Week 32

The past couple of weeks have seemed really busy with the classes we've been taking to prepare for Baby Girl.

**This week we had our 3rd of 4 prepared childbirth classes. We watched a video of a C-section. I completely had tears running down my face when the mom and dad got to see their baby for the first time. It was really sweet. We also talked about pain management and took a tour of the hospital. The hospital has been open less than a year and is really nice. The rooms are huge! My favorite quote of the evening came from one of the videos we watched. "Making noise while pushing is normal." Thank goodness they told us that!

**Wednesday night we had our last baby care class. I thought this class was pretty helpful, but I know that everything we practiced on the plastic babies will be much different with a moving baby. I also know that learning textbook stuff about how to deal with a sick baby will not seem very practical when we have to deal with it in real life, but you really can't be prepared for that kind of thing until the situation presents itself. We received a safety checklist of things to consider for different areas of the home. My favorite question on the list was #56 which asks, "Are discarded freezers and refrigerators hauled away from yard, or are doors of old freezers and refrigerators removed?" I understand what is being asked, but all I can picture is a front yard full of old freezers and refrigerators.

**This afternoon I had my preadmission appointment at the hospital. I was able to fill out all the forms and list my preferences (which is really hard to do your first time around) so that when labor begins we can just get checked into the hospital.

**We only have a couple more classes to attend and then we'll just have to learn from hands-on experience. I think the classes we have taken have been helpful and would definitely recommend that you take the classes you can when you're expecting a baby. If for no other reason, it's good to get an idea of the things that are going to happen both during labor and once you get home.

**The baby has been moving a lot more lately. It started out as a very small feeling that something was moving around in my belly. Now there are times when I can see my whole middle section move. She seems most active when I lay in bed each night. Sometimes it takes me a while to get comfortable because she is so active. It is a weird feeling but also a very neat experience. I really enjoy it!

**Last week we had our 31 week doctor's appointment. Everything still looked good. Baby Girl's heart rate was 140. My blood pressure was still normal at 100/60. We go back next week for our 33 week appointment.

**Yesterday I experienced swelling in my ankles for the first time. It could have been because I wore some socks that were too tight. And again today my sock and shoe choices were poor so I have a tiny bit of swelling right now. We'll see what happens tomorrow.