Last week, to simulate the duration of a contraction, Kristi handed each of us a bag of ice. She instructed us to clamp tightly to the bag until she told us time was up … and although I have no doubt that this little activity in no way compares to the excruciating pain of coaxing a little babe down the birth canal or the burning “ring of fire” I will surely feel in my girl Friday throughout labor, it was pretty uncomfy. So, we held the bag of ice (not to be confused with the bag of waters) and gritted our teeth to get through the longest minute ever to grace the earth. We repeated this exercise three more times but each time, we assumed a different position for laboring. The intended goal was to determine which posish best suits our laboring style. I cannot even tell you the amount of times Adam and I giggled like junior high kiddos and said “Isn’t this how we got here in the first place?”.
In other happenings over the last week … with nearly 26 weeks under my belt (which I can’t wear anymore) Snowball and I are definitely getting ready to roll into the third trimester. Do not pass go, do not collect $200… third trimester, here we come! Wowza. I awoke screaming bloody murder last week upon realizing that surely someone had let little leprechauns into my room and they were most likely dancing away and trouncing up and down on my calf… how happy was I to realize that no little green creatures had defied our alarm system but rather a lovely leg cramp had graced my dreamland and that a few moments of calm would deem the demons be gone. I have added an additional banana to my daily grind and even more H2O as well as more stretching pre and post workout in an effort to send the phantom leg pains back to where they came from. Another fantastic find is that my blood pressure has begun to take a trip north and thus I find myself trying to be as zen as possible in order to keep Snowball from boiling up. Lastly, I have had a few small moments of realization surrounding the fact that we have just over 3 months left and at the end of that period, Adam and I will be responsible for the life of a real human. Due to chronic hypertension, my doc squad has informed me that not only will I not go past 40 weeks but I may likely deliver early to keep mama and baby safe. I try to put that thought aside as often as possible and just pretend I will be a preggo nut forever. I am finding denial to be very effective.
We had another ultrasound today and all was well. Snowball is growing and tipped the “scale” at 1 pound 9 oz and I have officially joined the 20 pounder club. Yes, I realize the discrepancy between these two numbers and I must say, I never imagined a time in my life when I would be comfortable gabbing about weight gain but I just keep telling myself that it’s for Snowball and he/she will thank me later for fattening up during this little excursion we’re on. Unfortunately we didn’t get any good snapshots of Snowball as he/she was trying to outsmart the ultrasound tech by keeping his/her hands placed pretty firmly in front of the face. I feel it in my gut (quite literally, I suppose) that Snowball is bound to be a boy but the truth still remains a mystery and will until the date of delivery.
We have this week off of Baby class this week due to Turkey Day but will likely return with more morsels regarding the adventures of delivery over the next few weeks.
Gobble Gobble.
