I was going to write an update yesterday detailing the wonderful checkup and hospital tour we had on Thursday, but the weather thought otherwise - we had a pressure front come through (yes, I know this is not really news considering half the East Coast is under snow and the rest of us are concerned about flooding) and it played havoc with my sinuses. I spent most of the day on the couch with hot compresses on my forehead, wishing I could pound my head against the wall to make it feel better... but I didn't have the energy.
Today I'm feeling lots better, though! And for the most part, I'm feeling pretty good otherwise - meaning, pregnancy-wise. I'm tired a lot but I don't have any swelling; I get some pelvic pain but my back feels pretty good mostly. I've been very careful with my posture so that really helps. The only thing that really makes me miserable is the acid reflux, and that's more a matter of getting the timing down with the Pepcid AC, and learning to eat smaller meals more often (and not so late at night). I'm not waddling yet!
On Thursday, we met our 4th of five OBs that comprise our practice, and she is just as great as the others. She told me my glucose test results were great, but that my anemia is back - a good excuse for more steak, I say. We're measuring right on track and his heart beat is strong and steady.
We also had our hospital tour that night! It was a lot of fun. Ivan bonded with another dad when the guy admired his "geek" T-shirt... said he had the same one. Later, when the nurse mentioned that every labor room is equipped with Wi-fi and that an enterprising dad had actually hooked up a Wii, their eyes met in conspiratorial fashion.
I'm pretty happy with the facility; there's a NICU, they have privileges at Scottish Rite and Eggleston (our two top children's hospitals in Atlanta), and there are antepartum rooms if your baby has to stay longer than you do. The birthing beds configure every which way you could possibly want, so I don't have to worry about trying to give birth flat on my back. The mother-baby rooms are all singles, so no rooming in with other moms, and there's a couch for dad (even though it looks incredibly uncomfortable). They support nursing immediately after birth, and dads are always encouraged to go with their baby when he needs to head to the nursery for cleaning, vitamin K, and the hep B vaccine. The tour guide nurse clued the dads in to the wealth of delivery menus at the nurses' station and let us know that coolers were allowed in the rooms. Score! No boring hospital food for us! Or... if I go on a last minute shopping spree, and we do get hungry, my meals are free, and his are $3, so at least we'll be able to afford to eat.
Not that I'll do that...
Our hospital uses baby alarms - also called, by the irreverent, Baby Lo-Jack, which is a security device that will sound an alarm when a baby gets within 3 feet of the elevator. If the baby continues toward the exits, everything locks down - and they mean everything. Nurses' badges do not work; the police are the only people able to move about freely.
Ivan had the idea of walking just close enough to the elevators to get Ivan Jr's alarm to beep, and then racing over to the nurses' station and saying, "My baby's beeping, I think his batteries are getting low..."
Yeah, I think it's going to be a long 24-48 hours for our nurses.
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