No Shortage of Excitement

Just as the title of this post says, there's been no shortage of excitement lately.  Yesterday, I took an unexpected trip to Labor & Delivery.  From the time I had gotten up, my back was really hurting me.  I figured I slept on it in a funny position because lately it's been hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in at night.  So at first, I didn't think much of my back pain.  But when I started to have cramping (you know, like just before your time of the month), I got a little worried.  Of course, I googled my symptoms and of course, Google basically told me the worst case scenario - preterm labor.  (why do we Google things when we know it's basically going to tell us we're going to die?)  Anyway .... I figured I'd call the doctor just in case.  They advised me to head directly to Labor & Delivery at the hospital.  It's a good thing I WORK at the hospital so it was a short walk over to the unit.  When I arrived, they immediately hooked me up to monitors to do a Non Stress Test (NST).  Sea Monkey's an active little guy so I wasn't too worried that we wouldn't see him moving.  And I was right - they got their first 2 movements within 7 minutes.  GOOD BOY Sea Monkey!  While I'm being hooked up to the monitors, a Resident and Student came into the room and asked me 1,000 questions.  I'm not lying, I swear they left no stone unturned.  I wasn't expecting the quiz but I suppose they need to cover all their bases.  The doctor wanted to do an FFN test - which tests to see if you're in preterm labor.  What they do is stick a huge q-tip inside, swab around and send it to the lab. Yeah, that was fun.  But not as fun as when she checked my cervix.  It was the first time it was checked, and I really wish it could be the last.... but I know I'm dreaming on that one.  I'll spare you the details, but she lied when she said I'd feel "a little pressure".  It was a LOT of pressure and I wanted to kick her in the face.  I know, she's just doing her job, but it's still not a pleasant experience.  Ok so all the tests are done, they had me sit on the NST monitors for another 20 minutes.  It was nice to just relax a bit, listen to Sea Monkey's heart beat and feel him move around.  The nurse told me he was doing great and passed the NST with flying colors.  Lab work came back - FFN was negative - which means I was NOT in preterm labor.  I was slightly dialated. I also had to pee in a cup (always an interesting experience when you can't see down there, and YES, I peed on my hand).  Everything was looking good.  There was no medical explanation for my pain - I was told this was probably my "new normal".  Well if Sea Monkey is doing fine, I guess I can deal with some back pain and cramping.  Just a few short weeks to go.  I did find out that anytime after 34 weeks, they will not stop your labor.  Obviously they want you to go as long as you can, but if I were to go into labor anytime after Sunday, they're not going to stop Sea Monkey from making an appearance.

What a day .... oh wait, it wasn't over!  Last night, we were back at the hospital for the breastfeeding class. 

As you all know, Mike was not thrilled that I made him attend class with me.  And it was made worse because the Bruins were playing in the middle of the class.  Anyway, you all know I was concerned about how we were going to remain serious for a 2 hour class focused solely on boobs.  It wasn't too bad.  I just decided I wouldn't look at Mike.  Pretending he wasn't there made it so much easier to not see a smirk or smile that I know would immediately push me over the top and force me into uncontrollable laughter.  How was the class?  Eh .... it was ok.  The woman who taught it was older, and a little out of the times.  But you can tell she's really passionate about exclusively breastfeeding - because she talked about it several times and made you feel like formula and pumping were tools of the devil.  Class was totally disorganized - she jumped from one subject to another and threw out questions to us like, "How often should you feed your baby?" and "How do you know he's eating enough?" Ummmm, I don't know lady, I'm a first time mom who has never breastfed.  That's why I paid $40 to take your class .... so you could give me the answers to these kinds of questions.  It was a little frustrating.  She had a bean bag that was shaped like a breast.  It was made of fabric and the first layer folded over so you could see "inside" the breast and look at all the milk ducts.  She LOVED her little bean bag boob.  I wish I took a picture of it.  She also had a fake baby.  In order to show us good positions to hold the baby and get a good start at breastfeeding, she would hold the bean bag on her chest and hold the baby in her other hand.  This was fine, it was a good way to show us how to position Sea Monkey for feeding.  But she was slightly obsessed with the bean bag boob and kept putting it against herself ..... for ... the ... whole .... class.  AWKWARD.  She did cover a lot of the basics, but she also was kind of "old school" and couldn't answer all our questions.  Someone asked about drinking alcohol and breastfeeding.  She said you could have 1 drink and then wait 2-3 hours before feeding and that all the alcohol should be out of your system.  So of course I ask, "Well if you have 2 drinks, should you wait 4-6 hours?"  She couldn't answer me and just told me don't have more than one.  Yeah, right lady.  Another girl asked about test strips they sell to check the amount of alcohol in your breast milk.  They're pretty common - I see them in the store all the time.  She had never heard of them and just kept telling us to not have more than 1 drink.  The class wasn't a total waste of $40, but I think I'll do a good bit of reading on my own.  Definitely not our favorite class - and even after it was over, Mike still insisted he didn't need to be there. 

But Wait! The excitement doesn't stop there.  We had our last ultrasound this morning!!

This was a scheduled appointment to check position and weight, and to be sure all his organs had developed the way they should.  The doctor said Sea Monkey got a PERFECT SCORE!  He's "heads down" and hopefully getting ready to drop!  We confirmed again that he is in fact still a boy.  They guess that he weighs just under 5 lbs at this point.  If we stay on the same track, he should be between 7 and 8 lbs when he's born.  Which is totally normal and I shouldn't have a problem trying for vaginal delivery.  *phew*!  I really don't want to be cut open.  Not that the thought of pushing an 8 lb person out of my body is as delightful as daiquiris on the beach, but it sure beats having someone cut my stomach open and push my organs all around to pull out a baby.  The ultrasound tech printed 4 photos for us.  This one here was the best one.  It's definitely not as cool as the 3D photos we got a few weeks ago, but you can still make out his face.  I love his chubby cheeks!     


The excitement officially ends there ..... for now.  It seems like June has been the craziest month!  This weekend we have a cookout to go to with Mike's family, our 1 year wedding anniversary on Sunday and the last Childbirth Education class on Monday.  After that, things should slow down a bit.  Actually, I really need them to because I'm pretty exhausted.  Can't believe July is around the corner, and Sea Monkey could join us at any time.  Very exciting!  Hopefully we can relax a bit and enjoy some quiet time during July.