I know, I’m WOEFULLY behind on these. Between starting a new (very busy) job, and trying to tie up loose ends at both the gym and with our business, time has REALLY gotten away from me. But we’ve been doing a lot of cool stuff, so I’m working to catch up!
Yup. I’m really starting to miss heavy red weights, beer, and running…
While I mentioned wanting to declare weeks pregnancy weeks 32-33 “the lost weeks,” we did actually accomplish quite a bit:
- Finished our Hypnobabies classes
- Took Infant Safety and CPR
- Picked a pediatrician
- Painted the nursery
Hypnobabies
I’m both excited and sad that Hypnobabies classes are over. While the class and group practice time itself is very intensive, it gave me ever-renewing confidence in my ability to give birth.
Our final course was a simulation practice of the hypnosis scripts and Neil and my roles in birth. I don’t know if there’s really a way to “grade” us, but I have a feeling laughter will be the majority of my anesthetic. Every time Neil whispered to me or used visualizations, I just burst into giggles. He also had some fun with the practice doll.
I plan to write a post-course and post-birth analysis on our experience, but for now, I’m rocking my maintenance plan and just trying to stay calm and prepare. I’ve pretty much finished reading everything extracurricular I want to read birth-wise aside from this book:
Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body, and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond, by Nancy Bardacke It echoes a lot of the concepts in Hypnobabies, and its been a really calming and reaffirming read. At this point, I’m so ready (but not ready!) to be on the other side that I have little mental block.
Infant Safety and CPR
We signed up for this course about a month ago, and it ended up landing squarely in the aftermath of the storm. Fortunately, we had decided beforehand that my mom and I would take the class together, then teach Neil and my dad. Since MK is staying with my parents two days a week, we thought having a representative from each household versed in CPR and the beginnings of safety and child-proofing would cover the bases a bit better. This ended up working out because it allowed Neil to focus on clean-up.
This class was so worthwhile. Not only did we go over infant and toddler CPR, but crib and car seat safety and child-proofing as well. It’s been a trip preparing for MK’s arrival with my mom and mother-in-law. Neil and my youngest brothers were both born in the late eighties and so much has changed since then — some things several times over. Our cribs were filled with every pad, cushion, and blanket, and our Fisher Price toys are now choking hazards.
Choosing a pediatrician
I feel like the hype in being supper choosy with pediatricians for your child before they are born is either a little overblown, or I’m completely missing something. While I undoubtedly want her to have the best care, and great access to help and feedback when I need it, trying to pick the perfect person and place without her here feels like a shot in the dark.
That being said, we are going with a pediatrician/general practice doctor who is out of the same clinic my OB is in. I’ve gone to her before and she’s very responsive and progressive on not only birth issues but decisions we’ll have to make medically in the first few months and beyond. The decision was pretty simple and I didn’t grill her in an interview, or evaluate the clinic staff for friendliness or service. I know what to expect and that’s enough to get us going.
Painting the nursery
Confession: I don’t call it the nursery. It’s her room. The word nursery feels so temporary. How long is it really “nursery” anyway. Just one of my weird hang-ups. Anyhow, it’s painted! We went with Valspar’s Bankson Lake (VR053A) with their Aspire line, which was close to Martha Stewart’s Plumage, or a dark teal. I’ve loved this color forever, and I think it’s perfect for an eclectic room, which this will most likely be. We really have a little of everything going on in there. Which is fine with us. I was really impressed with this paint over others we’ve used over the years. It went on really well for how dark the color is, and it was SUPER easy to clean up.
Crib and mattress are here and my bestie is coming up in two weeks to help me make it look a cohesive. I can’t wait to see what it looks like all together!
