Eluned G. Sharron Bethea » September 2007 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Mon, Sep 24, 2007 5:00 PM
This morning I did the screening test for gestational diabetes. It's really not that bad. If the screening comes back positive, I'll have to go back for the full 3-hour gestational diabetes test. I'm not too worried about that -- I don't have any of the risk factors for gestational diabetes -- but I'll find out the results on Weds.

I also had a quick check-up with Dr. Sikking. She had to chase the baby around my abdomen to get a reading on her heartbeat -- she'd get the heartbeat for a few seconds and then the baby would move. This went on for a couple of minutes, until Dr. Sikking was satisfied.

And we got homework:

1. We need to decide if we're going to save the cord blood. I already looked in to the public banks, but they don't work with the Dr. Sikking's hospital.

2. I have reservations for all of the prep classes (Childbirth, Breastfeeding, Infant Care and Infant CPR), and now I'm just completing the registration steps, so we're almost done with this one.

3. We have to pre-register with Dr. Sikking's hospital, St. John's. I already signed us up for a tour of the hospital on Oct. 15th, and Dr. Sikking gave us the registration paperwork a long time ago, so all we have to do is finish the paperwork and bring it with us.

4. We have to find a pediatrician with privileges at St. John's. Will and I want a pediatrician near our home in Reseda, so this one might be a little tricky. Dr. Sikking said we could find a pediatrician who has a relationship with another doctor who can see the baby in the hospital, but our pediatrician has to at least have that back-up.

Comments:
Nana: There is a family history of babies who won't stay still so that the doctor can hear the hearbeat. I'm pretty sure your cousin, Jon, exhibited this behavior. I know that your sister, Rachel, did. When I was in labor with her, they had to keep moving the monitor, because they were losing the heartbeat. Should have given me a clue that she would be an active child! So get out your running shoes - Missy Bethea is probably going to be a busy girl!

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Sat, Sep 22, 2007 5:00 PM
Last week we took the baby to her first Hollywood Bowl concert, "From the Old World to the New: Smetana, Dvorak and Copland." I've loved Smetana's "The Moldau" for years. We both really like Copland, and while we'd heard parts of the symphony many times (it's one of those they like to sample for news and political TV), this was the first time we'd heard the symphony performed in its entirety. The Dvorak cello concerto was new to both of us, and while it was a great piece and the featured cellist was amazing, it was also long, and we both had a little trouble staying focused. The baby was pretty active all evening; the books say she should have been able to hear the music.

Will packed us a picnic lunch, which we supplemented with Bristol Farm's roasted vegetable salad and mini fruit and cheese tray. During intermission, after the cello piece, Will went to get some coffee and came back with a brownie too.

As a kid, I used to spend summers with my grandparents in upstate New York. As I got older, each summer my paternal grandmother would take me to at least one concert or performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. She did try to pick the more kid-friendly shows -- we saw a lot of new ballet -- but I also understood that there was more to these evenings than just what a 10-year-old might find entertaining.

The first time Will and I went to the Hollywood Bowl last year, all of those summers came right back and I reconnected with my grandmother in a way I hadn't in years. (She passed away many years ago, and she was sick for a long time before that.) That first concert, it was like my grandparents were there with us.

Will and I may be the sort of people who would take our daughter to the Hollywood Bowl anyway. But now I think I really understand what my grandmother was trying to impart, and so it is as important to me to take our daughter to performances like these, as it was to my grandmother to take me.

Comments:
Ginny: Those are very nice thoughts and memories of your grandmother, Kate. I'm glad you and William enjoyed the concert. Aunt Ginny

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Sat, Sep 15, 2007 3:00 PM
Ok, is this what y'all meant by "craving"? For lunch today, I had to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk, preferably with potato chips. No other food held any interest for me at all. This necessitated a trip to the store. Will was pretty cheerful about the whole thing.

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Wed, Sep 12, 2007 7:00 PM
After a brief respite, I'm back to being hungry nearly all of the time. And now I can't eat quite as much as I could before I was pregnant, which of course means I get hungry again sooner. Will packs me a bag of snacks every morning.

I'm also waking up hungry in the middle of the night more and more. Happily, instead of waking up at 4 a.m., I'm starting to wake up around the time Will comes to bed. So I just dispatch him for a quick snack.

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Sun, Sep 9, 2007 4:00 PM
Today I finally saw the value of "full service."

I needed new black shoes. My old heels are just getting too uncomfortable. I had picked up a pair of wedge sandals, which have turned out to be a good compromise between the kind of shoes I like (heels) and the support I need now, so I set out to find a similar pair in black.

I started where I get all my shoes -- in one of those self-service stores where you hunt for a pair that you like, then dig around through all the boxes trying to find two of them in your size. And all the ones I liked were cinched together so I could barely stand up in them, much less walk around. Even with Will's help, I gave up on the idea of finding new shoes that way almost immediately.

We set off for a "real" shoe store. It took a couple stores, but each time I'd go in, sit down and wait for a salesperson. When one approached me, I'd tell her what I was looking for and what sizes I might wear (my feet are growing a little). She'd go dig around through boxes and bring back whatever they had.

It worked: I got a pair of Nine West shoes on sale. And all I had to do was sit down and describe what I wanted -- no pacing the aisles, getting down (and back up again) to see what's on the lowest shelves, digging through boxes and carrying them around myself, etc.

I'm sure I'll go back to self-service when the baby's a little older, but for today, full-service was perfect.

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Sat, Sep 8, 2007 11:00 AM
The oddest sensation I've felt so far is a simultaneous kick underneath both hip bones. Since she only does this when I'm lying on my side, I can't help but think she's trying to stand up in there.

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Wed, Sep 5, 2007 7:00 PM
So, the day of our 20-week ultrasound I brought the DVD in with me to work. (Yes, there's a DVD. No, I can't post it here. It's huge.) We have a TV in the common area, so we played the DVD there. One of the guys, walking by and seeing the fuzzy black-and-white image, asked, "What's that?" And I replied, without really thinking about it, "That's my daughter."

And it hit me almost immediately. That's our daughter.

Will and I have spent so long -- years -- in pursuit of "baby." "Baby" has become this almost mythical creature, always just out of reach, unreal even: a mirage, a grail, a fata morgana.

"Daughter" is something else. "Daughter" is real; she's a person. She's part of our lives (for how long? doesn't really matter right now). I can start to think about a future with our daughter.

Comments:
Melissa: Watching that dvd was soooo cool. I was so excited to see the little peanut. She is such a miracle and I have no doubt you guys will be great parents.

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Sat, Sep 1, 2007 6:00 PM
Will felt the baby kick for the first time this morning.

We had our 20-week ultrasound right before we left for Portland, and both the technician and the doctor said everything looked good. The doctor said the only thing that concerned him was me -- I have another cyst on my ovary that just won't go away, but he said we didn't need to do anything about it until after the baby's born.

The 20-week or anatomy ultrasound is amazing. You can see so much -- even count fingers and toes. And sex, of course; both the technician and the doctor agree with Dr. Sikking that we're having a girl. The technician spends a lot of time going over the important parts in detail, including the spine and the heart, and she takes a lot of measurements.

I saw Dr. Sikking again yesterday, and she had the complete report but hadn't read it in detail yet. I trust that, if there was anything that needed her attention, she would have.

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