Today we are 34 weeks pregnant! If I were to go into labor, doctors would no longer attempt to delay things to give steroids. Our baby's lungs are developed and at most may need some supplementation with surfactant. I was tickled this morning when I opened my email, "Your Pregnancy: 34 Weeks" and it said this:
If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.
We still want this little ninja to stay put, but at least this puts my mind at ease a bit. Speaking of staying put, we had our weekly appointment with Dr. K and he said things are THE SAME! Can you believe it? We've been holding steady at the exact same cervical consistency for three weeks now! I gained another three pounds in the last ten days (ahem, yikes) but I measured a little over 35 weeks and Dr. K was quite pleased.
We also had our breastfeeding crash course today, which was very helpful. We learned how to position a fake baby and more detail than you can imagine about nipple glands. She also told us that when the delivery is uneventful and the baby looks good they will lay the baby on your chest immediately after cutting the cord and then cover him with warm blankets. This helps mom/baby bond and allows for an easy transition when baby is ready to feed. Of course our goal is a healthy baby, and even if we have NICU/C-section/APGAR issues we'll work through them - but we're going to look at this as a bonus possibility. If we are able to have newborn slippery cuddle time, one more plus to the whole experience.
We asked Dr. K if this was something he approved of and, in usual Dr. K fashion, this is the response we got:
"Sure you can do that if you want - most moms just want them wrapped up and put in the french fry warmer for a bit."
This was right after he told us he usually isn't off on a baby's weight by more than five pounds.
Thankfully, he doesn't charge us extra for the sass! Lucky us.
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as long as he's breathing fine, no warmer! mama time and breast time is best!
ReplyDeletethey are the most alert and active right after they're born - its the best time for latch-on, plus it helps deliver the placenta AND stop uterine bleeding.
plus, you get to meet the little one!! stare in his beautiful muddy blue eyes :)
with a blanket and your bare skin to skin contact, he'll be cozy warm. and super curious about his new mama and papa before he conks out for his post-birth nap :P
yay, so glad you made it to the safe zone!!
I think where the baby goes just after birth is one of those things that the nurses overrule the doctor on. In both cases, (with 2 very different doctors) the nurse laid the baby on me automatically.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 34 weeks - such an amazing feat!! I got about 2 minutes with Connor on my chest before the nurse decided he was too quiet and whisked him off to the warmer to help his breathing, but once that was done, it was back on Mommy's chest. Insist on that, as long as he's okay!
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