week thirty-eight
BABY
can’t honestly be measured by food products anymore (find me a fruit 19.6 inches long!!). They say he’s about the size of a watermelon (very debatable at almost 20 inches) which I couldn’t find in winter so instead for your viewing pleasure- a large loaf of bread in it’s place!
weighs about 6.8 pounds.
won’t grow in length too much more which means he’s about the size of the little one mom and dad will be holding so soon. Now he's’ just fattening up.
“dropped” into the pelvis and is nice and stuck, in the perfect position to come out as soon as he’s ready.
‘s skull muscles are still not fused together so he can make his journey out.
‘s blood circulation is perfected.
‘s immune system is strong enough to protect him from life outside of the womb.
‘s bum is still pressing quite high on mom’s diaphragm meaning the heartburn continues for mom…
may be just a tiny, tiny bit above average in height and size- like a true Dutchie.
is still getting the hiccups about once a day.
MOM
has been seeing the midwife every week since week 36. Mom and baby continue to be happy and healthy!
was spoiled rotten by her class kids and parents who threw her a baby shower. Then the following Monday another surprise baby shower by her lovely colleagues! And last week, another surprise shower from her friends! Feeling very, very loved and lucky to have so many wonderful people in her life!
is officially on maternity leave as of auntie Auby’s birthday, February 4th. Dad and her spent the first day of maternity leave sleeping in, brunching in the Jordaan, and wandering around Amsterdam on a sunny day.
has days where she is surprisingly energetic and active (staying busy with lots of projects) and others where she is completely wrecked with exhaustion (watching Netflix and HORRIBLE reality TV in PJs all day and taking naps) . Just depends on the day!
is getting more and more tiny, shooting sensations down below with baby’s head putting so much pressure on her pelvic bone. Always a little bit of a surprise!
‘s closet is really starting to shrink. Even the maternity clothes are having to really stretch over her huge belly!
is up using the bathroom every 2 hours throughout the night but somehow still sleeping like a baby and is feeling well rested (thank god for the pregnancy pillow).
is talking way more to baby now that his movements are so often and so purposeful.
is attempting to do yoga and a little prenatal workout or 30 minute walk each day to stay prepared for labor.
is so excited for the birth thanks to a hypnobirthing class, some good books, and learning how the science of her body will work to bring this beautiful baby into the world! So cool!
decided (with dad’s full support) to try giving birth in the birthing center instead of the hospital for a more cozy, natural experience. Though she didn’t write a specific birth plan, knowing she will go with whatever happens and is needed, she did also note she is open to a water birth, as well, something she had never thought of until the hypnobirthing course. We’ll just have to see what happens on the day!
DAD
keeps kissing and talking to the belly. He’s getting so excited!
arranged all of the post-partum gear mom will need for after the birth- bed raisers for the kraamzorg, back rest, shower stool, and more.
built the crib and got some old furniture moved out so the little loft mom and dad love so much is all ready for baby’s big entrance!
had a six day weekend after having to fly to China amidst the Coronavirus panic AND is on stand by for five days starting tomorrow so mom and dad are getting lots of time together in mom’s first maternity days which is nice.
registered for a daycare for when mom decides to go back to work (6+ months from now), settling on the cutest little daycare backing a forest, on the way and biking distance to mom’s work, and only two days a week so he can also have papa days with baby.
was nervous he might miss the birth if he had a flight and baby decided to come early but now he is home from his last layover in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia. He’s off until long after baby is born!
is deep cleaning the entire house! What a guy!
LIFE
Sarah and Johnny are preparing to move in together.
Auby and Zack are looking for a house in Portland to move home.
Stef and Aaron got a new puppy named Henry and Stef got a new job! Yay, Stef!
Grandma and grandpa are staying busy with fun events, working hard, planning a birthday party for great grandma, getting excited to come meet baby in March, and planning a trip to Italy with friends!
Oma, Opa, Anne, Jord, Maaike, and Just are home from winer sport and skiing.
Coronavirus is a big scare, around the world and has made it’s first appearance in Amsterdam.
LESSONS LEARNED
Birth is not like the movies. Doing an online hypnobirthing class was one of the best things I did during my maternity leave. Why? Positive birth stories and science. The coarse took the logical and the positive and put them together to create a picture of my baby’s birth that was both realistic and exciting, instead of scary or painful. It prepared Cas and me for what to scientifically and psychologically expect before, during, and after the birth so that we weren’t going into it completely blind and in fact, actually felt more informed and empowered than we realized we could. I never saw myself having a baby anywhere but in the hospital. I saw myself in a bed like the movies, laying on my back, feet up, screaming, hoping to make it through the pain without medication but fully accepting that I would give in when the time called for it. Other than the moment baby was in my arms, the pain was at the forefront of the foreshadowed experience. After my experience with the class and books, I have completely had a turn around. I want to try and bring this baby into the world in the calmness of a birth center, possibly with a water birth or with gravity on his side- not lying on my back, and with as little intervention, as possible. Of course, with this also comes the mindset that if this doesn’t work out, that is okay, too. The aim is to have the most positive birth, possible, even if that means intervention is needed. This change in mindset did not come from any hippie-like philosophy. It simply came from being more informed about how incredibly cool the women’s body is and exactly how our hormones, muscles, and brain are pre-wired to work together in the journey of labor. Having tools to set all up for success in the process teaches you that it doesn’t have to be as painful as the movies and society have actually led us to believe. I ended up so intrigued by the interconnectedness between my body and the process that I couldn’t put the books down. By the end of them, I wasn’t scared to take a little step forward into the unknown of exploring options I hadn’t considered before. I was totally empowered and actually excited to see how baby would make his grand entrance into the world, prepared for whatever that meant. Curious to know more about hypnobirthing? Read more about it here!
Post-partum prep is important. A few months ago, the post-partum experience was something I didn’t or maybe didn’t want to think about. I imagined the labor being the “hard” moment I needed to prepare for. Then life would just transform into butterflies and roses as I got to snuggle my newborn and husband for six months of maternity leave. When I asked the midwife what I could do to prepare for the “big” moment of labor she just smiled and said, “really it’s more necessary to prepare for AFTER the labor. Your body is already getting itself ready.” I was a little taken aback by this. What did she mean I needed to prepare for after? I bought the baby clothes and stroller, we set up the crib…we were good to go! She advised us to prepare for what we would do in difficult situations once baby was home. How would we get through managing so many visitors, a lack of sleep, not being able to be social? How would we stay a team? She also started talking about the post-partum recovery process and how we could support each other through it. Thinking back, my insurance had sent me a routine box of supplies for the week after labor and a weird feeling of dread fell over me when I saw it was full of pads, mats, liners, and other items labelled in Dutch so my understanding of their purpose was somewhat ambiguous. When Cas ordered the bed raisers and “kit” from the Kraamzorg… it came with a bed pan. My response was, “no one uses a ben pan in this century!” To be honest, I tucked it all away in our bathroom cupboard for IF I needed them, not understanding I WOULD need them. This was a eye-opener for me. The week after the labor might be a bit more eventful than I had been giving it credit for and now we are so much more prepared than if we hadn’t had that conversation with the midwife.