work with had received this beautiful tree as a gift but couldn't plant it in their small garden because eventually the roots would spread and the tree would get too big and possibly disturb the water lines running under their yard. We gladly accepted it and picked out a great spot where it can flourishIt looks tiny now, but it will grow to be 9-11 feet! It will look like this in just a few years...

Last night I had an attack of the "mommy brain" when I fed Lily about 20 minutes after I watched Kevin feed her. I asked Kevin to feed her before he went outside and he did, then she followed him to the yard while I cooked dinner. A short time later she showed up at the back door so I let her in and she stood by her food bowl. Even though I had just watched him feed her I completely zoned out and forgot and fed her again. Ahh, what is wrong with me, I am so forgetful these days it is scary! Poor Lily ate so much she had an upset stomach and farted all night. The smell was so disgusting I almost threw up! Luckily she is fine this morning, and she got a very small breakfast.

I had my 30 Week Dr.'s appointment this morning and all is well with Baby Duggan! He is growing rapidly and I measured at 33 1/2cm this morning when I should be right at 30 cm. The Dr. is not overly concerned, but they are going to give me an ultrasound in about 4-5 weeks to find out exactly how big he is. I've gained about 1.5 lbs in the last 2 weeks which they said is perfectly normal and I'm on track as far as weight is concerned. At this point, the Dr. said I don't really need to gain any more weight, but I think that will be physically impossible unless they wire my jaw shut for the next 10 weeks! I am definitely noticing I am hungry a lot more frequently in this last stretch, but I have a lot less room in my stomach now so I am eating small amounts and I get full fast.

As far as my "Braxton Hicks" contractions, or the unidentified pains I had last Saturday, the Dr. seems to think they were contractions but nothing completely abnormal and just to monitor them if they return. She told me what to look for and how to tell if they are normal or not and when to call in with concern, so I feel relieved and much calmer. Unfortunately for me, she said my rib pains probably won't get much better since my uterus is expanding and pushing into my rib cage causing the ribs to spread. Doesn't that sound lovely? Also, apparently my pelvic pain is a result of Baby Duggan's head being jammed right into my pelvis and when he turns his head sometimes he hits a nerve and it feels like a razor blade is slicing me. She said those pains are normal and unless the baby moves, I just have to deal. Awesome. He seems to like his head this way since he's been there for the last 2 weeks so I'm not going to hold my breath for him to move anytime soon. At least he is not breached, so if I do go into labor early he's in a great position.

Not much other news, my blood pressure is super low which is great and I have no swelling or edema so I'm in great shape right now. Baby Duggan's heartbeat is strong at 140 beats per minute and his kicks are constant and powerful, so the Dr. thinks he is healthy, happy and quite comfortable. I'm glad one of us is!

I got my pre-registration packet which Kevin and I are going to send in so Baby Duggan can get a birth certificate and a social security card, how exciting!!! Also tonight we have our first child birth class, so it should be an interesting evening.

OMG I almost forgot (see...memory loss again!) last night Kevin and I watched the documentary "The Business of Being Born." The film explores how American women have babies. They follow one on one stories of women giving birth, but more importantly they delve into the current maternity health care system in this country and provide some shocking statistics. The rate of Cesarean sections in this country is absurdly high, almost 1 in 4 births compared to all other developed countries in the world. They also dispel the myths of home births as being unsanitary and unsafe. Many of the physicians interviewed said they had never even witnessed a natural birth which is frightening. If Kevin and I lived closer to town and the hospital I would consider a home birth, but being 40+ minutes away from the nearest hospital in the event that something did go wrong is just too far for my comfort. I was surprised, but Kevin really found that watching the water births made him more interested in exploring that option for me. Luckily for us, water births are very popular at the hospital we are going to, so it is something we're going to think about. The film was very powerful and I'm glad we watched it even if it did make my decision about what kind of a birth I want a little more complicated! Hopefully our birthing class beginning tonight will help put things in perspective.

A 30 wk update and birth class re-cap tomorrow!