The shuttle has been moved to the launch pad! We are T-minus 27 days
and counting... All systems are go as we begin our count-down for
our scheduled October 15th lift-off.
With less than 30 days to go we have reached yet another milestone.
As Elena
and I drove to Costco this weekend to pick up some supplies, Elena
mentioned that this would
be our last Costco trip alone. "The next time we go to Costco
Emma will be here.", she said. It puts things into perspective
when you think of it that way. We will be commemorating a lot of "lasts" in
the next few weeks, and shortly thereafter will be celebrating a
lot of "firsts".
This week I completed my FMLA paperwork (That's Family
Medical Leave Act for
those of you who may have missed my previous post) so
I am good to go when Emma gets here. I also have the forms
needed
to
get
Emma
on
my insurance.
I have 30 days to submit them once she is born.
Elena and I attended our second Lamaze class this week. We learned
more about the birthing process and were given some perspective as
to how long the process takes.
Once labor begins, contractions will start to dilate the cervix.
The average time it takes is listed
in the table below.
Dilation (cm) |
Duration (hours) |
0-3 |
8 |
4-7 |
5 |
8-10 |
2 |
This table gives us
a good indication that we are in for a long night once labor
begins.
We also watched a video
of a woman giving birth. Needless to say, I will
not be
standing near the business end of things when Emma is born. I
need to remain conscious if I am to be of any use to Elena.
But seriously, it was interesting to get a heads-up as to what
to expect, so we don't come into this thing cold and clueless.
We also met with Elena's OBGYN this Friday. We will be seeing
her every Friday now until Emma is born for regular internal
exams. Don't mean to get too graphic but this is a baby web site
after all. As of this Friday there has been no dilation (which
is probably a good thing as Emma needs a little more cooking
time). They will be checking for effacement (the thinning of
the cervix which occurs when the baby has engaged the pelvis)
and dilation.
The Dr. also performed a Group
B strep screening. We should have
the results next week.
If you haven't submitted
your guess for Emma's Birthday and birth weight, make sure you
get them in. It doesn't count if you guess after she is born. |
