35 Weeks!!

So I just looked at my blog archives and it has been 4 weeks since the last baby update. A lot has gone on in the last 4 weeks, so bare with me, this might be kind of long. To summarize, we have had 4 baby showers, 5 classes, 4 nursery updates and 2 doctors appointments. You have seen all of the wonderful pictures of the baby showers, so at least I have kept up with something. After 4 showers, we got so much that we needed, and not too many clothes. I think we have a good amount of clothes. They are all washed and hanging in her closet....sooooo cute!! We did receive a few duplicates that we still need to take back to Babies R Us and exchange for a few things that we did not receive and still need. I am hoping that it will be close to an even trade. We do have diapers and a car seat...I think those were the two necessities to bring her home from the hospital, so we are good!

Now for the classes. A couple months ago, we signed up for 4 classes at the hospital. The first one that we attended was the Breastfeeding Class. It was very beneficial and well worth it. It is hard to know how much we will benefit from it until I actually get to try to breastfeed myself, but I am really glad that Mikey was there with me. We learned all of the benefits of breastfeeding, and now he is also aware of the support that I will need from him.

The second class that we attended was the childbirth class. Probably the most beneficial. I think that I wrote in an earlier blog that I had a "pregnancy moment" with this one. When I signed us up, I didn't realize it was 3 weeks long. We were able to attend two out of the three classes and we learned a lot. It was so neat to see pictures of what my body looks like from the inside. Kiley is taking up so much room these days and I always wondered where all of my other parts were (stomach, intestines, bladder, etc.) I think it was good for Mikey to see where all of my "discomfort" comes from. We also went on a tour of the hospital. We learned where we will park and check in. We also saw a delivery room and walked through the labor and delivery process. We talked about comfort measures, how to know we are in labor, when to come to the hospital and listened to an anesthesiologist speak.

The third class we took was the infant and child CPR class. Mikey and I have both been CPR certified in the past so this class was a good refresher. CPR actually has changed since we were certified. If it has been a while for you guys, now it is actually 2 breaths to every 30 thrusts, and there are some differences for an infant and child than with an adult. Very beneficial. Our philosophy is that since we know what to do, we will NEVER have to use it. We will have to change the philosophy to never have to use it on Kiley or our other children, because Mikey has already applied something he learned in the class last weekend. Long story short, he was participating in a bike race last weekend and came up on a car accident that had just happened. There were 6 high school girls in one of the cars. He had to pull one of the girls out of the car and use her shirt to wrap around her face and head where she had sustained some pretty bad gashes. He called parents and kept her and some of the other girls calm until the paramedics arrived. He called the parents earlier this week to make sure everyone was ok. There were some pretty bad injuries, broken neck, pelvis, legs, cuts, etc. My husband is very brave and I am proud of him for how he reacted in the emergency situation. I know her parents were very grateful that he was there to help. He even finished the 46 mile race after all of this. He is one tough guy!

Our last class was the Basics of Babycare. This was a good one for Mikey to attend, because he has never held a baby, much less changed a diaper or given a bath. We learned all of these things and it was very beneficial. We also learned how to swaddle Kiley and take her temperature. We even got to practice everything! So we are done with all of our classes and I am very glad that we took them. I feel like we know so much more than we did before them and it makes us feel more prepared for Kiley. I know that we won't know everything, but the classes definitely put us more at ease for labor and delivery as well as caring for a newborn.

Finally, the doctor appointments. Our 33 week checkup was pretty routine. My weight gain and blood pressure were good. Kiley's hearbeat was 157 beats per minute and my stomach was at a 33. She informed me that at my next visit, I would be tested for the Strep B virus so I would have to undress (which is something I haven't done in months).

Tuesday was my 35 week checkup. My weight gain and blood pressure were good and Kiley's heartbeat was strong at 158 beats per minute. She did the Strep B test (will get results in a few days) and then checked my cervix. I promise this will be the most graphic I get in these updates. My cervix is still closed, but it is soft which is good. When she measured my stomach, it was still at a 33 (same as two weeks ago). She said that sometimes the measurement from the outside isn't accurate enough and we needed to schedule a sonogram for our next visit to check her size. It didn't hit me right away, but as I left the office, I broke down. I was concerned that Kiley stopped growing. My wonderful husband talked me through my concerns and helped calm me down. He said that we need to focus on the positives, like the fact that she had a strong heartbeat and that I had gained weight. He told me to keep positive thoughts because the negative ones won't help the situation at all. He is right and that is what we are doing. Later that day, I called the doctor back just to ask a few questions. They said that we shouldn't be concerned about Kiley's well being, she is fine, the only reason to do the sonogram is to confirm her size and that we still have the same due date. I did feel a little better, but will feel a lot better once we see that everything is ok. I am now going to the doctor on a weekly basis, so our sonogram and next appointment is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8th. Please keep us in your prayers. The bright side is that we get to see Kiley again before she is born. We haven't seen her since I was 18 weeks pregnant!

Another positive note is that Kiley is very active every day. She definitely livens up at night. She is getting tighter in there, but still manages some pretty hard jabs and kicks. She also gets the hiccups an average of 3 times per day. When I was little, my parents used to tell me that I was growing when I had the hiccups. So hopefully Kiley is growing a lot! According to my weekly emails, she is over 5 pounds. I guess we will know for sure next week. Stay tuned for news on our next doctor appointment, and we have also scheduled maternity pictures for next Sunday the 12th!

As for the nursery, we have put a few finishing touches to make it extra special. I will post pictures tomorrow!