Had a really good sleep last night after what seems to have been forever not getting enough. Not going to bed early enough, or if I am, I'm lying there awake thinking (about work, unfortunately) or I'm too hot to get comfortable. Still seems like I need more sleep - I feel a deep tiredness throughout my whole body - but gone is the crotchetty, on-edge feeling that has penetrated through the surface over much of the last week. Burst into tears yesterday for the first time in a while, but it didn't feel like a release, just frustrating. Am so looking forward to an early night and sleep in. Have no idea how my mother functioned on the permanent jet lag effect of night shift - she's being doing 1-2 nights a week regularly since 1978.
The baby has graduated from regular kicks to squirming in my belly - elbows, heads, feet - you name it, it moves it against the walls of my uterus. Sometimes have to tell it to settle down. Seems to be most active after I have eaten... when I am sitting down after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes it is still going strong when I go to bed. Feel so big that I don't know how I can get much bigger, but clearly I can - the women in my pre-birth and parenting class (who are all further along than me) are starting to look huge. Am now over 6 months along!!
Speaking of pre-birth and parenting class... an interesting experience. I guess I was hoping to meet some interesting people, but not really in our class - all we have in common is pregnancy. You'd think with 9-10 expectants + support people there'd be someone you hit it off with.... Maybe we're all so exhausted with thinking about what's ahead that we don't have the energy to be interesting or interested?? (that is actually quite possible) We share what we have to, then get home to have dinner then sleep. The Midwife who takes our course is well qualified - 9 years on the job plus 2 kids of her own before that. It has been most useful for learning what happens during labour, what aids or drugs can be administered and when they need to be used (only 25% of this public hospital's births in 2004 were completely unassisted by equipment or procedures). So that dreaded epidural may be required despite my intense dislike of the idea. I realise that you can only plan so much - the rest just unfolds and you have to deal with what's thrown at you. This week we have a tour of the labour ward and start to get onto the postnatal stuff - feeding, parenting etc etc.
There is one guy in our class who is prone to bringing up gruesome questions or facts. A few of us drop blatant hints that we'd rather not know some things (I'm particularly squeamish), but he is insensitive to it. I think he missed his calling to be a nurse or doctor, but rather wish he'd control his mouth just a little bit. One thing in particular that he brought up I could have done without ever knowing, and will probably (hopefully) never have to experience it. I got cross with him that time and his partner squirted water at him! Then last week he mentioned he'd tried breast milk (his sister in law's) - at that point I think I wrote him off as a freak. Won't be able to look at him again without thinking of the Little Britain sketch where the grown man still demands to be breast-fed!!
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