Baby Stuff

Let's see:

My back hurts. Not constantly all day, but enough that it was hard to stay focused this morning. This afternoon has been better, but I've had more things to do up and about.

Must take photos of the baby's room tonight to show family this weekend. It's not done, but it is far enough along to show our progress.

Next week I hope to make more progress - finish the painting (including the "mural"), get the doors installed (with help from R) and probably buy some of the things that we haven't received yet.

We had our hospital tour on Tuesday night. Fewer unknowns are a good thing. The Labor and Delivery Rooms are pretty big and aren't too far from the main waiting room for when R needs to visit anyone who is waiting. The post-partum rooms seem nice, too, though they are not large. But I guess that keeps us from being overwhelmed with too many visitors at once.

Last night we took a private childbirth class. I'm confident that this was the right decision for us. Though I admit at being intrigued at the contents of a "regular" lamaze class and how it might differ, especially since it wouldn't have been tailored to our needs. The woman we took the class from has been a doula for over 20 years and was a wealth of knowledge. Even though I know there will be much of the process that is unexpected and unpredictable, having an understanding of an "average" labor is comforting. So is understanding out options and choices that we can make.

She had a very quiet day on Monday which was kind of freaky. There hasn't been a day when I've felt her moving all the time, but there have always been "active" periods. Monday, I had to sit with my hand pressed against my belly in order to have the reassurance of feeling her move. It was an unpleasant day and I'm glad she's back to her "normal" now.

We're taking an infant care class the first week of January and I have a book on the shelf to read about breastfeeding. I'm hoping that those two things will help us feel "ready". (I don't think we'll ever really be prepared for how things are going to happen or change, but a little understanding of the parameters should make us both feel better.)

I'm totally in maternity clothes now, with the exception of a few shirts I can wear under longer things. I'm happy that all of the maternity stuff still fits for the time being.