Well, last night was our final prenatal class.  Our teacher had told us that it would be all about the baby and my goodness she was right!  She talked so fast to tell us everything she could think of that our heads were spinning!

She showed us how to bathe our baby, change their diaper, "swaddle" the baby, put them in their carseat, install the carseat in your car, etc...she showed us pictures of different things that may make you worry when you see your baby but they are normal, like acne, vernix, conehead, cross eyed, etc...

She also went over all the tests that they will do on the baby right after birth.  They check the colour of the baby, breathing, movement, responsiveness, etc...they also do a lot of reflex tests that I didn't know about.  They lay the baby on his/her back to see if they can move their head to the side.  They put the baby in a standing position to see if they have the reflex to move their legs to walk, they put their baby finger in the baby's mouth to feel the "hard pallet" (roof of the mouth) and then all the way to the back to make sure the baby has a good gag reflex (otherwise that baby is at a high risk for choking) and on and on it goes!

She told us that we can expect to be in the birthing room for about 1.5 to 2 hours after the baby is born so they can do all the tests and get me all pretty and also so the baby can feed for the first time.  She said they want the baby to eat within the first hour of life.  That shouldn't be too hard with all the energy I have left!  LOL!

It was kind of sad to leave the class at the end, I really enjoyed them!  I think Bro was ready for them to be over though...

It is very crazy to think though that in 12 weeks, we are going to have a baby!  Last night I think I got another reality check...when she was giving the doll a bath that is when it kind of hit me that oh my goodness, we have to do that soon to our little Peanut!  Wow!

Well, I am going to sign off for now, have a great weekend everyone, try to stay cool!  It is going to be 41C with humidity!  Stay in the AC, I know I will be!  LOL!

Love Stacey, Brodie & Peanut
                  x's n o's

Happy Thursday!

What a busy week it has been for me and Peanut!  Monday was our Dr. appt...then Tuesday morning we went for the diabetes test.  We hadn't eaten anything since the fudgecicle (I can't spell that!) Monday night and I was starting to feel very dizzy and a little nauseaus.  I get that way when I don't eat, I always have.  After we drank the flat orange pop stuff I started to feel much better though.  We waited for 1 hour (Thank goodness I had some company, Mom sat with me for the whole time) then he took my blood.  I will probably get those results at my next appointment which is the 16th.

Yesterday I had to go to LHSC's birthing centre for an appointment.  They took some blood and sent it up to the lab to confirm I am Rh- before they gave me the needle.  They said the results would be back in about 1 hour so I could wait if I wanted to.  I went up and had a nice visit with Greg and Deb who is back in the stupid hospital.  It was nice to visit with them!  I went back down to the birthing centre to get the needle and the nurse told me that the results weren't back yet.  She called the lab and they told her 10 mins...she got the results 45 mins later!  I got a lot of reading done though!  I also got to read the brochure about the injection to see what it was all about.  Once she told me she had the injection ready (I kept checking my shirt to make sure I could pull it down to where they needed to get on my arm) she took me into a room and pulled the curtain.  I thought that was odd but then she told m to lay on my side and she gave me the needle in my hip!  Oh my word!  I was terrified and I don't think I took 1 breath the whole time!  For some strange reason I was more scared for a needle in my hip than going through labour and child birth!  LOL! Well, the needle didn't hurt at all and I survived!  Yay!

I am not sure if everyone understands the injection I got, so here is a quick explanation.  Your blood is either Rh+ or Rh-.  If you have the particular protein on the outside of your blood cells, you are +, otherwise you are -.  If an Rh- mother delivers an Rh+ baby and the blood from the baby crosses with mother, her body will build antibodies to fight the protein if it sees it again (future pregnancies).  This means my body will fight and attack the fetus.  You get the injection at 28 weeks and again immediately after birth.  You also must get the injection with every pregnancy!  Isn't modern medicine amazing to have discovered something like this?!

Tonight is our last prenatal class.  I am sort of bummed but Brodie seems to be taking it really well !  I think he is done with watching all the crazy videos!  LOL!  I am so glad we took the classes!  We do have 1 more class we signed up for this month.  It is a breastfeeding class for 2 hours on the 25th.  That should be good, Rochelle told me it is a great class.

Last night the baby was funny...I am not sure if it was just a coincidence or not though!  I put my earphones on my belly and put on Baby Mozart.  S/he was kicking through most of the CD then when it was done Peanut must have been asleep cause I didn't feel anything more until this morning!  I don't know if the kicks were out of excitement for the music or horror for the music!  LOL!  Guess we won't know until August when we meet our baby!

Also, if you need to bribe me with anything, I would prefer it be chocolate snowball timbits from Tim Hortons...I think I would do ALMOST anything for a box of those!  There are 3 stores by my work and not one of them sells them!  I have to get them in Ingersoll if I want them.  Last night I went in my PJ's to Tims and paid $2.80 in dimes to get my fix!  You can also bring some to me if you love me...they are so good...mmm...

Well, I think this is quite an update for now, I will try to update tomorrow about our final class tonight.

Have a great day everyone!  Did you check out this weeks picture?

Love Stacey, Brodie & Peanut
              x's n o's

Well, today was my monthly visit...I was thrilled to learn that I had gained more weight in the last 4 weeks than my baby will weigh in total!  The nurse told me I had gained 10 lbs () in the last month and I didn't know if I should laugh or cry!  LOL!  My Dr. didn't seem too concerned though.  I have gained a total of 25 lbs but everyone says I seemed to have "blossomed" the last 2 weeks.  Enough on this depressing topic!

Peanut's heart rate was good at about 150 bpm (about the same as always) and my blood pressure and belly measurement were both good.  He wants to start to see me every 2 weeks now, so I go back to him on May 16th.

I thought he was going to give me the needle today (my blood is Rh-) but I need to get that done at LHSC.  So, I have an appt. there on Wed afternoon for some blood work and they will tell me when to come back for the needle.  He also wants me to get the Glucose test done soon, so I will probably do that this week too!  Busy busy busy!

He gave me all the paperwork and forms for the hospital and I need to make an appt. to go for pre-registration with one of the Nurses.  That should be fun :)

Peanut has been very active lately, Brodie has been feeling more kicks which is exciting!  I am also starting to find I am a little less mobile than I was just a week ago!  Sometimes I can't get up when I am laying down and I need to use objects to help me get up like a table or something...the Dr. had to help me get up today, he is very nice :)

Well, I am going to giddy up and get some work done now, have a fabulous week everyone, I will keep you updated with all the appointments!

Love Stacey, Brodie & Peanut
               x's n o's

Well, we survived another week at prenatal class...it was another good one!  We discussed Post Partum Mood Disorders and where to get help if you need it.  She told us that REPORTED CASES show that 1 in 5 women will get a PPMD but 95% of women get the baby blues (lasts for about 2 weeks).  She went over what the Dad's should watch for in the Mom's and how to help us if they see things are starting to get out of control.

We discussed and watched a video (with Ray Romano) about being a Father.  I am so excited to see how Brodie responds to being a Dad, he is going to be great!  We just want our baby to grow up in a house will all the love in the world.

She also talked a bit about breast feeding vs. formula feeding and the pros and cons for both option so we can make an informed decision. 

She also talked about the recovery period for Mom (Me...crazy isn't it?!  LOL!) in the physical, mental and emotional sense.  But, we also need to remember that there is a huge adjustment period for Dad where he has a new baby and is trying to figure that out, he is trying to make sure Mom isn't losing her marbles, go to work full time, and still maintain his sanity too!  Brodie and I are good communicators with eachother so we hope we can make it through that first difficult stretch together.

That was pretty much it for the class last night...this morning I woke up and felt like the baby grew quite a bit.  When I was in the shower I thought my belly looked a lot bigger but when I got to work this morning, the first 4 people that saw me all said the same thing!  Peanut must be sleeping in my belly button or something!  LOL!

I think the only other update is that I had my first foot in my rib this week!  Sitting at my desk at work I just felt like something was in my ribs and everything wasn't fitting inside anymore.  Rochelle told me just to rub it and the baby will probably move.  I took a little walk around and rubbed the spot and when I got back to my desk it felt so much better!  It didn't hurt, it just felt uncomfortable...

Well, I have my next Dr. appt on Monday and I am getting the needle because my blood is Rh-.  I hate needles, but we need to keep everyone safe and healthy!  I will update the blog again next week with pictures and my Dr. appt. update.

Have a great rainy weekend!  Hopefully the sun will shine for Justin's first birthday party (My Godson)!  Happy Birthday Justin!

Love Stacey, Brodie & Peanut
                   x's n o's