» diaphragm my-speck

Hiccups. Again. Its one of the strangest feelings I’ve ever felt. And Antenatal Classes Mark #5. May 1, 2009

Filed under: baby stuff,baby's feelings,birthing,development stages,healthcare,pregnancy — rakster @ 6:20 pm
Tags: antenatal, antenatal classes, baby, baby hiccups, birthing, birthing video, breastfeeding, c-section, caesar, caesarean section, diaphragm, epidural, hiccups, hiccups in uterus, week 32

Hello Little Spectacle,

How are things going with you? All well with me. You’re awake and down there hiccupping again. It must be that time of day. Its one of the strangest things I’ve ever felt. Apparently it could be you practicing breathing by exercising your diaphragm. You started it last week. And have continued almost daily since then. There is a sort of popping kinda feeling down in my uterus. It almost feels as though there is a membrane in there somewhere going in and out. A bit like the silver top from an old-fashioned bottle of milk coming off. Repeatedly. Inside me. So, yeah, a bit weird and freaky. But also, now that I’m used to it, comforting in some strange way.

Antenatal classes continued last night. Your dad wasn’t keen to go, pramway construction having reached an impasse for the day – a few little niggly mistakes in the pramway causing a bit of back-tracking had put him in a particularly foul mood. However your craving for potato-gems for dinner (all you, not me at all) I think helped lift his spirits, as did the fact that his planned dentist visit wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be. Thus, belly-full of fried, baked and rolled-in-sour-cream oily potato goodness (with some coleslaw thrown in for good measure), we trundled off to the hospital to meet with our friends the midwife and other pregnoid couples. Its a bit strange but I’m going to miss it a bit when it finishes, six weeks of jokes and disbelief and panic with other couples really does bring you together slightly. Its been really odd observing them too, and seeing how they interact as couples, what they are looking forward to, scared of, all those things. There are a mix of people of different ages and backgrounds, but all are excited and keen and its lovely to see that too.

Last night was Caesarean Sections and Breastfeeding. Relatively depressing really. It was all very serious. Your dad went green watching the Caesarean Section video, while I coped apart from the part when they showed the epidural going in. The cutting through the stomach tissue & then the breaking of the uterine sack was actually pretty cool. The uterine sack thing was really white and of course all the waters started just squirting out everywhere when they put the scalpel through it slightly. Watching a white and purple head emerge from a big cut was a bit surreal. That really freaked your dad out while I thought that bit was kinda cool. The little baby they pulled out was very purple but quickly started to breathe and got some colour. And cried. It wasn’t very happy!

I don’t really want a caesarean, I guess no-one really does want any surgery if they don’t have to have it. I think I’d find it really weird being awake through it – and it takes so long and there are so many people in the room. I think to some extent I’d rather be able to see it than just see a big blue sheet with lots of doctors and nurses and midwives moving around behind it. Another thing that you really don’t know how you’d cope with until it happens.

Breastfeeding is a bit the same. Yep, they are pretty pro-breastfeeding at the hospital, which is good, but really, how much can you learn in an antenatal class??? I found it a bit ho-hum, as I’ve read a bit about it before and generally think its one of those things that is going to be hard to take in until you try it yourself. Chatting with your dad on the way home though, he said he found it really informative and useful. So we got something out of it. Oh, I guess the bit I got was that if you do use bottles / express or whatever, there is no need for any sterilisation palava as long as you wash it. Your milk, your baby, your bottles and knick-knacks, no sterilisation required. Awesome. That helps.

Today I took a lunch break and went down to West End and had a massage. My back has been pretty sore and sitting at my desk all day tap-tap-tapping doesn’t help. It was lovely. I lay there for 15 minutes afterwards and relaxed, then gave you a massage of your own, as you’d woken up. You seemed to enjoy your massage too and went back to sleep. Its my way of getting you used to my touch before you come out.