Baby Update 9/17/14

With less than six weeks to go as our LIFE mom to be I am making the all of the final preparations that I can make. The baby showers are over and we were so lucky to get so much great stuff from our friends and family.

On Thursday I made my way over to Franciscan St. Anthony's in Crown Point for their baby care class. This class is designed not only for parents to be but anyone who may not have been around a baby for a long time.

A good friend of mine, Sue, accompanied me to the class since she lives down the street and will be my closest "mom" friend. The class is taught by a Neonatal Nurse. She knows a lot about caring for those little tiny ones and was very informative. There were several major topics we covered during the class. Diaper changing, bathing, sleep, feeding and swaddling.

So why did we cover these topics? Most importantly to know what is normal from your new baby and what isn't. Diaper changing was important to know because you need to know what is normal coming from your baby and what isn't. We also covered how often a baby needs to be changed. Then we covered bathing. The reason for this is that it changes as your baby grows and gets bigger.

I was very informed about how to properly bath the baby those first few weeks, especially when the umbilical cord is still attached. The next topic was about sleep. We covered how many hours the babies should be sleeping and the importance of how your crib should be set up so that your baby is in the safest environment. Sleep lead right into feeding. We went over how often, how much and the differences between breast feeding and bottle feeding.

Finally, they covered also covered swaddling. We practiced this with our babies and blankets that were provided. Most babies love this because they are used to the warm cozy feeling they had when they were inside the womb. The class is informative and teaches great basics to caring for your little one those first few days and weeks. Although they can predict everything that may come up I feel much better about caring for my little girl once she arrives.

Recently, we also went for our 3rd trimester ultrasound at St. Anthony's. The best part about working with St. Anthony's is how flexible they are. Being a busy LIFER they were even able to get me in on a Sunday. The tech was nice enough to run through all of her test and then show us our baby girl. She did have to give us the news that right now is she is showing in the breech position. So we are in hopes that over the next 5 plus weeks she will move into the correct position.

We are truly in the final countdown.