Week 32 Appointment & Childbirth Preparation Class #3

Had a busy evening today. I saw Dr. Markoff at 4:30. He actually took me pretty close to on time - around 4:50 or so. But the baby was not cooperating. The doctor couldn't find the heartbeat. Luckily I could feel the baby moving, so I wasn't too concerned. After trying for several minutes and even trying another doppler, he decided he'd just do an ultrasound to see the position and heart and everything.

Unfortunately one of the other doctors was using the ultrasound machine at the time, so he left me for awhile to see another patient while we waited for the machine. No big deal, I stayed there on the table with the gel on my belly and read a book. About 20 minutes later he came back with the machine.

We were able to clearly see the heart beating and he said the rate looked normal. And he confirmed that the head was down. This machine definitely doesn't compare to the high resolution version at the specialists office - so the head just looked like a big round thing. But I also asked if we could try to confirm the gender, as long as we were doing an ultrasound. And lucky for us, she was crotch up and not shy - so we got a birdseye view of girl parts - no mistaking that.

I'm quite relieved to have confirmation that it's a girl. Not that I would have been any less happy with a boy, but we've picked out girl stuff - and my mother has bought dozens of girl outfits. So it would have been a real hassle to find out the 21 week ultrasound was wrong.

Other than that, the doctor's visit was fairly uneventful. All is well - growing well, blood pressure normal, etc.

Then we had childbirth preparation class. This was definitely the least good of the 3 so far, but it was still informative. We practiced breathing again. And then most of the class centered around c-section. We watched a video that included more information on epidurals and episiotomies and then showed a c-section birth. It wasn't graphic in that you didn't see them cutting or anything. They really focused on the mother and the conversations the anesthesiologist was having with her. And then the showed them actually lift the baby out and clean it off and bring it to the parents wrapped in a blanket.

There was also more discussion about what actually happens in the hospital after delivery - the rooms, the things they give you (icepack, anesthetic spray, sitz bath, etc.). And people asked a lot of questions about visiting hours. Basically if you don't get a private room, which is most likely because there are only 4, then the husbands have to leave at 10 p.m. and can return after 8 a.m. Not only is it hard to get a private room but it's $350/night and insurance doesn't cover it. So we'll still with the shared room. I imagine after a potentially long labor and delivery and such, Shafi won't be too upset to have to go home to his own bed.

Next class is Jan. 2 and focuses on infant care. Then the following week we actually tour the facilities at NYU Medical Center. And that's it. Definitely a worthwhile course to take overall.