34 Weeks

This past week has consisted of lots of classes to help get Greg and I ready for baby!  Honestly, neither of us have been around newborns much at all, at least not lately.  I can't speak for Greg, but I know I am a bit intimidated.  Of course I used to babysit, and I did care for some newborns then.  But that was around 15 years ago!  And I am not exactly sure that Greg has ever changed a real diaper.  So, some of these classes may have been silly - but since we are first time parents, I would rather take the class now, than have it be 8 weeks from now and wishing we had.  

So, first up was all day Childbirth class on Saturday.  It was full of practical information - not much that I didn't expect.  I think it was a great class for Greg though since he wasn't familiar with a lot of the terms and info.  He is going to drive me crazy with reminding me to take "cleansing breaths" though!

Then Tuesday night was Infant Care class.  It will be interesting to see how we apply our "classroom knowledge" to real life once baby gets here.  I almost felt like an Infant Care dropout!  Neither Greg nor I could get a tight swaddle on our dolls to save our life.  Greg tore the fastener when trying to change our doll's diaper.  And we both kept forgetting to support the neck.  Hopefully it will just come more naturally with a real baby than with the doll!

Finally, Wednesday night was Infant Safety and CPR class.  Again, a lot of practical info.  Hopefully we will never have to apply the CPR or choking techniques to real life!

Also, this week I met with our new pediatrician to learn about the practice, the doctors, and have some of my questions answered.  With only 6 weeks left, I am starting to feel the pressure to get stuff checked off my to-do list!  I think next is getting the hospital bags packed and installing the car seats.  I guess I also need to start washing all the baby bedding and clothes.  Luckily, I don't have too many clothes to wash, just a handful of newborn and 0-3 month size stuff right now.  Since we have stuck to our guns and still don't know the gender, it has made it a little easier for me to resist buying baby clothes.  I will often walk through the stores though and wish I knew.  All the tiny clothes are so precious!

I did have another ultrasound and OB appointment this week too.  Nothing too exciting, just the routine checks and everything is progressing as normal.  The ultrasound was just a quick one to check growth of the nasal glioma.  Again, not much change from 2 weeks ago - so that was good.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures to take home this time since the ultrasound was so brief.  We go back in 2 weeks again, and will get a full growth ultrasound at that point.  So hopefully I will have another estimate on baby's weight and more pictures then.  After that I move to weekly appointments till the end - crazy!


Since I don't have any new baby pics this time, I will leave you with these two snapshots.

Real Louisiana King Cake from Baum's Bakery that arrived yesterday.  This bakery used to be right by our old house - in our minds, no other King Cake could compare.

You have to keep in mind that it came on the FedEx truck, so it may not look the prettiest, but it sure does taste wonderful!

Thanks Shaun for sending us this delicious treat!

So, last week I placed a huge Amazon order to try and finish getting some things for baby.  It has been fun having packages arrive every couple days - almost like Christmas!  When we get something new, I am trying to let the dogs sniff it and see what it does so they are not overwhelmed all at once when baby gets here.  Charlie and Molly are generally curious at first, but then don't really seem to care.  Abby though is a little more cautious and hesitant.  She really didn't like the swing when I turned that on!  It is just her personality though - I am sure she will warm up to baby once she realizes he or she isn't going anywhere!