Pregnancy Q&A

I thought this would be a fun post to answer some frequently asked questions and also to give me a place to write it all down.

27 weeks, at the Lake

How many weeks are you? Truth be told, I usually don't know; I don't get the weekly e-mails with the baby updates or things like that. For awhile now I've been saying "oh, around 6 months". My friend who is computer-smart made a "pregnancy tracker spreadsheet" so now I know that I am 28.3 weeks today. So this is the start of my third trimester.

When are you due? Oct 6th. Unlike most pregnant women, I'm convinced that I'll still be pregnant on my due date. Maybe this has something to do with wanting my 12 week maternity leave to extend past Christmas which it will as long as it doesn't start before Oct 5th. =)

How is baby doing? Baby is doing well. Normally I wouldn't know more than that but at my last check-up, baby had an irregular heartbeat and I was referred to a perinatologist for another ultrasound. So we had the ultrasound earlier this week and he took a good look at everything, especially that baby's heart. Baby is just under 3 lbs and all his/her measurements look great. The heartbeat was quite irregular with some missed beats and some extra beats but the doctor said the heart looks fine structurally and the arrhythmia is likely due to immature electrical pathways in the baby's heart and that should resolve either before birth or shortly after. We will get another ultrasound in three weeks to monitor that but there is no need to be concerned right now. Baby was curled up on my right side trying to suck it's toes. Silly baby!

How have you been feeling? Pretty good. I had some nausea for the first 16 weeks but that's all better now. Aside from some minor aches and heartburn , I have nothing to complain about. 

Do you know the gender? Nope but Christopher does. He wanted to find out and I didn't so that's what we did. I know it wouldn't work for most couples but it is working out for us. Many people have been guessing based on how I am carrying the baby but I think that my bump looks different when baby is laying transverse or vertical so I'm not sure that's reliable.

Can you feel the baby move? Yes. I began feeling the baby move a little before my 20 week appointment. Now s/he moves more frequently and is much stronger. Baby moves a lot when I drink ice water and I'm not sure if it is because baby likes the cold or dislikes it. I couldn't figure out why baby moved more when I was at work but I'm pretty sure that's why; I don't usually have ice in my drinks at home. Most of the time I think the baby is vertical with it's feet low and I can tell when it turns to it's side because then I can see the kicks as well as feel them. It's amazing that something so tiny can be so strong.

What are you going to do after the baby comes? Short answer: work (at the hospital) less. Long answer: I'm going to take my 12 weeks of maternity leave and then go back to work part time. Christopher is going to teach as an adjunct professor in the fall and that works out great because I should be on leave the whole fall semester. In the Spring, he got a Teaching Assistant-ship so he will do that while trying to write some of his dissertation. We aren't exactly sure what we will do for child care but we will figure that out so Loki doesn't have to watch the babe while I sleep.

Speaking of Loki ... How do you think he'll do with the baby? It is true that it may be a rude awakening for him at first; after all, he is the "baby" and our only responsibility right now. I feel bad that there is no way to prepare him ... that we'll leave for a few days and will come home with a noisy, time consuming person that will completely change his life. But he is smart and if we are consistent, we know we can help him understand his role in the baby's life. He usually just ignores our friends' babies and we think that's a good start.

 

 Whew! That's all I have to say about pregnancy for awhile!