27 Weeks

It's been an eventful week, but a good week. Monday night, David, Mom, and I all went to an infant CPR class at the hospital where I'll be delivering. We sat with three other people (one couple and one mom-to-be), and we had 2 dummies for all 6 of us. The dummies had removable mouth/nose sections, so we just popped those into the dummy's face when it was our turn to practice. We went over the steps several times, so hopefully I'll remember what to do, in the event I ever need to administer CPR (but I'm praying that I never do!). We also learned how to rescue a baby who is choking, which I think will be most beneficial. The funniest part of the night came during the choking practice. When a baby is choking, you hold him or her face down on your forearm, while thumping them on the back (between the shoulder blades) with the heel of your hand five times. Then, you turn them over on their back on the other forearm and administer five chest thrusts. When David turned the baby over, he cracked the dummy's head on the table. He looked a little embarassed, and I said, "If you do this for real, try not to crack the kid's head!" Well, when it was my turn, I took the dummy from him, and because I wasn't paying attention, I slammed the head on the edge of the table myself. All three of us cracked up at that point, and the rest of the class probably wondered what kind of crazy people we were! It was awfully funny, though...but it was probably one of those things you had to see to appreciate. Overall, the class was very interesting, and our instructor was great. I think David was kind of skeptical about the class at first, but after it was finished, he was glad he went. When we got home, he said, "As scary as it would be to have to give our baby CPR, it would be so much more scary to need to, but not know how." Exactly!

This morning, I had a doctor's appointment. Instead of seeing Dr. Basham, we met Dr. Brown for the first time. I was hesitant about meeting him, but I liked him. He was very outgoing and energetic, but he was loud! He asked lots of questions and gave me a lot of good information, which I appreciated. He said that during this last trimester, it's very important to focus on nutrition, so he told me that he and Dr. Basham would like for me to eat mostly lean meats and green veggies. They want me to limit carbs (so long potatoes and bread!) and pretty much eliminate processed sweets, except on special occasions. Dr. Brown said that by doing this, we would "have a lean, mean, fighting machine for delivery, and you'll avoid an 8.5 pounder that buys you a c-section." I am going to have to find some significant willpower to follow his advice, but I'll do my best. I'll need some help from family and friends to keep me on track though. But really, I appreciate that he and Dr. Basham seem to try to avoid unnecessary c-sections...even if it means I can' t really have as many sweet treats as I like. He also told me that here in the next few weeks I'll start to notice swelling in my hands and feet, and to be sure to take off my wedding ring if I notice it getting tight. He also looked at my shoes (I almost always wear heels to work) and said, "You won't be able to get your feet into those much longer!" I guess I'll have to start looking at more sensible footwear!

Here's my weekly belly picture, for comparison to previous weeks:
That's 27 weeks and 2 days. All day long on Monday, Sprout was on the move. He/she was in constant motion, it seemed. Then yesterday, almost nothing all day long. I really, truly tried my best not to panic, but Sprout just wasn't his/her normal wiggly self. I know that they say that you're not supposed to do kick counts before 28 weeks, because until then the babies have enough room to hide. But I spent most of the day trying to discern any kind of movement. Two or three times, I almost called Dr. Basham's office, but I held off. This morning, I could definitely feel Sprout moving around a bit more, but I noticed that he/she seemed to be positioned differently. For the longest time, I've felt Sprout kind of diagonally in my body...from my left hip, across my belly button and up into my right ribs. This morning, he/she has seemed to be much more straight up and down. Dr. Brown let us listen to the heartbeat with the Doppler again today, and said, "It sounds like the kid is running a footrace!" I think that had more than a little to do with the glucose that I had to drink this morning, but it was certainly reassuring to hear that strong heartbeat. And today, my little Sprout is back in action kicking and punching. I think all the wiggling on Monday was him/her trying to reposition, then maybe Tuesday he/she was getting used to the new position. I really don't know, but at least I know Sprout's alright in there!

Next week, I'll be in the third trimester! Where in the world is time going?! Some days it seems like I've been pregnant forever, and other days it seems like it's gone by so quickly! I can't wait to meet Sprout (and find out if it's a boy or a girl!), but at the same time, I know I'm going to miss feeling that wiggly body inside my own!