30 weeks

I made it to 30 weeks on Tuesday.  Now is the point that I've heard that you can breathe a sigh of relief. That is, if I could breathe! I've been getting more and more out of breath lately. I guess she's pushing my lungs up or back or something! Babies born at 30 weeks generally have a pretty good prognosis. I think the survival rate is somewhere around 95%. The next big milestone is 34 weeks, which I've heard has the same survival rates as a baby born full term. Those babies usually don't have any long-term complications either. So...here I am struggling to breathe that sigh of relief! Ah!

I had my regular doctor's appointment yesterday, which was at 30 weeks and 2 days. Bridgette is doing great! I figured she was probably doing just fine. She wiggles, kicks, jabs and stretches all the time. Each time I feel and see her move around, I wonder what she looks like in there! 

I had gained 2.4 pounds since my appointment 2.5 weeks ago, so that's about right. I am up 19.2 pounds total. I've never been this close to 150 pounds before, and the next time I am there, I will be over that amount! Yikes! I know that the recommended pregnancy weight gain is 25-35 pounds for someone of a normal weight at the beginning. If you're underweight, you're encouraged to gain more. If you're overweight, you're encouraged to gain less.  That means I am still on target. I've got about 9.5 weeks to go until my due date. I am still hoping to finish under the +35 pounds total, but it has become clear to me that if I make it to term, I am not going to be one of those women who only gained 25 pounds! My blood pressure was 120/60. Baby's heart rate was 147. I measured closer to where I should be during this appointment. Instead of two weeks ahead, I only measured one week ahead at 31 cm.

Chris and I are going to The Medical Center's Prepared Childbirth Class tomorrow morning. We're taking the abbreviated, one-day Saturday class because there were no more 5-week, one hour long classes available before my due date. I guess I should have started registering for these classes before my third trimester if I wanted to take the 5-week class. The abbreviated class is four hours long. It's also only offered one other time before my due date, and I already have a baby shower scheduled for that day. So, this is it! There are a few extra classes offered through the hospital that we'll try to take advantage of in the next couple of months. One is at the end of April. The other three are in May. These are all on special topics and are much shorter! Being in the abbreviated childbirth class means you miss some parts, so we're going to try to make it to some of those extra classes to catch that instruction, get a proper tour of labor and delivery, and get all the registration paperwork done in advance! I am excited about taking these free classes! Chris is not excited, but he's a supportive, caring husband. What a trooper!