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Tuesday, April 06, 2004

No news is good news?

I had my 38 week check-up yesterday afternoon. I was so excited because I really & truly thought that I was going to have progressed since my last check-up 2 weeks ago. Apparently my body had other ideas because I haven't changed a bit. Bummer. Now this doesn't mean that I couldn't go into labor at any money, because I could. But it also means that I still might have another 2 full weeks before this baby's born. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Happy, because then my mom might be here, or sad because I'm really starting to get sick of being pregnant.
The only thing that changed since the last time was my blood pressure. It was up a little bit, which is what started happening with Emma. That forced me to not be able to get up & walk around my whole labor, which I believe stalled it, forcing me to be given Pitocin, which inevitably means an epidural. I'm not a Pioneer woman by any stretch of the imagination. I would like to avoid pain at all costs, but I want to TRY to have a natural drug-free delivery. I'm going to go as far as my pain receptors will allow me. And since I had NO breathing techniques to fall back on last time, I'm really glad that Jeff & I have been watching this childbirth video. We watched the 5th installment last night. It was all about the medical stuff that is entailed with a delivery. The different forms of pain management, Pitocin, also forceps & vacuum deliveries, and both external & internal monitoring of the baby. Jeff feels like he got a "Get out of jail free" card when the instructor told her class that most doctors will ask the husband to leave the room when they give their wife an epidural. Mostly because most men will wind up on the floor, needing a hospital bed themselves, if they saw how big the needle was that was going to be in her back. And if they don't end up fainting, the husbands could end up knocking the poor anesthesiologist upside his head for the same reason. "You're going to stick that gigantic needle WHERE? I don't think so, how about I stick it somewhere?" Jeff feels he's more inclined to smack the doctor for that reason, rather than fainting. I pointed out to him that the one time he's seen me in a hospital setting where I had an IV in my hand, I had to cover it up with a blanket because he can't stand needles. I told him that I wasn't going to be so discreet about it this time. I reminded him that this whole thing isn't about him, it's about me. He's going to have to somehow get over the fear & realize that it's helping me, not hurting me. And I don't care, stick me anywhere, I have no fear of needles. It's a good thing, too. I think it goes back to when I was in the hospital for 2 weeks after I got hit by a car at age 8. I had IV's stuck everywhere, so much so that I have scars on my arms from them. Little tiny pin prick holes in the crook of my elbow. They were concentrated on my right arm because I think my left arm is defective. You can't get a needle into any vein in that arm. Maybe it's because I'm left-handed, I have no idea. But it's always been that way.
I was really surprised when the instructor on the video told her class that she got an epidural. I had been thinking to myself that she probably is going to be the typical Lamaze instructor, advocating no drugs, you can do this, it's completely natural, you don't need help. But even she conceded that when you get Pitocin, as she did (and as I did, too) that it's almost impossible to get through the labor & delivery without an epidural. It's because it makes your contractions 10 times worse than what Mother Nature would do to you. It's forcing your body to do things in half the time, thus making everything stronger. I can attest to that. Pitocin sucks the big one. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that if I hadn't gotten it, I most likely would have had to get a C-Section with Emma, because I was going nowhere fast with her. But I would really like to avoid all that stuff this time around. But, it was really nice to hear a Lamaze instructor not be all "mafia-like" about using drugs during labor. And although I'm not opposed to using some sort of pain management therapy, I'm also not going to walk in the door & schedule my epidural right then & there.
One thing that is so frustrating about going into labor is not knowing the actual time that it'll start. It makes it really hard to plan things. I'm sure that's not the #1 complaint of pregnant women, but it's one of mine. I know I have things I should be doing, to make sure they're finished by the time I go into labor. But at the same time, I'm afraid if I do them too soon, then I'll end up having to re-do them many times before the actual time comes. Like laundry. I had all our clothes ready, in the bags, raring to go. Then Jeff gts sick & we have to use some of his clothes from the hospital bag. So now I have to wash them again. It's little stuff like that that gets me a little tired. I know that's not anything big, but when you're 9 months pregnant, already feeling like you're carrying more than one little person inside your body, carrying a basket full of laundry up a flight of stairs, trying not to knock anything off the wall in the process can be a feat. By the time I get up to our room, I'm winded, my heart is racing, and I feel like I've just ran a marathon. So you can see how I would like to avoid these things as much as possible. I do utilize Jeff & Emma during these bouts of cleaning. I ask Emma to run around the house looking for dirty dishes & she trails after me, picking up clean laundry off the floor should it fall out of the basket on my way upstairs. And I don't think I've carried the vacuum cleaner up or down any stairs in the past month or so. If a floor needs cleaning, it can wait until Jeff gets home to move the vacuum to that particular level. If he's not here, the level the vacuum cleaner is on is the only one that gets cleaned. And don't even think about asking me to vacuum the stairs, it's not happening. That requires way too much energy to even think about.
Jeff came home sick today. Apparently his "super-human" immune system may be taking a vacation. I don't think I've ever seen him this sick for this long. And he actually sounds worse today than he did yesterday. I picked him up before picking Emma up from school and he went with me. She came out of her class, saw Jeff & was so excited! I'm sure that made his day a little brighter knowing his daughter was so happy to see him. And even though he was so sick, he helped me clean up the house before the realtor showed it this afternoon. Good thing, too because I think I would have been too tired to finish on my own everything we did together. Plus, like I said before, he's the one who schleps the vacuum up & down the stairs. So between the two of us, the house looks pretty nice. So, if I can just keep it up like this until the baby's born, then I won't have to come back from the hospital to a mess. Oh wait, Jeff's going to be here alone with Emma for 2 days. That perfect scenario just flew out the window. I can't expect him to keep the house clean AND watch Emma, right? That would be way too much pressure. Hehe
Emma had a really good time at school today. She was so happy to be going back after having a break last week. And her little friend Lillie was also happy to see her. She's so funny, everytime she sees Emma, she runs over to her & gives her a big hug. I feel bad for her, though, because Emma keeps calling her Brandon, don't ask me why. I keep reminding her that her name is Lillie, but Emma's not too good with remembering names sometimes. She kept calling her friend Matthew in San Diego Ryan, and she kept calling Ryan, Matthew. It's all so confusing for a little 4 year old. But at least she's remembering Sarah's name. I keep quizzing her.
Emma got the new movie "Brother Bear" today. We really liked it when we saw it in the theater. It's such a cute movie. The moose are my favorite characters. Canadian moose, no less. They end every sentence, question, or statement with "eh?" "Beauty, eh?" I think it's funny because people around here talk like that sometimes, too. It must be because we're so close to Canada. Even when we saw the Barenaked Ladies in February, they said stuff like that, too. So much for trying to not stereotype people. It's hard to give people the benefit of the doubt when they do the things that are stereotypical.
And to be fair, Jeff also got a movie. "Matrix Revolutions". So, now they're both happy. Something tells me I won't be able to watch anything I want for awhile.

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