Child Birthing Classes

Happy 25 weeks!

I'm feeling great this week and really enjoying the second trimester.  I thought I'd post an update today telling everyone what I've been up to these last couple of weeks and tell you more about our child birthing classes (2 classes down, 10 to go!).

Since Week 17, I've been successful in keeping up with my 5AM workouts at the gym across the street and, in the evening, started incorporating more pregnancy-specific workouts since learning a few in our first child birthing classes.  I've also been taking prenatal yoga every Saturday morning at a great yoga studio and have been loving that.  After having taken hot yoga (95-degree hot vinyasa flow, for any curious yogis out there) prior to getting pregnant, these prenatal yoga classes have been such a great change of pace and are actually something I look forward to every week.  The classes focus stretching, balancing, relaxing, breathing, strengthening key muscle groups, and rubbing our bellies...all without getting too sweaty!  Plus, I love knowing that although they don't really feel like workouts, I am still doing really good stuff for my preg-o body and should aid in the delivery of lil' fryebaby.

As mentioned in previous posts, we started child birthing classes two Sundays ago.  So far, Billy and I are both really enjoying it.  Our instructor is extremely kind and easy to hang out with, making the two hours every Sunday afternoon go by very quickly.  The class consists of our teacher and six couples.  Five of the couples are husband-wife duos, similar in age to Billy and I (or so they appear) and the sixth couple is a woman and her mom, who's generously filling in for the husband who is unavailable due to work commitments.  All the couples are due around the same time we're due...one couple due in mid-October, three couples due around Thanksgiving (including us), one in December, and one in January.  Three of the couples are planning to deliver their babies at non-hospital locations (birthing center or home) under the care of a midwife, and the other three are planning to deliver at local hospitals under the care of their OB/GYN (i.e. Billy and Erin's plan).  I'm really enjoying the balance Billy and I are trying to find in this first baby journey...balancing our natural birth goals with the security and familiarity of a hospital birth.  It's great to know that we have some of the best OB's in the region and and are planning to deliver at one of the best hospitals in the nation; but equally fulfilling to know that we're not just going to hand over this entire birth experience to them, and instead are educating ourselves as much as possible and bringing our own unique birth plan to the hospital.  Maybe this sounds overly-optimistic...who knows?!?  At the end of the day, though, I'm embracing the fact that every decision that will be made on delivery day will ultimately be Billy and I's and we will hopefully understand what will be happening during each phase of the delivery and when we need to rely on our fantastic resources to ensure a healthy fryebaby!

So, a little more about child birthing classes...

1. Week 1 we learned about the importance of prenatal exercise.  I thought this would be all about cardio and walking and swimming, but I was surprised when the homework was a set of unique exercises specific to labor and delivery preparation.  Here are a few examples:

-Pelvic rocking (a.k.a. cat / cow poses): get on all fours and imitate the cat and cow poses...my favorite "exercise" by far...especially helpful in the middle of the night when side-sleeping becomes completely uncomfortable.

-Squats: normal squats, with the goal to strengthen the legs to allow for long stints of squatting during labor and delivery, as shown below (p.s. I am no where near being able to squat like this...so jealous of the women who have no problem keeping their heels on the ground when they get in this position).

-Tailor sitting (i.e. sitting on floor cross-legged): our instructor suggests we sit on the floor (as opposed to a chair or the couch) as often as possible.  It's crazy how much this works your back muscles and your posture, plus helps with flexibility through the hips.  Who knew sitting on the floor and watching TV could be counted as a workout?!?

2. Week 2 (earlier this afternoon) we learned about the importance of prenatal nutrition.  Our instructor prepared us for this class by asking us to log our food intake for the last week, paying special attention to our protein intake.  I was surprised to learn that I need to aim for 80-100 grams of protein every day...that's a lot!  Luckily, as all of you know, eating large amounts of anything has never been an issue for me, so I'm keeping up with the protein goals pretty easily.  We learned that I should also be getting plenty of dairy, healthy fats, grains, orange/yellow Vitamin A & C packed veggies & fruits, and, of course, green veggies.  I went grocery shopping after class and filled the cart up with all sorts of good stuff...fingers crossed I can do a little better this week, as last week's log was not one to be proud of (worst food entry: Thursday's dinner...chili dog at the Nationals baseball game).

3. I can't get over how wonderful it is to have your husband with you at these classes.  As many other moms may be able to attest to, it's rare to find a dad who's going to read all the baby books and peruse online blogs and chat with all their dad-friends about all things pregnancy / baby like us gals do...which can make  mom (i.e. me) feel a little alone in wide world of pregnancy information overflow.  Now that we're taking the classes together, everything I'm learning, Billy is learning with me.  Every piece of advice we're receiving, Billy is receiving, too.  Our instructor talked to us about the importance of breastfeeding today and it was so great for Billy to hear about all the benefits of breastfeeding and for the instructor to let him know that the best thing he can do is to provide me with support and encouragement during the initial challenges that every woman seems to experience when they first try to breastfeed.  I was so happy to see Billy engaged in the class and know that he is excited to support me in this monster-task that many moms feel they bear the complete burden.

4. My favorite part of class is the forced relaxation time at the end of class.  The last 10 minutes of the first two classes has been a time for me to lie down on my side and attempt to relax...while Billy gives me a little massage in my back and observes me trying to relax.  Who cares why we do this or what the benefit will be, if any....I just embrace the fact that I get to sleep and Billy is forced via peer pressure to give me a massage!

So, that's enough about child birthing classes...not sure I'll ever post on this subject again.  Weeks 3 - 12 get into the "meat" of the class and may become non-appropriate for this modest blog :)  However, if I learn anything especially cool or interesting, I promise to share!

As for Baby Bump progress, I'll share an observation instead of a progress photo this week.  My favorite word to describe the baby bump so far has been "cantilever".  I never noticed the cantilever-"Frank Lloyd Wright Falling Waters"-quality of a woman's pregnant belly until I started developing my own little cantilevered bump.  I always imagined a bump that gently grew out of the body, like the hump on a camel...not a severe angle that protrudes from the body.  Cantilever is the only way I can describe it...

Here's to each and every mom's architectural masterpiece that is her preg-o belly!

Growing Baby Bump

For our 23 week baby bump photo, Billy and I decided to forego my "same outfit" rule and share this photo.  As my mother-in-law, Peggy, reminded us, lil' fryebaby may not have had a good view of the game, but he sure did get to hear all the cheers and excitement.  And, I bet he enjoyed his first "fried dough" from Fenway Park...I sure did!

(our seats were in the Coca-Cola Pavilion overlooking the Green Monster and left field)

(pic of fried dough, in case you were curious...similar to elephant ear or funnel cake)

Week 24:

In other news, Billy and I are started child birthing classes this afternoon.  The course is 12 weeks, 2 hours per weekend, and covers prenatal nutrition / exercise, child birth, and postpartum info.  The intent of the class is to help educate and enable Billy and I to have the baby naturally, without pain medication.  We know we won't have any control come delivery day, but decided it was worth the investment to learn as much as possible about having a natural birth and try to give it a go!

The crib and dresser were delivered yesterday, meaning we're one step closer to starting to work on decorating the nursery.  We will probably choose a weekend soon to paint the nursery and then we can get going with building the crib, hanging artwork and getting it ready for lil' fryebaby.

It's still very exciting to feel the baby move around and not too painful yet.  Sleeping has become a little more challenging, as my preference is to sleep on my back, but all my books tell me I must sleep on my side.  I keep checking out the "snoogle" pillow online (http://www.target.com/p/snoogle-original-total-body-pillow/-/A-566345), but am holding off for now.  I'm sure I'll break down at some point and buy it, welcoming yet another "something" to our bed...currently, it's Billy, me and the baby, and our dog, Skylar...who says we don't have room for a snoogle, too?!?

Cheers!

Night Train to Boston

Good morning!  Billy and I would like to say hello from Rhode Island.  After boarding a train at 10:10PM last night at Union Station, we've made it this far 8 hours later.  We are on our way to Boston for our annual trip to see the Red Sox.  We decided to mix it up this time and, in an effort to save a few bucks (actually, quite a few bucks) we took the night train in lieu of flying.  So far, the seats are extremely comfortable & roomy, the ability to walk up and down the aisles and break out a few yoga moves has been nice, and having power outlets and free WiFi is a definite plus.  If only this weren't a 10 hour ride that ends with us starting our morning in Boston with a full day ahead of us :)

We were both able to catch a brief amount of shut eye.  First I tried sleeping sitting up-right, then I moved to the seat across from ours and wedged my 5'10" 22-week pregnant self into a horizontal position on my right side, then moved to the seat in front of ours and performed the same contortions on my left side, and finally am back in my assigned seat next to Billy.  It's been 12 hours since we ate dinner, and I'm pretty hungry.  I brought trail mix and candy for the ride, but that's not what you really want to eat at 6AM.  Luckily, once we arrive in Boston at 8AM, we will drop our bags at the hotel and promptly head to a great breakfast spot - Paramount in Beacon HIll.  French toast and real maple syrup - here I come!  Fingers crossed that the hotel will allow us to check in early...meaning a shower could be in my near future!

We're headed to Fenway Park this afternoon to do a little shopping at the Yawkey Way Store (best Red Sox fan shop on the planet) and then see the Red Sox take on the Arizona Diamondbacks for some inter-league play.  Billy updated me in the middle of the night that during last night's game, the Red Sox came back from being down 2-7 to the Seattle Mariners to score 6 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning and win 8-7.  I hope this game will be just as exciting!!

In other news, I'm pretty sure I'm feeling lil' fryebaby move these days.  As any other moms reading this know, it's an un-usual experience at first and hard to recognize.  But now that I'm figuring out what I'm feeling, it's very exciting.  I announce any movements to Billy, but I think it makes Billy very nervous to press on my belly and feel the little guy's movement.  He's afraid he's going to hurt the baby by pressing too hard.  I know that won't happen, but I did catch myself being nervous that I was squishing the little man last night as I contorted myself into my sleeping positions.  Sorry about that!

We're almost to 23 weeks, at which point the baby will be approximately the size of a large mango and nearly a foot long (btw - have you ever seen a foot long mango?  not me!).  Or, according to my other app, the baby will be the size of a grapefruit, and 10-12" long (again - foot long grapefruit!?!?). Either way, he's getting big!

Outside of my abbreviated attempts at sleeping, I've been enjoying the Kindle app on my iPad, reading a new book.  Special thanks to my best friend Joanna for finding a great book recommendation for me...I told her I wanted to find a book that focused on working moms and the challenges that surround breast pumping and being away from your baby during the critical first year when you're trying to establish healthy sleep habits, good eating habits, etc.  It occurred to me while registering for baby gear last weekend that I really know nothing about breast pumps and needed to learn more.  She came through with flying colors when she recommended "The Milk Memos", a book compiled by breastpumping moms who worked at IBM and found support and companionship with each other through the communal "lactation room".  It's been a great / easy read so far and has helped me wrap my head around what it means to breast pump at work.

Signing off as the train pulls into Providence, RI.  Only an hour to go!  I can't believe we're doing this entire train trip again in less than 48 hours.  I'm telling myself to embrace the fact that we still "can" travel this way and to remember that such budget-friendly options may not be available to us once lil' fryebaby is not quietly inside me, but instead is a hungry, needy, and potentially cranky little guy.  Here's to embracing one last college-like adult-only trip.

P.S. My favorite aspect of the train ride so far has been enjoying my un-ending patience with little kids crying and whining on the train.  There were a couple of rough patches during the night, but it didn't bother me a bit.  I smiled, knowing my days of consoling an inconsolable child are growing nearer :)  Let the patience abound!