hippies birthing, pseudo-preggo and poster children, oh my!

30 weeks down, 10 to go. I can’t believe how quickly the weeks are flying by--as demonstrated by my lack of a blog posting in two weeks--my bad!

We are well into our childbirth classes at this point, and they have been interesting to say the least. Our instructor is a tad on the aggressive side, but she means well. I think. I also think if I hear her say the phrase “along those lines” one more time, I may pop her in her curly-haired little head! We survived watching the infamous childbirth video…barely. Tell me why it is necessary to film hippies from Colorado giving birth while fully nude? I mean, really! I certainly am not going to volunteer Harper’s birth for the updated version of this video, but surely next time they can find some normal laboring ladies dressed in a simple hospital gown!

During last night’s class, we toured the labor, delivery and recovery area at Hillcrest, as well as the nursery. A new little baby boy was in the nursery being prepped before he headed back to his mom… ahhhhh, he was so tiny (6 lbs—Jeff knocked on the window and asked the nurse) and so cute! He was quietly minding his own business until the nurse pulled his arms from his body to put on his shirt. He did not like that feeling one bit! He definitely preferred to have his arms tucked in close, and he was going to make sure you knew it!

At the end of our tour, we headed back to the classroom for one last exercise. Our instructor whipped out this pregnancy bodysuit complete with weighted breasts and belly! It looked absurd! She said that each of the “partners” (have to be politically correct, you know) would have to put on the preggo-suit in an attempt to truly have empathy for the women carrying around the cumbersome weight for nine months. Knowing that none of the guys would ever volunteer, I told her Jeff would go first. Seeing as how we (I say “we,” but mainly I mean Jeff) are regarded as the class clowns, I figured Jeff would be able to break the ice for the other four guys. (Oops, partners!)

I really almost peed my pants as the instructor strapped Jeff into this 32-pound pseudo-pregnancy contraption topped off with an uber ugly denim maternity shirt. Really. I nearly keeled over with laughter. Jeff had to lay down on the floor, and the instructor proceeded to kick him in the stomach! (I don’t think Harper kicks quite that hard, and I’m glad she does not have shoes on either!) Then, he had to roll over on each side and get back on his feet. I wish I had thought to video this activity with my digi cam…it was really that entertaining, I promise! Check out two pictures of preggo Jeff. The second picture features his “labor face.” Oh, how I laugh!

The one nice thing about childbirth class is our new tradition post-class. Baskin-Robbins, woo hoo! We have two more installments of childbirth class, an infant care class and an infant CPR class, which means I should expect ice cream on at least four more occasions!

Thought y’all might also enjoy an updated belly progression photo. There is no telling how or where that belly is going to expand over the next two months, but we’ll just have to wait and see!

At my 30 week appointment this week, I asked my doctor if we could expect to have any other ultrasounds done between now and d-day. He pretty much said no because I haven’t given him cause to believe another ultrasound would be medically necessary (in other words, insurance would not likely cover it if it were not justified). Much to my delight, he then said we were more than welcome to have an elective 3D/4D ultrasound done at the hospital. Of course, I jumped at the chance! We called over to Hillcrest and set up that appointment for next Wednesday. We could not be more excited to see Harper’s little face again! I will definitely post pictures (and maybe the video) of the latest baby sighting following our appointment.

Oh, and did I mention that Dr. Koeritz called me the "poster child for normal pregnancy?" I almost laughed when he said that! I mean, this has been a very uneventful (in a good way) and easy pregnancy thus far, but the word "normal" has never been one used to describe ANYTHING in my life. Ah well, I'll wait for my posters to come off the press before I really take it to heart. ;)

That is all - carry on!