16 weeks

16 weeks
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

I know; you've already seen this on my main blog. But what the heck.

Actually, I'm 17 weeks now. We took the picture last week.

Now that I have only 5 months left (!!), I feel motivated to get going on preparing for the birth. Or the Big Squeezathon, to make such a momentous thing sound whimsical. I do think of it as an upcoming athletic event for which I need to begin training.

I actually went jogging to the post office today. I didn't force anything, only did what was comfortable, and let myself quit as soon as I felt like it. I was quite surprised to find that I had actually gone a half mile!

We've signed up for the childbirth classes--sent off the deposit today. The class starts May 2 and lasts 12 weeks. There are a lot fewer potential start dates than I would like. I wanted to do one a bit later, like maybe June through August, instead, but had to take what was available.

Now I'm worried because TheLimey is waiting to hear whether he is going to be sent off to New Orleans for three weeks solid. This will screw things up a lot, as we are doing Bradley, which requires him to actually be half the team in the birth.

We're not going to be doing Lamaze, which has been shown to do absolutely nothing for the birthing mother. (As far as pain levels and necessity for various medical interventions.)

Lamaze has, on the other hand, been shown to be helpful for the medical staff, because it keeps the mother quieter, more passive, and generally more convenient for them. Screw that.

Bradley method, now, does show a lot of reduction in the need for pain meds and for other medical interventions. It teaches you what to do with your body when, and lets you listen to your own instincts, go to the bathroom, and move around, and stuff.

But it's not called "husband-coached" childbirth for nothing. He's supposed to actually be doing the coaching and know what's going on, rather than just standing around vaguely comforting you, as he might in Lamaze.

So, not to wish misfortune on his company, but I really hope this job in New Orleans doesn't happen. Missing three whole classes would be bad. This is not the sort of thing where you can cram and catch up and it ultimately won't matter that much how you do on the final.