8 weeks or so to go...!

Hi everyone! My apologies to those who were disappointed by the lack of a Rookie report last week. We spent two evenings up in Baltimore seeing the Red Sox play (1-1 and no, not the Rookie's first games) and between that, childbirth classes (see below) and my usual nightime conference call schedule, I just never got a chance to send out an update. But, given that we are about two months away, I figure I shouldn't let multiple weeks go by without a report, and that short and sweet is better than nothing at all.

For those trying to figure out our pregnancy and chilbirth class schedule, we agree that it can be very confusing! :) At our birth center, the pregnancy group sessions are biweekly, every other Thur from 2-4, which includes an appointment with the midwife. That started in July, includes 5-8 folks (plus some partners) all due in October, including last (and therefore not this) week. I had missed one for Annie O's wedding so it had been a month since I had an appointment. A little sad to discover I gained 6 lbs in that period... which means I am def on pace for 35 lbs or so weight gain (if not more if that trend of 1+ lbs/week continues)-- on the high end of the normal range. I should say it's tough for me to know how much weight I've gained since I normally weigh myself just a few times per year-- so I don't know exactly where I started (and am trying to not worry about it as long as I feel healthy, which I do).
And, two weeks ago we started weekly Thursday evening prenatal yoga (5-6 pm) + childbirth classes (6-8 pm) through the DC Healthy Babies Project. We have childbirth class 3 of 4 this Thur, on breastfeeding and SIDS (plus maybe babycare generally). So far, we've covered stages of labor/birth and last week covered complications and meds. I am pretty sure I'll try to continue prenatal yoga til I have the Rookie, and trying to do at home. The instructor for the childbirth class is a childbirth educator and doula (done 50+ births) who also teaches Bradley Method. Her candid advice was that, if we read up on some of the techniques in Bradley and make a point to practice (mentally and physically), plus have a supportive setting (with doula and midwife-model of care), we should save the money on the classes (we'd contemplated it but were turned off by the 12-week commitment and costs).

We'll also take some sort of Infant/Child CPR (perhaps combined with baby first aid or babycare generally) and breastfeeding class through the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington. I've also heard great things about their group support sessions for new parents and will plan to take advantage of those.

I spent some time today (Congress is still away, so things are a bit quieter) researching pediatricians. There are some great resources, though a bit overwhelming, at DC Urban Moms & Dads. I'm on their email lists too but hadn't trolled through their online forums thoroughly until today. We'll try to choose a doc near our apartment or at least downtown (meaning, about a 20-30 min walk away).

Overall, I feel good and Chris and I are feeling very happy to be awaiting our arrival. With Kate's help, yesterday we started (well, we'd made a little headway on this but not much to speak of) going through stuff and figuring out how we will re-organize to fit us plus baby and baby stuff in our apartment. It will be a challenge but at least seems somewhat doable now. I'm overwhelmed with all the decisions to make, and logistics to handle, in the coming weeks but figure we'll somehow get it figured out. I've also started using our registry as a place to "park" my random thoughts of stuff we will/might need, as much for myself as for anyone. I can't imagine this adventure without the internet (but feel daunted by the amount of information and options out there).

That's the news here. In addition to baby prep stuff, we've still been seeing great friends and having fun-- the two Sox games last week, dinner yesterday with Amanda, Aleck and Stacey, some pickup frisbee on Saturday (where I actually played, just walking or lightly jogging, for close to two hours-- and felt great; it was great that my teammates were willing to pick up my mark when I couldn't stay wiht her and everyone made sure not to run into me, which enabled at least one extra point on our part), Jazz in the Sculpture Garden, the King of Kong (a fabulous documentary) on our buddy Jim's rooftop the week before, etc. Figure we should live it up and see lots of our friends now, since our schedule will be so different soon!

Lots of love to you all, family and friends. The Rookie has been kicking mightily the whole time I've typed, so he's passing on his regards as well. He's getting big-- I bet over 4 lbs at this point (given the general guesses in the email below), but kicking like a 400 pounder at times. Time to distract him with a walk...

xoxoxo Rookie vessel