L&D Tour and Maternity photo shoot

It's week 35 and nope, no name hints yet! You all will have to wait until she's born, unless you happen to be around Travis and he blurts it out again. That happened a couple of weeks ago when we were having breakfast with some friends. He was just saying a sentence and where he would normally say "the baby" he said "(the baby's name)". It was TOO funny. Then he had the nerve to say, "I thought it was going to be you who gave it away." Ha! The thing about her name is that we aren't completely sure yet, so we wouldn't want to tell and get everyone thinking it is one thing, then change our minds. We have changed our minds quite a bit during the almost nine months, so there's no telling if we'll change it again. The name we were settled on for about two months was dethroned not too long ago, in fact!

Plus, you're all lucky we gave away the gender! Next time we're going to keep that a secret too. (Look at me talking about next time already!)

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and before the appointment we went to tour the labor & delivery unit, postpartum unit, and the nursery. Our childbirth educator recommended we do that so we will know where to go when the moment comes and also to ask the nurses some questions about procedures, etc. We were pleased with what we found. The l&d rooms are very comfortable, they have a nice big shower, a CD player so we can bring some music, and the nurse there was very nice. I told her about our intentions for a drug-free delivery and she said that it's not common but they do have natural moms. I will have to have an IV inserted (but no drugs put in unless it's an emergency) and have the fetal heartbeat monitored for 20 minutes of every hour. Other than that I am free to move around and labor as I please. For natural moms, I have heard it is imperative to move around - nobody in that much pain wants to be confined to a bed (much less a hospital bed). She told me that I really didn't need to pack too much - that they will have everything the baby or I need. I may decide to bring a nightgown of my own b/c I don't know how comfy it will be to wear a hospital gown for two days (or hopefully just one day). And I'll bring an extra pillow or two.

We then went to the post-partum unit and the rooms there weren't quite as nice. At this point though we won't care about the room because our little girl will be in it with us. Anyway, they are pretty small and the "bed" they have for Travis is inhumane. Luckily he slept on worse in East Timor. It is standard for the baby to be in the room at all times except when she is seeing the pediatrician. They have lactation specialists to help with breastfeeding. It is a very secure unit, in fact the nurse kept referring to it as a 'lock-down' unit, like a prison. I prefer it that way!

The doctor's appointment went well, too. We actually saw the nurse practitioner this time, and we really like her. She said the baby's head is 'way down' which is GREAT because at this point she is not likely to flip and be in breech position. Everything is going as it should be.

I'm still doing yoga and I just started swimming in the apartment pool. It is SO hot here all day so I wasn't really able to comfortably walk for exercise anymore. Swimming is so nice - I wish I had been doing it all along. It makes me feel weightless, which with the 30 extra pounds I'm carrying these days, feels quite nice.

Finally, we had our maternity photo shoot today. We are an exhausted pair (I guess trio) of models as a result. It was about two hours long and part of it was outside (again - HOT!). It was really fun though and the photographer was great. We were part of a promotional deal she is running for maternity/newborn shots so we got a great deal and we will be used in her portfolio. Her website is imagesbyamy.blogspot.com, and she will have a 'sneak peek' of our session posted in about a week. Then, for the grandmas reading this, photos will be available for purchase shorty after (although you may want to wait for the newborn pics - they'll be cuter than my pregnant belly).

That's it for now - I'm off to eat Oreos!