A baby story: Week 28

Week 28: Baby’s the size of a Chinese cabbage!

“The size of a Chinese cabbage”??  So random…but not as random as the rutabaga that another one of those pregnancy sites says she’s as big as.  Here’s a picture of a Chinese cabbage if you’re like me and have no real clue as to how big that is…

The most fun and exciting thing we’ve done this week was the Labor & Delivery Tour at the Kaiser hospital in Oakland where we’re going to meet Sirena in just a little over two month’s time!  The tour was pretty surreal to me until we set foot into an actual delivery room…just imaging myself with Kevin and the doula/nurse/doctor there, going through all the excitement and intensity that I’m sure labor/delivery is going to be made it that much more real to me.  After having our questions answered and speaking with the tour guide (who actually taught our Early Pregnancy Class way back in October and had been a doula for many years), we are that much more confident in our decision to have Sirena in Oakland instead of trying to go to another Kaiser hospital in the Bay Area.

Luckily I was allowed to take some photos during the tour so you can pretend you were right there with us!

The hospital’s main lobby

Labor & Delivery/NICU (all on the same floor so if any serious problems were to come up she wouldn’t have to be taken too far, and of course Kevin would go right along with her).

The secured entrance/exit for the Labor & Delivery ward.  We learned that all babies have bracelets that will sound an alarm if they get too close to the door and it will immediately lock-down the entire floor and the elevators–apparently other hospitals have had issues with missing babies?!  Crazy.  Luckily Kaiser Oakland has zero history of this.

One example of the adorable mural art throughout the L & D ward–all these cute little babies popping out of flowers, so cute!

One L & D room where the magic happens!  This is actually the smallest of all of their L & D rooms.

The newborn tray all set up with an itty bitty diaper and an itty bitty hat…I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this!

We learned that it is standard protocol for the baby to be placed immediately on the mom’s chest for mom/baby bonding and I was so happy to hear that.  We also learned that Kaiser expects parents to submit a birth plan (something we were already planning on doing, we were surprised that all parents were expected to do this) and it was confirmed that the docs at Kaiser Oakland stick to the birth plan as closely as possible (something we had heard and it was great to hear another confirmation of this).  It was also confirmed that, as long as Sirena doesn’t have any major health issues, she will never leave our room.  We’ll stay in the L & D room for a couple of hours after she’s born and then move on to the postpartum room for 24-48 hours for a natural birth and up to 4 days for a c-section.

The postpartum room.  Although all have two beds the tour guide says that it is extremely rare for there to be two patients sharing a room so it will most likely be private for us.  And again, Sirena will not leave our side.

The breezeway outside of the postpartum rooms to enjoy some sunshine during our stay.

The view of the Oakland hills outside of the breezeway window…not a bad view I’d say!

The white board where the nurses will keep track of our progress before sending us on our merry way home with our little bundle of joy.

Going on this tour was very exciting for us and I still can’t believe that in around 2.5 months we’re going to be parents!!

Belly shots!

She’s grown quite a bit this week!

Oh yeah, did you notice my haircut?

Thought I’d give a view of the basketball I’ve been growing these past 7 months…

Other pregnancy updates

• Total weight gained so far: 8.5 pounds
• Fun baby developments this week:  She weighs about 2.5 pounds and is around 14 inches long, her lungs are mature enough that she’d probably survive outside the womb if she was born now (let’s just hope she sits tight for the next 8-12 weeks though!), and she’s plumping up a bit, getting just a wee bit closer to that chubby little baby we’re so excited to meet.
• How I’m physically feeling:  The back pain has taken it up a notch this week and I’ve been finding it more and more difficult to stand or sit for long periods of time and even have a hard time getting up and out of chairs.  I’m really trying to focus on my deep-breathing and back exercises to make the pain more manageable.
• Number of days until Brianne & Brian come up for a visit: Two! Those two knuckleheads will be coming up for a quick weekend trip before the little miss arrives and we can’t wait!