Childbirth Ed

Corey and I went to our first childbirth ed class at RealBirth last Wednesday. It was so cute to see all the other couples there and, all the other pregnant belly's. Our instructor, Erica Lyon is also the founder and wrote a book. She is awesome and very straight forward.

Turns out that both Corey and I knew people in the class! He knew a martial arts student who was one of the expectant daddies. I knew the co-teacher who was a Capoeira classmate.

In this class everyone introduced themselves and both partners talked about their experiences with the pregnancy. Then Erica taught us the signs of labor.

We will also take an infant care class and infant CPR class there soon.

Soooo exciting!!!

The Ever Expanding Belly

Last weekend my belly went through a growth spurt which began with significant growing pains. Fortunately, I was at my sister's house when it all began, ever so dramatically. She injured her shoulder playing caporeira so I visited her to give her an acupuncture treatment. The growth spurt began while we were watching You-Tube Videos on her lap top (Shoes & Brains) when I suddenly began to feel incredibly hot, dizzy, short of breath and seeing stars. Mind you I was seated on a bar stool height chair several feet above the floor. "Put this on pause, I think I am going to faint". If I do, then press your finger nails into the tips of my fingers, the tip of my nose and the cleft over my lip, those points will revive me." At this point she had acupuncture needles in her left arm and shoulder and said "Let's move you to the couch".

After she got me a glass of water I moved to the couch knowing that I need to sit up because I felt that if were to lie down the faint would over take me. Then she brought me another glass of water, but this one mixed with E-mergency, an electrolyte drink.

I sipped the water and took deep breaths. Suddenly I broke into a cold sweat, the stars were all I could see, and then it started to clear up. We pondered what could be wrong because I had just eaten breakfast and slept well the night before, I removed her needles and soon went home.

When I spoke to my midwife over the phone she reminded me that at this stage of the pregnancy (25 weeks) my body is going through major hormonal changes, is making more blood then ever and advised to make sure I am staying hydrated by drinking more water then I think I need. Although I really do drink a ton of water, (note the empty five gallon water bottles behind me in the photo) I had dry mouth and was extra thirsty the past few days. As long as I was not having uterine cramps, nausea and severe edema she told me not to worry. Since I at this point I just felt very fatigued, had none of the other symptoms she listed and the ones I did have passed, I relaxed semi-reclining in my bed the rest of the day with a pitcher of water and the remote control at my side. My hubby took care of me the rest of the day and evening.

My belly was very uncomfortable and felt incredibly heavy. I tossed and turned in bed that night, and each time I woke I thought "Oh my belly is so big, it is sooo big and it is uncomfortable". When I woke up the next morning I rolled onto all fours to rise and caught myself in the mirror. HOLY MOLY MY BELLY IS HUGE. Crawled out of bed, put on my robe and walked into the living room to show my husband. Before I could say a word, he took one look at me and said "Baby, your belly looks so big"! "I know, I know!! I felt it growing all day and all night. This explains what was happening yesterday. I feel better today, just tired from not sleeping well but nothing like how I felt yesterday".

The photo here is for you to see my belly for yourself. Several people have asked if I am having twins. I am not, just one big bouncing baby boy who needs lots of room to grow.