Week 33... and the elusive Mother/Baby Unit

T-minus 50 days and counting!

I think we're slowly getting ready for the baby to come, but the notion of labor is still freaking out Heidi a bit. Central DuPage Hospital has also thrown an extra wrench into the works. The hospital has been building a brand-spanking-new Mother/Baby unit with PRIVATE ROOMS (trust me, this is a big bonus!). However, depending on how construction progresses and how quickly Crazy Legs decides to come out and see us, we may or may not be able to take advantage of the new unit with PRIVATE ROOMS. Instead, we may have to use the "old unit", which is perfectly fine, if a bit cramped. Also, the old unit doesn't have a waiting area for family and friends, and Dad (that's me, although it's strange to say) won't be able to stay if Heidi and CL have a roommate.



The grand opening of the new M/B Unit is officially October 19th. I'd like to believe this is true, but we've already heard the offical date as October 5th, October 15th, November 1st.... So, really we're pretty clueless and at the mercy of the hospital administrators and construction workers. Cross your fingers for us, if you could. I'd really like to have the people who are trekking out to us (here's a map, or you can search for directions as well) to be able to visit Heidi and CL in her own room as opposed to congregating in the hospital lobby.

Anywho, week 33:

Mother:

You can now probably distinguish the baby's knee from his/her elbow, even though the movements are smaller. You may also notice small bumps that appear to be rhythmic in your uterus. This is probably caused by the baby having hiccoughs and isn't cause for alarm. Continue learning all you can about labor, birth, postpartum, and newborns!

Baby:

Your baby has surfactant, which helps baby breathe after birth, coating the alveoli in the lungs. After this week, if your baby is born, you have less of a chance of apnea of prematurity. S/he weighs about four pounds (1.8 kilograms).

There are almost 2 pints of amniotic fluid in your uterus. You may have been told that you have polyhyrdamnios, or too much amniotic fluid. The opposite of which would be oligohydramnios, often associated with Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR). However, it is important to keep in mind that everyone has varying amounts of amniotic fluid and that simply having too much or too little doesn't not generally indicate a problem.

Wow, the mom sure knows a lot, like telling the knee from the elbow! I'll probably have to wait until after the birth to tell the difference.

We're doing our part in learning all we can about the birth and baby care. Taking classes and reading, I believe, has started to relieve some of the trepidation of the birthing process. And if we just continue to ask questions of the right people, as well as communicate between ourselves, I truly believe that everything will go off without a hitch.

Wow, this baby may make me an optimist yet.