Weighing in at 8lbs 11 oz

Dylan Wright Blumkin was born August 31st at 8:16pm.

She has wonderful curly hair and a beautiful voice. There are more pictures at the the flickr link to the right.

Hospital Day 2

At around 8 Kate was started on potoesin. The contractions started but weren't too bad. At noon Kate puts her pain at a one. The doctor told use they will break Kate's water soon, but didn't give a specific time. Everybody here is helpful, but they are all reluctant to state times for anything. I guess that is why secretaries make appointments and not doctors. Anyway we think that it will be a long day.

Hospital Day 1

We got here at noon, both of us felt ridiculous carrying three bags each. Once in the room the doctor asked Kate about her health history. The doctor then had to correct Kate on her health history. Then Kate was asked for the first time to rate her pain on a scale from 0 to 10. She gave it a 0.
1:00 Kate gets miso, which is a little pill that she does not take orally. It is supposed to help induce labor and lasts about four hours. She is also strapped into a machine that monitors the baby's heart beat and Kate's contractions.
1:45 Kate has had only one small contraction so I left to go walk Snuffy and mow the lawn.
2:30 Our friend Zack came in saw Kate.
2:45 Aunt Annie and Grandma Lisa made it in to Rochester. We then decided to see how Kate was doing at the hospital and walked on over to see her.
4:00 Kate started to have more regular contractions. This was nice since Annie, Lisa and I were getting bored. However Kate is getting annoyed because she has to go to the bathroom but needs permission to go to the bathroom, because of the monitoring machine.
5:00 Kate was finally emancipated from the monitor and went to the bathroom. Once her bladder was empty the contractions stop. Now she only had to worry about whether she was going to be allowed to eat dinner or not. Her pain was once again assessed. It was a one this time. Lisa and Annie left to walk Snuffy and get dinner. Kate was strung along about having dinner for a good hour.
6:00 Finally the nurse came and told Kate to order dinner, and hopefully by the time that the food comes a doctor will tell her if she can eat it or not. She ordered a fruit platter and some ravioli. The strongest physically ailment Kate felt during this period was exhaustion.
6:25 A doctor showed up and told Kate that she can eat and that they will give her the Miso again.
6:30 The food came and Kate ate. Since Kate wasn't hooked up to the monitor she took this as an opportunity to pace the room.
6:45 Lisa and Annie came back. They got themselves Chinese food and me a Philly cheese steak. We all ate as Kate sat uncomfortable while she digested her food.

7:15 The doctor and Nurse came in with the Miso. Kate assessed her pain at around zero. The miso was placed in Kate while everyone else in the room averted their eyes. Kate was pronounced at 2 cm and the baby was still pretty high up above the pelvis. However minutes after she took the miso Kate started having contractions again. Lisa immediately got up and looked at the monitor to watch Kate's progress. Then she would predict the contractions, and tell Kate to get ready. Then Lisa would cheer the contraction on and try to get it higher. The concentration Lisa had on that monitor is only rivaled by Snuffy's focus on squirrels on our walks.

8:10 We saw a bear on TV and all thought of Snuffy.
10:00 Annie and Lisa leave for the night upset that they can't watch “Project Runway.”

10:50 Kate is in pain and has to go to the bathroom. The nurse comes in to free Kate so she can go to the bathroom, but first asks Kate to rate the pain. She gives it a 6. Then the nurse says her shift will be over soon, so the next nurse will free Kate permanently at 11:15.
11:30 We're waiting for the new nurse. Our little darling is pummeling Kate which causes great pain.
11:35 The new nurse comes in and notices that the monitor wasn't monitoring and tells us she'll leave it on for a few more minutes to get a good reading.
11:45 The nurse comes in and asks how its going. Kate is in pain from the soccer wonder that will never be born. The nurse says her heart rate is up so she wants to monitor her some more.
11:55 Kate is writhing in pain, and the monitor is not picking up the heart rate again. The nurse comes in to set it up again, and then realizes how much the baby is moving. She then says that the high heart rate makes sense and frees Kate for the night. After Kate goes to the bathroom and gets in the tub the pain disappears. So far we have learned that the most painful part of labor is being strapped to a bed.
1:15 Kate rates her pain at a 4 and calls it a night.

Here we go

They have a room for us, so we're heading over. The woman asked how long it would take us to get there and I had to say about thirty seconds as we are across the street, so she said oh, why don't you actually wait a few minutes. Aaron will be doing the next post or two.

Buddha Belly

41 weeks 3 days















The front view does not really do me justice since my gut sticks out a good foot straight in front. But that is sort of frightening and does not need to be on the internet.

I obediently called for further instructions this morning and got transferred four times. But then I talked to a woman who had my name on a list! They know I exist! She said probably I could go over by 11, but she would call me when she has a better idea. Then the phone self-destructed.

I can't even go into induced labor

The birthing center is full tonight. Please call again at 8am tomorrow. Perhaps they can get me in at noon. I plan to go into labor tonight just to spite them.

Tomorrow

Aaron and I have been having a debate about how many points I should be worth to passing motorists when I am walking Snuffy around the neighborhood. I thought I should be worth a lot because it's two people plus a dog, but Aaron thinks I am a slow-moving easy target and so should be worth fewer points. Speaking of games, Aaron is the ONLY ONE who did not guess too early in the baby pool. I thought he was just being mean when he picked a date in September.

Anyway, the ultrasound looked good, although the baby is acting up already. She spent the entire night viciously battering my abdomen (I made Aaron feel what we think is her elbow at one point and he screamed because it was sticking so far out), and then during the test, which could not end until she moved a certain number of times, she would not move. At least until I gave her a few good pokes, heh heh sweet revenge. The technician would only refer to the baby as "it" which is weird at this point since we are so used to thinking about her as a girl. The technician also told us how smart the baby clearly is due to her excellent job at fake breathing. Is this just the start of many years of people pandering to us by telling us how obviously smart the kid is?

So the big news is that we decided to induce tomorrow morning. I'll go into the hospital tonight and then they'll start the pitocin tomorrow morning. My doctor will be working then, at least for the first part of the day, so that is nice. I think I might have been willing to wait a few more days (they only would have let us wait three more anyway), but we have just about run out of time if Aaron is going to be able to have any time off with the baby before school starts. And some people are also insisting on both going to "Morocco" for the "Peace Corps" and also "seeing the baby."

Appointments

We're off to an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment now. Will report later...

New Plan

This is my new daughter, the stuffed manatee. She looks just like Aaron, don't you think?














Actually, that's only sort of funny since the dog I picked out does look just like Aaron. Note the big pretty manipulative eyes, the red tint, and the abundant fur.














Yesterday I tried to go to oldnavy.com to admire a baby dress that I really like and got a message that the store is closed for maintenance but would be open on Sunday. I thought that only happened in real life.

We had a busy fun day yesterday, which is probably better for me than moping around the house. Eating.

I did wake up in the middle of the night with some pain but it was not contractions, it was the baby violently thrashing out at me. She has been rotating herself a lot lately, and I think she turned and moved her head lower. Maybe she is trying to run away.

I woke up a while ago and have yet to see any sign of Aaron or Snuffy. Maybe they are trying to run away too. On foot though since the car is still here.

Day off

I'm taking a day off from posting, but we're not in the hospital.

41 weeks

Nothing new today either.

All the online pregnancy calendars ended a week ago, so I am left without their inane daily advice.

It is weird that we could have decided to be in the hospital having the baby (or at least trying to) right now if we wanted to.

When Annie and I were in Wegmans a couple days ago a woman asked when was I due, like, yesterday. So I got to say yes, last weekend, which was satisfying for all. Until she tracked me down on the opposite side of the store and started offering advice about pushing. And then told us all about how she needs a hip replacement. Annie has since decided that I was faking the whole pregnancy thing and gone back home. Going out in public right now is fulfilling any paranoid fantasy I have ever had that everyone is staring at me.

Ugh

The test results were fine -- the baby is kicking and heartbeaty and all set to still not come out.

The test, however, was incredibly stressful due to the nurse from Ireland who would be nice as a delightfully kooky neighbor (she turned out to just about BE our neighbor as she lives on the next block over so we'll see if that is actually delightful), but was not delightful as a care provider because of her apparent intention of terrifying me.

She started out well enough, getting me hooked up to the monitor before she finished with another patient so that the test was over very quickly, although Aaron said he thought there was something a bit off about her even at first. Then once she realized I was past my due date she asked if anyone had talked to me about induction. Once I told her we had pushed the induction date back she asked me why I didn't want to be induced, didn't really listen to what I said (it really isn't that I have a problem with being induced per se), and then started ranting really quickly in a very difficult to understand accent about how she thinks inductions are a godsend and if she were like me (which, she pointed out twice, she most certainly is not), she would be induced right away, yesterday if possible. She showed me a chart of the last thirty years demonstrating when the c-section rate started to go up dramatically and said that that had happened when silly articles about the dangers of pitocin started to come out. Back in Ireland they didn't do c-sections thank you very much (she moved here in 1971, by the way), mostly because they induced everyone as soon as the pregnancy test came back positive. They also fed laboring women really well in Ireland, so I should make sure to stuff myself beforehand -- meat and potatoes preferably. Her own first birth experience was the most humiliating thing she has ever done and even though she had been a labor and delivery nurse for 4 years then why did she think she could get off easy.

Also, every patient she's ever seen go to 41 weeks has had plus or minus one million hours of excruciating back labor and judging from the looks of me and the way the baby is lying, that's what I'm in for. All of this while I am still strapped to the chair unable to move.

During the test they also monitor for any contractions you might be having, and that line remained sadly sadly flat the entire time.

No news

I feel really normal today. Snuffy helpfully headbutted me in the stomach a couple of times during his happy happy morning greeting of joy, so maybe that will get things going.

We have a non-stress test tomorrow morning to make sure Pumpkin's doing okay as long as she's going to keep hanging out in there. I hope she passes so she can get into a good preschool.

I changed the settings so that you can now comment without having a blogger account.

Annie is still here, Aaron is done with work, and I don't really have a lot of work I can do before the baby is born, so we can all devote ourselves to leisurely pursuits. The plan for today is to keep working on the puzzle that is taking up the whole living room, followed by some geocaching. Aaron just wandered downstairs to make waffles.

Things from the past 24 hours that I will credit with causing labor if I go into labor soon

• Ending that game of Risk in a friendly three-way draw just because it was getting late. We could have waited until today to finish. My thirst for world domination remains unquenched.
  
• Ending that game of Monopoly far later than basic decency should have dictated.
  
• That delicious delicious strawberry banana smoothie I made for breakfast.
  
• Having to drive a half hour each way to pick up the stupid prescription dog food for my delicate flower of a dog.
  
• Installing the carseat right before Annie got here so that I've been squished in the backseat with it every time we drive anywhere. Aaron says it's safer that way.
  
• My awesomely comfy new pajama bottoms.
  
• Cocaine.
  

Aaron is off at orientation. Yet another opportunity not to tell him while I sneak off to the hospital to have the baby. Although his orientation is in the hospital.

When I go into labor we plan to drive around town really fast so we get pulled over and Aaron can say "but my wife is in labor."

I just pulled the car into the garage and couldn't fit out the front door and had to haul myself into the backseat where I just barely fit out the back door.

The baby has now blebbed up into a little ball so far in front of me that it looks like she is trying to pod off from my abdomen.

Progress?

Just got back from the doctor and...

CERVIX REPORT 8.22.06
dilated 1cm Yay!

I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it is a definite change from last week and I have been all crampy lately. To me it at least means that I will possibly go into labor at some point, I'm guessing in the next few days.

We pushed back the induction to an undetermined date, but the doctor didn't really seem to think it would be necessary anymore. I think the baby needs to get out of there soon though because she can kick HARD. She likes to rotate through all my organs, giving each one a bruising in turn.

Relax, Mom, I did not have the baby in the night

I did have a few contractions on the drive back to Rochester though. But then they stopped the minute I got out of the car. It was just enough to send us both scurrying around the house trying to finish anything we've been meaning to do. I haven't felt anything different so far today. I suppose we should get going on putting the carseat in the car.

You will all be happy to learn I have been reunited with the walking stick, so Snuffy and I are ready to patrol the neighborhood again.

My new entertainment is calling people back when we don't get to the phone in time to reassure them that we are not in the hospital yet. Aaron called me from work every day last week to ask if I was in labor yet. I don't know why he thinks I would hold out on him, but I guess the husband is always the last to know.

I'll update again this afternoon after my doctor's appointment.

I just slept for 11 hours

...uninterrupted by babies or labor or other pesky intrusions into my life. I suspect that this is not the burst of energy people talk about.

The best thing about hanging around Ithaca instead of Rochester is that they have tv here. I've made everyone watch birth stories on Discovery Health for the past two days, so I am quite popular. I do have a bunch of Project Runway episodes saved on the computer for after the baby is born so I can watch them when she won't sleep. I am nothing if not prepared. The tv highlight of the weekend was an episode of "You Swallowed What?"

My dad and Snuffy have developed a sick sick relationship wherein Snuffy goes and barks at my dad and my dad obediently trots out of his office to play. So if I hear Snuffy barking around the house here I know that he is either torturing the rabbit or my dad.

To summarize: no baby yet.

Due Date

I haven't had anything resembling a contraction in days, although I think the baby dropped even lower yesterday. So I would guess I've got at least a few more days left. My next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday.

We're off to Ithaca again for the weekend. We learned last weekend that this is not an effective tool for labor induction, but it will stop me from driving myself crazy with boredom. Because watching Snuffy manipulate my entire family by batting his eyelashes is very entertaining.

Aaron had his last day of work as a baker today. I know he'll miss it, but I'm excited because he doesn't have to go to bed at 6:30pm anymore. Except that my wild nights of carousing around town, accountable to no one, are over. Yesterday he grabbed my leg in his sleep and later told me he had been dreaming about grabbing an unbaked loaf of bread.

In a sad development, you know how I said a few days ago that three out of our four dining room chair are sort of hazardous? Well, now it's four. Score one for my ever-pregnant butt.

That's better

Before















After















Sorry for the boring medical rant there. It is disconcerting to have even the doctor and nurse asking me why I'm still pregnant. I'm still not uncomfortable, and yesterday I actually had a lot more energy than I have lately.

Yesterday morning I went to a La Leche League meeting. They say leche as two syllables, is one thing I learned. They made me swear not to wean the child before she's seven. Actually it was pretty fun, although it had a preaching to the choir kind of feel to it. There were tons of babies and kids running around, from two months to six years old, and all the women were really nice. It's really fun to say 'Saturday' when people ask me when I'm due. Next week will be even more fun I imagine. Much breastfeeding was done by all, except me.

Still no contractions or anything else to speak of. The phone has been ringing a lot with people wanting to check on me. Confusingly, I get excited when it rings, as though I think someone is calling to tell me I'm in labor.

A little medical research

So...doing research for your own medical decisions...not fun. I had so many people exclaim about how early 41 weeks is to be induced that I decided to actually read about why one might want that to happen. I suppose there was also some concern for me and the baby involved.

My grand conclusion...

I still don't know what would really be best, and I'm not sure anyone else does either.

If you are interested, here is a summary of what I have read. The main rationale for inducing women at 41 weeks, which has become a very common thing to do, seems to come from a 2003 article summarizing a whole bunch of randomized controlled trials. These trials for the most part compared women who were induced at 41 weeks or later to women whose pregnancies went past 41 weeks but were not induced. It found that women who were induced at 41 weeks had significantly lower c-section rates and lower perinatal mortality (babies dying right before or after birth) rates.

For me there are two problems with this. One, while the induced group did have statistically lower rates of c-sections and perinatal mortality, the actual differences were small (20% vs 22% for c-sections and .09% vs .33% for perinatal mortality). Two, the comparison of induction at 41 weeks to no induction at all is not really what I'm interested in. There seems to be a lot less doubt that pregnancy complications increase after 42 weeks than after 41 weeks. So what I need is a study directly comparing induction at 41 weeks to 42 weeks.

I have only found one such study, from China in April 2006. This study suggests that induction at 41 weeks compared to 42 weeks "is associated with a significantly higher risk of use of medical interventions and associated complications, with no observable benefits." But that's only one study, and there are a few problems with it. In general it seems like there may not be a lot of convincing reasons to be induced at 41 instead of 42 weeks.

Maybe I'll just go into labor before this comes up.

Really nothing to see here

Well, pretty much no progress at all since last week. We scheduled an induction for the morning of the 26th if nothing happens before then. I'll be at 41 weeks at that point. I would have thought that I would want to wait a bit longer than that, but it turns out I don't care that much, probably because I am bored and impatient. At least this way we know my doctor will be on call then. It seems like scheduling an induction means I definitely won't go into labor before then, but that may not technically be true. Aaron finishes work this Saturday, so any time we have together after that will be nice.

I was walking Snuffy around the block when a very loud dump truck filled with a poisonous cloud of asphalt fumes pulled up next to us because the driver wanted to chat about Snuffy. I couldn't really hear him so I didn't know if I was giving appropriate answers to his questions, which I thought might make him go away. After I lifted up my sunglasses as if that would help me hear better he finally left, only to accost us again, sans truck, at the end of the block. What can I say, Snuffy is an attractive guy.

Nothing to see here

Heh heh, I got everyone all excited yesterday (sorry MummyP) and then felt absolutely nothing different the entire day. Or so far today. But I have prompted many phone calls to see if I am in labor (hint: no). Right now I am mostly feeling tired and Hungry Hungry Hippo. So I slowly lumber around the house grazing. I'll post again after my appointment this afternoon.

Beached

Catch-22

I couldn't figure out how to open the diaper pail contraption thingy, but the instructions on how to open it came inside it. Not sure I'm qualified to have a child...Aaron watched me for a while and then asked if I would prefer to break it or have him open it.

Speaking of having a child, I was thinking that it probably wouldn't be until next week, but now I'm rethinking. For the past day and a half I have been having, uh, increased gastrointestinal activity. And yesterday I was pretty nauseous on and off all morning. Hmm, maybe that's also why I announced over the weekend that I was carsick before the car was on. I'm not sure if any of those things actually mean anything, but that and the twinges on Sunday night are the first time I have really felt anything different than normal. The Internet seems to say that nausea etc. mean approaching labor, but at 39 and a half weeks I'm not sure that's news. My next doctor's appointment is Wednesday afternoon.

We were going to go on a fieldtrip to Ikea in Canada today, but then someone told us about a similar local store in Rochester. We found some dining room chairs we really liked. We were hoping to have them for the rush of baby-viewing, but they won't get here for another 4-6 weeks. Anyone who has tried to sit on one of our dining room chairs will appreciate this as a public service, because 3 out of 4 of them require much vigilence to avoid injury during use. At least we got rid of that one that actually had a big hole in the middle of the seat. While we were shopping we were both really tired, and that combined with being sort of skittish to begin with meant that anytime one of the salespeople asked us if we needed help we stared at them, then stared at each other, then one of us would mumble something incoherent and we would scurry away. I guess the salesman was tired too because when we were looking in the beers of the world store next to the furniture store he stopped by "for a pick me up." I didn't have the heart to tell him alcohol is a downer.

I got the cool photo thing on the sidebar working. I only have a few pictures in the flickr account because the free version has a monthy upload limit and I am saving the rest of the bandwidth for baby pictures.

Retraction

Tommy did not actually have polio. Sorry for any confusion. He was in the wheelchair and had the walking stick from when he broke his leg in a bar fight, I mean skiing accident. Sadly, I left the walking stick in Ithaca over the weekend and must now waddle around the neighborhood unassisted. We are going to watch March of the Penguins this week so I can feel solidarity with the waddling penguins.

As you can see from his senior pictures, Tommy has fully recovered into a trustworthy young man whose teeth are bared not at all menacingly. Perhaps you would like to admit him to your college. Or purchase some insurance from him.





On the pregnancy front, I definitely felt more twingey last night than I have yet, but still no real contractions. The fake contractions are bizarre -- they don't hurt at all, and my whole gut curls up into a tight little ball, which makes it look even more like I have a basketball shoved up my shirt.

Aaron's Other New Baby

At least she'll have a few days as an only child.

39 Weeks

Baseline (as of 2:30pm Friday)
dilation: 0cm
effacement: not really at all ("kinda long" was the actual term used)
baby: heartbeat good, head down, trying to escape via kicks to my upper abdomen
me: still fine, my ear is better, thanks for asking

We're in Ithaca for the weekend. (I know! We left town! A sure way to induce labor) I had many offers to rush me to the hospital at the MD/PhD retreat, but it turned out not to be necessary. Last night we were treated to Spa Cuisine by Lisa and Tom™. It was excellent and caused me to eat far more than my pea-sized stomach can hold right now. The theme is making things taste like they were made with heavy cream without actually using heavy cream.

I finally transformed the pile of stuff on the chair in the living room into an actual packed bag, so yes, we are now packed for the hospital. I have been cleaning and organizing the house all summer, so I don't plan on ever having to clean again. That has actually been confusing because I am now faced with the prospect of maintaining the house in a clean state, which hasn't ever happened before and I don't know what to do. I guess I can view it as yet another opportunity to practice my breathing.

As Rod (or Todd) would say, Ow, my freakin ears

Everyone keeps asking me if I am just ready for the pregnancy to be over yet. I don't think I'm to that point yet, since I'm really not that uncomfortable, and um, also in no way mentally prepared for a baby. The main things that are annoying me right now are terrible terrible allergies and a very painful left ear. I can't even sleep on my left side anymore because of it (thanks university health service! I'm also sure it's the earwax). I said I wouldn't whine about baby class anymore, but there's still a whole world of whining to do.

There is a basement apartment down the block from our house with a window right at sidewalk level. Snuffy has been fascinated by something near the window for the last few days. So if you woke up to a giant panting dog head in your face this morning, I apologize.

Childbirth Class: Grand Finale

Aaaah, that was the most boring of them all. I am going to indulge in one more whiny post about childbirth class and then be done with it. At least I got to practice my breathing techniques because it was so painful.

We started out with an activity where all us big fat waddley pregnant women had to sit on the floor. The goal was to arrange about 30 index cards with labor-related words on them, like "mild contractions" and "despair" and "pushing" in the order that we thought things would happen. Then we went through and discussed every single card. Then we discussed them all again because there had been two groups. There were no right or wrong answers, although I don't know how you think you're going to have a vaginal exam before you get to the hospital, you ass.

Then we had a discussion about postnatal issues. Dads! If the laundry is not folded, do not be angered! You must cut the woman some slack now because she has that baby to tend to. And your dinner may not be ready when you get home from work. Aaron says he doesn't need dinner, just a pipe. It has been irritating how much all the men in the class act like, what? pregnancy? labor? that all seems like woman-stuff to me. The instructor gave one of the men a doll to hold through the whole class to practice having a newborn, and he passed it off to his wife or anyone else who would take it at every opportunity.

This morning on the traffic report they announced a delay because of a woman giving birth on the side of the road.

Baby classes in the computer

I did order the baby class software from Amazon, and we did the first couple of classes yesterday. It was definitely nice for us to be able to go through some of the lessons together and to be able to skip the ones we don't need. Although Aaron now wants to know what happens if he needs someone to massage him and tell him to breathe during labor. There are videos of women who recently had babies giving their opinions and advice, which is great except that one of the them is incredibly boring and long-winded, and has a lot to say about what to do in situations that are fairly specific to her. So I guess even the magical computing machine can't save us from the boring.

There is an MD/PhD retreat this weekend and they just told us the dress is business casual. I'm not sure if any of Aaron's t-shirts or the three other outfits that still fit me qualify as business casual. I guess they will be treated to Kate Maternity Casual. They also may be treated to Kate Going Into Labor. Aaron is irritated that his t-shirts still fit me, even the ones that he thinks are too small for him.

My last real life childbirth class is tonight, in which we learn what to do with the actual baby.

Way too many nursery pictures

This is probably boring for anyone who isn't me. The pictures start from the left as you walk in and go clockwise around the room.

This is the bassinet that attaches to the side of our bed:

So despite my compulsion to set the nursery up immediately, we probably won't even use it very much for a while since the baby-storing place isn't in there.

And, most importantly, here is the start of an excellent hat collection:

Thank you so much everyone, for all the generous gifts. This baby will be better dressed than me for sure.

Walking, always walking

I have started using a walking stick, left over from when Young Tom was learning to walk again after his courageous bout with polio.













It really helps me not have to sit down as often, so I am still able to go on long walks around the neighborhood with Snuffy. As with all things, Snuffy quickly developed an adversarial relationship with the stick. I think he's over it now though because I had so much fun jabbing it in his direction to make him jump that he doesn't really react anymore. I like to think it makes me look like Gandalf.

Do you think my obstetrician is trying to drum up business?

Childbirth Class Part III

We started out with a 20-minute guided relaxation. This is not a technique that we are practicing to use during labor, it is just something we did to relax before class started. Since I already feel like the class should be an hour shorter, it did a lot more to make me irritated than to relax me.

Although the nurse who teaches the class is a very nice person, I find her teaching style to be grating and inefficient and I am having trouble learning anything from class. I found some software on amazon that has videos and looks great and got really good reviews, so maybe I'll get that because it sounds like it does a good job with breathing techniques and then Aaron can have some sort of preparation also.

We have pretty much confined Snuffy to the basement until it gets cooler. Aaron too. I feel like I have two pet trolls down there that must occasionally be tossed a lamb or a cow so they don't get restless.

I am having trouble not giggling when the news about Castro is on because they keep saying that he has tranferred power to his brother Raoul, which is awfully similar to the phrase Dave Barry uses whenever he mentions speaking French, "this is the fish of my brother Raoul."

Another appointment

Nothing has really happened at the last five appointments or so except that we have a lot of data on my weight and blood pressure. The important thing is that Aaron still weighs more than I do. I got a card in the mail on Friday saying my appointment for this week had been moved to next week, but when you're going in every week that doesn't work out very well. Which is why we went in again today five days after our last visit. My cervix hasn't even been checked yet because no one thinks it's doing anything. Our next appointment is a week from Friday, when I will just about be at 39 weeks. Aaron has read a lot of three month old parenting magazines, so he is ready to go.

In more important news...we have a Ben & Jerry's! Yay! We tested it out today and it passed inspection. I selected the Sweet Cream and Cookies, while my companion adventurously tried the American Pie, both delicately topped with a smidgen of hot fudge. And I even resisted buying an $18 tie-dyed onesie.

Also, bleh: