It doesn't usually rain in January

Baby Shower for second baby... Yes or No?

This is our first baby, but I gotta agree with the general points in this post. Except in my case, I have declined invitations to showers that I didn't feel right attending because I didn't feel I knew the mom well enough - but I have genuinely enjoyed the various showers I have gone to. It's fun to give baby presents. :)

Also, props to The Hottest Computer Scientist in the Universe's best friend for having showers for each of their kids that were actually fun for all who attended.

But for me, I agree with the blogger. I just cannot envision myself having a party whose sole purpose is to demand that everyone who receives an invitation must spend money to bring me things, which, by the way, I will have laid out in advance via a registry so please just get what I tell you. I have never felt wrong about participating for someone else, and I see the value. But it feels freakin' weird to contemplate orchestrating such a thing for my own benefit.

Maybe the problem is YOU, gentle reader. The people I am closest to are so damn generous already. Ridiculously generous. I have to ban them from giving us things. So having a shower on top of that? Sick.

Puh-leeze!!

Some of this baby crap is so cutesy I want to vomit.

There's a sale on baby gear, so I click over to check it out - it's in blue with cars and clouds, or in pink with ruffles, and things like "Sweet Dreams!" on flags or prints for the walls. It seems ready-made to mock a parent holding a crying baby at 3am.

I think as a sleep-deprived mother of a newborn I would rip that stupid thing off the wall, and hopefully not go strangle anyone with it.

OB visit

Weight (mine): 159
Also, a tiny ultrasound on one of those portable monitors.

Our midwife practice has an associated OB, more or less in the event something goes "wrong" and surgery is needed there's a person appointed to do that. We were required to schedule (and pay upfront for) an appointment to meet her.

She strikes me as a total hippie. Which is perfect. I think The Hottest Computer Scientist in the Universe liked her, too.

During our 15 minute (or less) meeting, she asked for basic info: EDD, LMP, physical complaints if any, etc. and then she came out with this:

"Anything interesting about this pregnancy?"

She didn't say it in an unfriendly way, but what a funny question to ask a first-time pregnant person!

I laughed, because I knew what she meant, and said, "No, nothing that's interesting to anyone else." The sheet she gave us after specified: "Uncomplicated pregnancy."

She also took a small jab at the midwives, it seemed to me. While adjusting clothing so she could take the ultrasound, I said that I hadn't expected that because the midwives just feel for position and take the heartbeat. She replied, "I like to look, they like to feel. I don't like surprises. They don't mind a few surprises, because they have me there [...]" I don't remember how she ended that sentence, "if something goes wrong" or "if they need me" or what. But she quickly followed up to say that this group of midwives has a very low incidence of needing her assistance.

6th Prenatal Visit

Heartbeat (baby): 128-131 bpm

Weight (me): 158

Good news: the Guajolote has flipped! The midwife did this craaaazy thing where she manipulated my uterus - she pushed back and forth and sort of passed the baby to herself to identify which part she was feeling. That was pretty far out, I had her show me and that was nuts. I made The Hottest Computer Scientist in the Universe get up and she showed him too - it sort of gave him the willies. Like we shouldn't be disturbing the little guy* in there. I see his point but man this kid is disturbing me PLENTY now. :-P

Midnight (ok, 4am) snack

Sigh. We had fun sex again tonight, but I fell asleep afterwards. The Hottest Computer Scientist in the Universe had to work at midnight (logging in from home) and came to bed at 3:30. But the readjusting in bed woke me up enough I noticed I was hungry and here I am catching up on this blog instead of sleeping. I polished off the Cheerios though so now I will head back for a couple more hours.

Excer-who?

10 Facts About Your Pelvic Floor

What you should know before giving birth

Argh I better get on that. Don't want to be peeing myself from the age of 30 - I was hoping to save that till my 80s.

3rd Ultrasound

We went in and had the same ultrasound tech at the ultrasound place. It's in a swank building where the elevators are coded - the same elevator doesn't always go to the same floor! You have to check a console and then it tells you which next elevator will take you to the floor you want - there are no buttons inside (probably Emergency, but that's it).

Anyhow this was much shorter, she took some basic measurements of the femur and skull and then got to trying to get a shot of the major arteries. In the end, she ended up calling another ultrasound lady to take the image instead. That woman took the ultrasound wand and stuck it clear on my left side, outside the uterus, and dug in. Not comfortable! But effective I guess: they were both satisfied with that picture.

We felt a little better afterwards because it seemed the lady just had a hard time getting the image right - so perhaps there's no actual problem with the aorta & whatever else is a major artery. We'll find out next week at our next midwife appointment.

It was mostly fun. This kid is still breech (head up, not down) and was in fact "frank breech" which means butt down. He* was folded right in half: his feet were in front of his little face! The Hottest Computer Scientist in the Universe thought that it couldn't be a comfortable position - I'd seen it illustrated in books so I wasn't surprised but when he pointed that out I started to sympathize. We don't fold babies in half after they come out so why would it be good a couple months earlier? On the other hand, you aren't supposed to fully submerge them in fluid after they exit, either...

Guajolote, 27 weeks 1 day:

To the left is the head, the two ovals at the top center are feet, and I think the squiggly line trailing off to the right is the umbilical chord.

Don't be alarmed by the bullet holes - those are internal organs.