Monday, July 27, 2009

29 Weeks

This week has been uneventful as far as pregnancy is concerned - which is great! The last report I got is that the babies are still doing great. Our next appointments are Aug. 6th with my local doc, and Aug. 7th with the specialist.
I have signed us up for a couple of classes a local hospital provides: Childbirth, Infant care & CPR, and breastfeeding. These are not through the hospital where I will deliver, as the only ones they have available are offered way too late. On the other hand, the classes I signed up for are not too late on the calendar, but very inconvenient, as in the evenings and weekend of our first week back with students. So, my questions to you are: Did you take any pre-baby classes? Do/did you find them necessary and helpful? Do you think it will be a tragedy if we are unable to attend?

Todd has been very busy doing projects again this week. Have you noticed all of the pictures of him smiling and working that I have posted lately? He has been great to "gladly" do projects to make our home more comfortable and ready for the babies. We have been wanting a deck or patio for years. It's always something that we put off for one reason or another (money, physical logistics of the yard, etc.) Well, we made a budget, saved the money, and blew the budget, but we now have a deck thanks to Todd's skill! I decided that I would really like to have a comfortable place to sit outside if I'm going to be home with the babies during the day. Also, we like to grill pretty often, so this gives us some more room to work with the grill and even eat outside. We got a table, chairs, umbrella, and fan, so we're set. It's nothing fancy and may seem kind of silly to get excited about, but it's a big deal to us. It still needs to be stained & sealed. We plan to plant something around it in the Spring, if we can.



Todd and I have also been working more on the babies' room and clearing out the guest room. This is hard to do when we have all our school stuff piled up just waiting for the day we can take it back to our classrooms.

Speaking of projects, here is a
little one I did. This little silver platter had seen better days. Needed to be cleaned, but I don't have Tarnex and didn't want to go to the store. So, I googled how to clean silver and came up with this... Equal parts of salt & baking soda (they suggest 1 teaspoon, but I used a lot more) in boiling water with a container lined in foil. Let the item sit in the boiling water for a few minutes, remove and wipe with a soft cloth/towel, and tah dah! It works! I was so impressed!


And now I'll leave you with a true story...
We're in Sears looking at patio furniture. I sat down to write some notes; Todd went off to look at tools. So there I sit, writing, when I notice this hand slowly approaching my purse that sat in my lap. I automatically swatted it away like a bug, somewhat loudly said "NO!", and looked up to find this elderly lady with a crazed and determined look on her face. She reached again, as though she was trying to get in my purse. At this point I hollered out Todd's name twice. He immediately came to me and saw what was going on. By this time I was figuring out that there was something obviously wrong with the woman. She had been silent through this so far. Todd quickly approached then the lady said, slowly and kind of broken, "You are having a baby? That is why I touch your tummy." Oh my! So, I let her very briefly touch my tummy and Todd promptly said, "Okay, lets go!"
Todd later told me the whole occurrence was like the beginning of a horror film where some possessed old woman rubs the belly of a pregnant woman and the babies are born deformed and evil. Great!
I don't mind belly-touchers. It would be nice, though, if I know what you're reaching for first, so as to not scare me.

13 comments:

Jana said...

Oh! I love the Sear's story! I only had one stranger touch my belly when I was pregnant with Jayden. He was a tall (I mean massive), broad shouldered African American man. He was huge! His hand was HUGE! I felt like he could lift me up by my belly with his one hand like a basketball. It was awkward!

Shannon Rains said...

I didn't do prepared childbirth classes. But, when I had Reese I borrowed a bunch of stuff from Jana Kay. Her mom taught it a long time ago. It was great and got me through the delivery. It is well worth knowing the information. My epi. didn't work so it was even better knowing what to expect and how much longer I had to get through it before it was done.

I didn't do a breastfeeding class either. But, I do go to Merry Go Round to buy my stuff and the owner is a lactation consultant and she will do appointments to figure out whats going on if something isn't working out. She's great.

Julia said...

I didn't with Alexis, (no explanatin needed on that one). I did take a class at the hospital with Esther, (I didn't feel like I needed it because I had already had a baby), but I am SO glad that I did take it! It was an all inclusive class, it covered natural delivery, epidural's, c-sections, multiple births, breast feeding, lamaze, and the Bradley method. It was a wonderful class. I learned things about childbirth that I wouldn't know otherwise. Also the breastfeeding class was VITAL for me! I would have given up on breastfeeding Esther had I not taken the course. She had trouble laching on and if I hadn't taken the course and known and been shown how to fix the problem I would have stopped. I STRONGLY encourage you to take the classes! The more you know the better off you will be! I mean childbirth is a VERY serious deal! Love you sister and I want you and those babies to be okay! I mean you went through SO much to be able to have them, I suggest you continue to do everything you can to be prepared for thier arrival!

Anonymous said...

The breastfeeding class would be handy, b/c it is kind of tricky... and I'm sure it will be tricky with twins. You'll be a 24 hour/day, 7 days/week milkmaid for the first 4-6 months. You'll eat more during that time than you do during pregnancy, well, if you're like me.
The childbirth class may not be necessary. This is how to breath when you feel contractions: (1) calm down (2) deep breath slowly (3) hold breath and count to 10 (4) breathe out slowly (5) repeat until you fall asleep
It works, guaranteed, you don't need a class for that.
The infant care and CPR... can be helpful. Your physician will explain how to take care of baby as far as feeding amounts/times, diaper excrement expectations, sleeping habits, and bathing. The infant care part of the class may not be necessary. The CPR and emergency part would be good to take, but hopefully you won't ever need to use that information.
The Sears store experience, I would have slapped that woman into next year if it happened to me. I was hesitant to even let friends touch my belly, much less strangers. And tell Todd that if those boys come out evil, he's staying home and taking care of them. Just kidding.
Love you all, and very glad to hear you are all well.
Nikki and Julianne Wood

Anonymous said...

Take the class(es). It is always a good idea to educate yourself on any new undertaking. You will feel much more prepared and confident in the choices you and your doctor make. Even if your schedules are hectic and you're tired, make sure to attend all anyway-don't miss a single one, if there are a series of them. I did, and it made such a difference. I went to them as a refresher course as well when I had Julia. Alicia

McLain Musketeers said...

You are looking so good! Glad to hear everything is rolling along. The Sear's story is crazy. I was very 'hands off' the belly when I was prego with Erin. I didn't even like my mom touching my belly. As far as the classes, I would highly recommend both you and Todd attending. I read several books, but found that at the classes other couples asked questions that we didn't even think of that turned out to be very useful. It was also very helpful to be able to talk to a professional and hear their wisdom. Definitely take first aid and CPR. I am a BIG supporter of breastfeeding and any info you can get from a class or others will come in handy. All of these classes is alot to do, but you can never be too prepared!

robby & amanda said...

I'm glad to meet other people who are doing dave ramsey :). Glad to hear of y'alls success!

Congrats on twins! How exciting! My cousin just delivered twin boys (almost a year ago). I hope you have an easy pregnancy and birth!

Amanda & Robby

annalee said...

what a lot is going on in you guys' world! you look wonderful!
i don't know what area of houston y'all are in, but you should definitely go get a snow cone at mam's ice house in the heights for a date night soon:)
ps- we took childbirth classes and while parts of it were comical, much of it was very helpful. i'm glad we did it.

Emily said...

Glad you don't mind belly touchers since I enjoyed rubbing on your belly numerous times at school last year:). I sure will miss that!

Emily

Emily said...

Glad you don't mind belly touchers since I enjoyed rubbing on your belly numerous times at school last year:). I sure will miss that!

Emily

Emily said...

Glad you don't mind belly touchers since I enjoyed rubbing on your belly numerous times at school last year:). I sure will miss that!

Emily

Emily said...

Glad you don't mind belly touchers since I enjoyed rubbing on your belly numerous times at school last year:). I sure will miss that!

Emily

Emily said...

Glad you don't mind belly touchers since I enjoyed rubbing on your belly numerous times at school last year:). I sure will miss that!

Emily