February 06, 2012

The Non-Shower Shower

A quick update on Kiddo first...at our appointment on Friday (32w0d), the ultrasound tech measured her weight at 4 lb. 9 oz., which calculated out to the 71st percentile. So I'm glad she's getting bigger, and I'm still in disbelief that there is somehow 4 1/2 pounds of kid inside me.

I'm also a little worried that her size is creeping up because of the gestational diabetes, so I'll ask the peri about that if we see her during the non-stress test tomorrow. At 24 weeks, she was 1 lb. 9 oz., which was the 56th percentile. Then at 28 weeks, she was 2 lb. 14 oz., which was the 67th percentile. If she gains at the rate of 1/2 a pound a week (which is what the tech said is pretty typical from this point forward), she'd be 8 lb. 9 oz. at her due date. Even though we're not going that far, I think she'll still be at least 8 pounds if we make it to the scheduled date of March 21.

I was 8 lb. 8 oz., but I was also born a week past my due date. I asked R's mom about him, and it turns out he was 8 lb. 1 oz., 17 days past his due date! I'm so glad we won't have to go 2 1/2 weeks past the due date - there's no way I'd have the patience for that, especially after all these years. I'd probably be trying every old wives' tale out there about inducing labor if we were even 1 day past the due date... :-)

On to the non-shower shower...

Early in the first trimester, one of my best friends made me promise she could guide us through registering at 30 weeks if we made it that far. When we reached 29 weeks, she decided that was far enough and commenced with planning a shower despite my objections.

Even though we've made it past the 30-week mark, I'm just still not feeling courageous enough to have a shower. I just don't think I'm going to do one unless this ends well and it's a post-birth shower.

So she and I had a disagreement about it, and then she came up with another idea, which I thought is tremendously sweet and makes her happy because it still lets her feel like she's helping us prepare: She's throwing me a frozen casserole shower.

Somehow this feels safer - I figure we still have to eat regardless of how this turns out, so it doesn't feel quite so much like tempting fate to come smack us upside the head.

Basically, she's invited several of my friends and given them instructions to bring their favorite casserole dish in a disposable pan for us to freeze, and another, smaller version of it along with copies of the recipe so that we can all taste all of the dishes during the party. She's made it clear there will be no pink, no baby decorations, and no one is to bring any gifts other than the food.

All of that is how I want it to be at this point, although I do admit I'm starting to panic a bit over the fact that we're just over 6 weeks away from the planned date, and there are a bunch of things I want to do (i.e. organize the house) that I still don't have done, not to mention the fact that I have Absolutely. No. Idea. how to care for a newborn. But that's a post for another day...

9 comments:

Libby said...

A casserole shower is a great idea! Way to go bff!

Glad to hear Kiddo is doing so well! My mom STILL reminds me from time to time that I was 16 days past my due date and weighed 10lb8oz :)

Congrats on being just 6 weeks away from meeting Kiddo. You will do fine taking care of a newborn, and if you mess up a few times, it's not like she will know the difference. You'll just have some cute stories to share with her one day ;-)

MyTwoLines said...

It's good you found some way to have a shower and still feel comfortable. I hope you have a mega freezer!

Are your blood sugars super tightly controlled? Our gestationals email their readings constantly and we adjust thigs as needed; we have very strict criteria for fasting and two hour post prandial glucoses. That should help the weight not jump up too fast...

And no one knows how to take care of a newborn. You just do it. Of course, we didn't have the honor of taking care of our babies as newborns but I can speak to just jumping in feet first with zero experience of taking care of babies. You'll cry as much as you laugh (best advice I ever got) and remember: there are two of you and only one of her so right there you're ahead of the game in terms of hands, laps, patience, and sharing the sleep deprivation. And you won't have to cook! :)

SLES75 said...

I think the non shower shower is a fabulous idea. I think it's wonderful! I wish we had something like that. We had zero food in the house when we came home from the hospital and I lived on cereal and peanut butter and jelly for 2 days until my husband could go shopping.

About the weight thing....keep in mind the ultrasound can be measuring about a pound over. At 34 weeks, my ultrasound tech said baby measured 4-15, she was born at 37+3 and weighed barely 5-1. It was a little off. SO here's hoping they're measuring you big but you're not really :)

you'll have to share the best of the casserole recipes...

SLES75 said...

I think the non shower shower is a fabulous idea. I think it's wonderful! I wish we had something like that. We had zero food in the house when we came home from the hospital and I lived on cereal and peanut butter and jelly for 2 days until my husband could go shopping.

About the weight thing....keep in mind the ultrasound can be measuring about a pound over. At 34 weeks, my ultrasound tech said baby measured 4-15, she was born at 37+3 and weighed barely 5-1. It was a little off. SO here's hoping they're measuring you big but you're not really :)

you'll have to share the best of the casserole recipes...

Rachie Pachie said...

I think that is an awesome idea for a non-shower! And you will definitely be able to use that food! :)

Silver said...

The idea of a full freezer is BRILLIANT! Best advice my sister gave me was to ask my mum to keep us stocked up with food for a bit. I have no idea how you'll do with a newborn - some people seem to take to it like a duck to water (or at least they say they do!!) - but I found it very hard work and felt quite miserable for the first 3 months and thought that I was a terrible mother and horribly ungrateful and probably not normal. My sister and best friend both realised what was going on and reassured me that MANY (if not most) women find the first few weeks hard going (BF said "the first 12 weeks are sh*t"). I'm now quite evangelical about telling people this, because, as soon as I knew that this was a) normal and b) going to get better, I felt SO much better. Oh, and my son survived the experience and is even a healthy, happy child!

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Angie said...

Just checking on you....I've been MIA for a month or so. Wondering how you're doing? Update when you can!! hugs!!!

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