Twenty Seven Weeks

What Baby is Doing:

Just looking
"What are all those lights and shadows?"
After being fused shut for more than four months, your baby's eyelids can open again. This, combined with the facts that the visual part of her brain is active and most eye structures are complete, means your little one can see the world around her, limited though it may be. She can't make out objects yet, but she sees light and shadows.

Rock-a-bye baby
By paying attention to her movements inside you, you can get a good idea of how your baby spends her days...and nights. Just like babies in their mothers' arms, your little one gets lulled to sleep by rocking. Your daily activities may not feel like rocking to you, but the amniotic fluid provides such a cushion that all your baby feels is gentle swaying. So she's likely to sleep more during the day. It may be a different story at night, once you lie down to get some rest. Suddenly, she's awake and ready to party!

Measuring up
Your little one will gain about 1 pound over the next month. This week, she's up to 13 inches, crown to rump, and weighs about 2 pounds. Though she's growing quickly, her brain and lungs are still immature. Luckily, she's got 13 more weeks to get ready for the outside world.

Mommy’s Commentary:

Although sometimes I really wish Squirt would settle down and stop hurting me, the best part of being pregnant is feeling my baby move inside me. Those soft little tickles of early pregnancy have now become belly rattling kicks and punches! I’m amazed that Squirt is so strong and I love to watch my belly jump around.

Work It, Mama!

Chris finally called me onto the carpet last night.

When am I going to start exercising?

YIKES!

We’ve been taking Bradley Method classes and an important preparation for natural childbirth is exercise. Labor and birth requires flexibility, strength and endurance.

Of course, that sounds logical.

And I really do have good intentions.

But I also have three huge obstacles:

1. lack of time

2. pregnancy-induced exhaustion

3. pregnancy brain

The lack of time just proves that my priorities are wrong. A good mother would be focused on the arrival of her new baby.

Strike one for me.

The pregnancy-induced exhaustion is entirely my fault. First of all, I would have more energy if I would simply make time to exercise. Is this a Catch-22? I could also make more time to sleep if I would simply turn off the TV at night rather than propping my eyelids open with toothpicks just to find out who the killer is on CSI.

Strike two for me.

The pregnancy brain makes me forget that I need to exercise. I know it’s hormonal and I need to take control. No problem. I have a love of charts and checklists. Chris fondly refers to me as an anal, uber-organized planner. I assure you that these traits do not offend him when his dinner arrives on the table or he has clean underwear in his dresser drawer.

One point for me.

So, now that Chris has fulfilled his obligation as my Bradley coach and I am drowning in guilt, I have committed to start exercising as I should.

Wish me luck!

The Epidural Obsession

Now that I am really huge, my belly solicits unwanted advice at every turn.

The hot topic recently has been the Epidural.

Every woman I meet will tell me that I will need one.

Don’t even think of passing up the opportunity to get pain medication.

Request it, scream for it, beg for it.

Women don’t get medals for natural childbirth.

You get the same baby in the end.

Why suffer if you don’t need to?

How strange our society is that religion and politics are taboo subjects, but intimate moments of your life, like childbirth, are regarded as subjects that should be discussed and debated in public forums.

The epidural debate is the hottest topic among the ladies in my office lately.

The 23 year old never-been-kissed-virgin assures me that the epidural is the only way to go. Her mom told her so. She also assures me that my husband must owe me big time because I’m letting him use my uterus free-of-charge. I suppose I could tell her that I wanted this baby as much, if not more, than he did, but what’s the harm in letting her feel sorry for me?

The old-enough-to-be-my-mother in the cubicle next door emphasizes that almost NOBODY goes natural anymore. Why feel pain if you don’t have to? Also, childbirth classes are a waste of time because the baby is coming whether you are prepared are not. Don’t worry, the doctors know what to do.

The sweet-as-pie fundraiser mom has had three children. She had two natural births and one epidural. She assumed that she had suffered enough with the first two births and at her age, she deserved a break. Sounds logical…except she went on to say that the epidural made her vomit for the duration of her labor. Sounds like fun to me.

So, the ladies in my office are trying so very hard to help me by influencing my decisions with their fierce debates. It must be incredibly frustrating to them that I am unwilling to share my birth plan with them. They are dying to know my intentions. And I’m not sharing.

P.S. we’re NOT getting the epidural.