This morning we went for the 32-wk appointment with the midwife and took Jonathan with us. He and Dale got to see the two birthing rooms—after all this time, Dale had never gotten to see them, and he was quite impressed. Said they looked like rooms at The Stockyards, which they do. Jonathan wanted to know if we could have a sleepover in them sometime.
The baby had grown quite a bit in the last four weeks, even though I’d put on only 2-1/2 pounds. We had a great experience with my blood pressure, which was up extremely high for me at the start of the appointment due to rushing around, making sure we weren’t holding Joan (the midwife, whom I was meeting for the first time) up, etc., and it was 140 over something. Usually I’m about 100/60; good Sprong genes. My pulse was also racing, I think about 130 or so. So I did some quick relaxation as we’ve been practicing with the self-hypnosis, Dale helped by doing his stuff (gentle touches on certain parts of my face where I like it), and my pulse dropped by 20 beats very quickly. The blood pressure was back to 103 over something by the end of the visit. The midwife was impressed with how quickly I was able to get things under control, which was encouraging to hear. Sometimes people think this self-hypnosis stuff is a bunch of silliness that must have come out of California or somewhere equally kooky; it’s nice to be able to say that the program was actually put together by a college dean from New Hampshire.
Anyway, today I was 32 wks 4 days. NOT LONG NOW!
This evening after dinner, I was still at the table reading the paper, and Jonathan was on the loveseat listening to a new Alison Krauss & Union Station CD that we got today. I asked him what track it was on, and as he got up to go look at the DVD player, he either tripped on his own feet or tripped on the rug and went head-first into the glass doors at the bottom of the electronics shelving. Not at all what one wants to see their son doing! The glass shattered everywhere, but luckily he had just one teeny tiny cut on his right temple, not even a centimeter long, and that’s about it. He was scared more than anything else. Certainly put my heart in my throat! Never again do I wish to see a child of mine flying into a sheet of glass.
Posted by elizabeth at March 25, 2004 11:44 PMPoor little guy! I'm relieved to hear he wasn't seriously injured. I'm sure the noise from the breaking glass was the worst for him. Tell him his Aunt Theresa works where they make that kind of glass. I've broken a few of those lites myself and the way they go from being whole to a million, tiny pieces in just a matter of seconds can by quite scary!
Sounds as if your pregnancy is coming along nicely. I think it is really neat that you and Jenny are pregnant at the same time and live in the same city. I bet the second cousins will become very close growing up together. That is if all of you stay in Austin.
Posted by: Theresa on March 26, 2004 02:05 AMWow! That sounds like quite a leap for little J.
I wonder, does he have any stunt man aspirations?
I'm impressed with the planning that is going into this pregnancy......and with your choice of birthing center. I did one of my papers on midwifery and learned a lot of interesting information - expecially about the medical community and prejudice. You are going to have a wonderful delivery experience!
Posted by: Leah on March 26, 2004 11:20 AMPoor little guy! I can definitely identify with how it feels to be the mother watching their child go through glass. You tipped backward in your chair at the Smiths at about 4 yrs. old and plowed headfirst through their dining area window. Fortunately you were physically unscathed.
Posted by: Cynthia on March 27, 2004 07:19 AMMom, I remember that well--can still feel myself falling backwards from the table. I was lucky too, if I recall correctly, and just got one cut on one of my fingers. I certainly remember you holding me tight on your lap!
Leah, nice to hear your words of encouragement. I have indeed learned a great deal over the last three years or so regarding the recent history of childbirth and hospitals/doctors. For me, I think what captures most of the issues is that doctors are trained to intervene--generally the desired approach--but for the vast majority of women, childbirth is NOT, repeat NOT, something that requires intervention. In this month's issue of Discover magazine, the Vital Signs column is about a woman whose uterus prolapsed (came out of her body) because an intern tugged on the cord to try to get the placenta to expel faster. We had just talked about this in our Hypnobirthing class--we were warned to not let anyone pull on the cord, and one of the teachers (whose doctor had actually tried to do such a thing) said there would be no mistaking the feeling if anyone did attempt it--and it was a strange coincidence to then read that article just two days later.
Posted by: Me on March 27, 2004 08:59 AM