It’s OFFICIAL, Rachel is 38 weeks pregnant today, which means, exactly 2 weeks from today is Lucy’s “due date.” We are TOTALLY ready for her arrival and anxiously await our little princess. This past weekend, we did last minute preparations such as assembling her crib, getting the rocking chair and glider in their respective places, and we even belted her car seat into the Jeep. All this… and… we still haven’t even packed our bag for the hospital yet! We spent much of yesterday afternoon writing “thank you” notes from our many showers and complaining about the heat + humidity- we resolved that issue by retreating to our back deck for dinner and then installing our fans WAY earlier than we have in years past. Both, Rachel and I are TOTALLY ready for Lucy to be born- she (Rachel) is, at this point, uncomfortably pregnant… and I… well, I don’t have such a good excuse, I’m just being selfish and want her here because I hate waiting!!!!
Not only has Lucy been on the move almost continuously for the past few weeks, but Rachel’s contractions have increased significantly over the past week. Her belly becomes torpedo shaped during contractions & you can visibly see the belly shifting & Lucy's movements are quite apparent! As Lucy actually prepares for the birthing process, “What to Expect” states that she is shedding Vernix (white cheesy substance that covers and protects the skin) and lanugo (downy hair on the body of the fetus) from her body into the amniotic fluid. Additionally, her lungs continue to mature as more and more surfactant (fluid secreted by the cells of the alveoli [the tiny air sacs in the lungs] that serves to reduce the surface tension of pulmonary fluids; surfactant contributes to the elastic properties of pulmonary tissue). A neat little fact that I learned from another website (The Visible Embryo) explains how the skull is not fully solid at this point because the five bony plates, known as fontanels (little fountains), are still separate and are most commonly pushed together during the birthing process. I’ve heard stories about babies being born with “cone heads” and this now explains that theory because apparently, the birth may mold and elongate the fetal head which is a safety precaution to reduce the skull's diameter for an easier birth, without damaging the fetal brain. After delivery, the baby's head returns to a rounded shape. Lucy doesn’t have tear ducts yet because they appear a few weeks after birth. I remember when we babysat for my niece, Laylah, when she was less than 8 weeks old, and I commented to Rachel that she (Laylah) had a “pot belly.” Well, again today, I learned that there is a reason… the fetal abdomen is large and round because the liver is producing red blood cells and working overtime.
As for our life outside of the home, we both busily prepare our workspace nightly in case we do not return the next day due to Lucy’s unexpected arrival. This week has been insanely chaotic for me (pardon the choice of words because I do work at a psychiatric hospital), but I’m preparing three discharges, one transfer, and a possible admission later in the week while also trying to get all caught up on my progress notes and treatment plans. Additionally, I didn’t mention that I was recently promoted to a social work supervisor position, and will most likely to begin in June officially, but am working with the clinical nurse manager behind the scenes on interviews and resumes/ staffing issues. Lastly, I should mention Rachel and her quest to accomplish all of her work prior to maternity leave; she intends on not returning to work until August 3rd, 2009.
We’ll blog as soon as possible when Lucy is born- possibly with some assistance from our good-friend Kim. Hope you all are enjoying your spring & we look forward to talking to you soon!
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