Joe & I attended a breastfeeding class at The Birth Boutique in Denville.  I was dreading sitting thru a 3 hour class but we are both glad that we did.  Shari, the owner of the store, is a certified midwife as well as a certified Lactation consultant.  She really knows her stuff.  I am really hoping that this works for us this time around.  I didn't get any help the first time except for whatever help the "lactation consultant" gave me in the hospital & on the phone.  Come to find out that some of the consultants at Morristown are not even certified.  Could be the reason why I got an infection when I was feeding Gavin at 3 weeks old or so.  I don't believe he was latching on properly. 

We purchased Shari's Simply Breastfeeding video which we have to take the time to watch.  We will also visit Shari at the store for her assistance which I am sure it will be needed.  I feel alot more determined time since  I know the benefits for mommy & Trace.  Wish so much it worked out better with Gavin but he did get at least 6 weeks of breastmilk. 

Joe had gone to bed & I was up reading in bed.  I began getting some back cramps at 11:26pm.  These cramps moved to the front like a menstrual cramp.  I decided to take my cell phone to the couch & time the cramps or contractions.  I wasn't sure if these were true contractions b/c with Gavin my water broke & I had no pain.  I forgot what it felt like when they gave me the Pitocin but I remember it being alot worse than this.  Like I said, this felt like a menstrual period.  Anyway, this went on for 1 hr at 5 minute intervals.  I finally woke Joe to tell him.  After an hour & a half, I called the doctor.  I got a call back from Dr. Immetao who sounded like I bothered him by waking him at 1am.  He wanted me to go to the hospital for monitoring. 

I decided I would wait to see if they got any worse or closer together.  I ended up falling asleep & woke from the cramps 2 x's.  After the 2nd time it was 3am.  I called the hospital to tell them I would wait until the morning to see how I felt first.  The nurse on the other end was very nice & explained that this is common with a 2nd or 3rd pregnancy.  Nothing I ever heard (& I read alot) but ok. 

When I woke in the morning I did feel crampy but they went away a few hours into the morning.  Needless to say I was exhausted the entire day.

Joe & I went to a BBQ back in July.  We met a lady who was really off the wall in my eyse.  Anyway, she tells me we are going to have this baby the week of Sept 15th.  Her theory is that Gavin was born April 15th & usually your cycle will fall around the same time.  After brushing it off I thought about it & went thru the entire family & their dates of birth.  My brother & I are both born on the 10th.  Joe & Lauren are the 1st & 5th etc.  It does make sense.  Joking around, Joe is saying it is going to happen on the 19th since he is scheduled to work security at the movie theater.  He was scheduled to work the theater when Gavin was on his way. 

So our last appt with Dr. Goldstein we told her this theory.  She said it isn't medically proven but it does make sense.  I told her how Dr. Gluck had delivered Gavin & I really did not want him again.  She told me that if she was not working in the office & was not on call that I can have the hospital page her & she would deliver Trace.  I was so happy to hear that from her.  She isn't even my regular Dr.  Dr. Hirsch is but he no longer delivers babies.  I am thinking of switching to Dr. Goldstein just because I felt like we had a wonderful connection there.

Joe & I have decided to donate the cord blood & placenta from this pregnancy.  We tried to do this with our first pregnancy but were rejected due to us taking a trip within the year to Costa Maya, Mexico where there was an outbreak of Malaria.  Anyway, this time around wasn't that much of a challange but still hard enough.  This time we were told we could donate for non-clinical research which means it will not be used on humans but for research only.  This is because I had Melanoma in May of 2007.  We are happy to donate to help in anyway we can.  Better than throwing it away if it can help cure a disease one day.  We would absolutely love to privately bank but right now we can't afford to add another bill to our plate.

So we go to our appointment with Dr. Goldstein & I let her know that we will be donating.  She tells me the practice is no longer participating in the donation portion.  Basically this is because the covering doctors won't do it.  Anyway, the bottom line is she said she would do it for us.  She said if we were willing to take the time to donate then there is no reason why she couldn't do this for us.  I thought that was awesome that she would offer that.  She also said that she was 99% sure that Dr. Bissenger would agree as well.  I will check with him at our appt this Friday.