On Baby A's birthday, the c-section surgery went as planned. I walked into the OR around 9:30am and was pushed out around 2 hours later. W was instructed to wait outside while the team was getting me prepared for anesthesia. He then got invited to come in and sat next to me while the team worked on getting Baby A out of me 😂. W was a good DJ and Baby A was born while Taylor Swift's Shake It Off was being played. So...did I feel any pain during this life-changing surgery? No, I didn't. I had a spinal block. I never felt any type of pain during the surgery. Getting the anesthesia injected - however - was the most uncomfortable part of the surgery. There was a lot of pressure. I felt my back being pulled or pushed, or something. It just felt very uncomfortable, not painful, but very uncomfortable. It was also hard to try leaning toward the source of that uncomfortableness. Learning to relax while being uncomfortable was a very hard thing to do. But it was necessary. Once it...
The day after our gender reveal bbq, we attended our 3rd online birthing class. This week, the class focused on breathing exercises & relaxing techniques, specifically, what the support person could do for the mom 😊 W did a great job in practicing those relaxing techniques (aka massages) on my calves, back, and shoulders 😄
Week 27 also marked the beginning of a new level of exhaustion for me. I started noticing more shortness of breath even just from walking from one side of the house to the other. Laundry also became a kind of exercise. I've been avoiding having Duke on my lap because we're training him to not jump on me or lie on me (so it can help with nursing and during postpartum recovery). Occasionally, I feel bad when he just stares at me on the floor, and sometimes I still have him on my lap as a special reward. He knows to avoid stepping on my belly and would curl around my lower abdomen and rest his paws & head on the armrest (or a pillow) instead of on me. He's such a good boy.
We also had a growth scan during week 27. Baby was very calm and had her arms up by her face most of the time so we couldn't really see her face, but we saw her heart beating strong and all organs looked fine - that's really the most important part of the scan. The growth scan lasted about 30 minutes. There was a split second where she moved her arms away from her face and our tech seized that moment and printed this picture for us. Not a super clear picture of her face, but it's a cool picture of her haha.
At home, the trio has been hanging out in the "future play room" more often than ever. I think they're liking the extra space for now? There used to be a queen size bed here so it was kinda crowded. Now that we replaced the bed with a loveseat (sofa bed actually), they seem to enjoy having sunbaths here more.
During week 28, we had the 4th online birthing class. This time, the instructor went over the different kinds of medications used during labor and delivery. I already knew I will want an epidural because I have no pain tolerance. After the class, I felt even more strongly about having a medicated delivery 😊
Week 28 also marked the beginning of a new routine - two NSTs and one ultrasound scan every week until delivery. This means I go to the hospital at least twice every week. Sometimes three times a week if I also have a routine prenatal appointment with my ob. NST (non stress test) lasts about 40 minutes each time, and I get checked for fetal heart rate and contractions. The weekly ultrasound scan is also done during NST and is mostly just checking for amniotic fluids and fetal position. I was told the ultrasound scans during NSTs don't measure the size of baby, that's done during growth scans.
One thing with having gestational diabetes is....pasta is very much off the table as it's usually loaded with carbs. Well, so I looked for alternatives. I found....hearts of palm noodles from Whole Foods one day and decided to give it a try. I made lasagna with "hearts of palm lasagne." Can I just say...boy, do I miss eating REAL PASTA 😂 The texture with hearts of palm noodles is just.....not pasta-like.
The gestational diabetes diet is going well. I'm getting the hang of it. No spikes. My personal goal is to have it 100% diet-controlled. So far it's working! Let's keep it this way!
I was thrilled to find that gyozas from the brand "Ajinomoto" was green light for me. Granted, I can't chow down the whole package at once, can only have 6 gyozas at once to keep my carb intake in check so there wouldn't be any spike. I'm just glad my favorite brand for Japanese pot stickers is on my "yes" list for my new diet. Also, this week I got all of my twice-weekly NSTs scheduled out....my hospital's app shows 25 appointments just for ob & NSTs. Kinda crazy.
With the weather warming up (and the constant meowing from Beibei and Lulu), we've been getting more yard time in the afternoon. Lulu loves to chill (or sunbath) on one of the chairs we have outside and Beibei just...likes to chew grass and puke and then sunbath on or under the chair 😂 I don't really enjoy being under the sun for long, but I tend to bring some snacks (usually 1 string chees and 1 drink of something) out and have my snacks and read while I'm out with them. I wonder how chill we'll all be once baby's out haha.
💗 CM
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