Birthdays and Breastfeeding Class

Friday was my 31st birthday, and I can happily say that I accomplished my goal for being 30.  It was to either be pregnant or have my first child by the time I was 30 (thank you, type-A personality!).  Right on track, considering little one is due in less than 30 days now!

Celebrating DJ & my birthdays

I got a nice birthday card from my coworkers, lots of birthday wishes on Facebook & via text message, dinner and cake with Craig's family, lots of calls with happy birthday singing from my family (my favorite was my brother & my nephew where my nephew was whispering the "to you" part!  So cute!), and kicking almost on cue from the baby when people were eagerly awaiting feeling the baby move.  Craig officially has the best memory of anyone I know!  He remembered that I really loved a cuppola/weather vane thing we saw at a particular store 2 years ago (!) for over the garage.  It's beautiful!  I can't wait to see the copper patina.

My beautiful birthday present!

I'm also excited to schedule my next spa pedicure using the gift certificates from my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law & family.  Not being able to reach my feet easily is quite inconvenient!

On Saturday, we attended breastfeeding class at the hospital.  It was definitely educational.  Amid Craig's reminders to "Watch the neck!"  (something his mom told me all the time whenever she saw me holding someone's baby), I learned some of the most common breastfeeding positions and how to get a good latch.  I sincerely hope that breastfeeding will go well for me and baby; it's such a great thing to be able to share and there are so many benefits to both of us for doing it.  (Oh, yeah, and formula is terribly expensive!)  We also learned a little bit about pumping.

My favorite part of the class was when the instructor said to pass the babies (dolls) to the dads and have them practice burping.  I handed Craig the baby and he just sat there drinking his coffee proclaiming that he already knew how to burp the baby.  I was pretty amused; he was the only 2nd time parent in the room, so of course I know he knows what to do, but he had the funniest body language with the baby draped over his shoulder.  I wish I could have been able to get a picture!  I think the part he enjoyed most was the yummy cookies they provided!

I also liked the "To the grandmother of the breastfed baby" pamphlet we received.  It may (or may not!) help remind my mother that the baby shouldn't be sleeping through the night in his/her first week of life outside the womb.  (She keeps claiming that she's going to make it happen during her visit!  And while I genuinely like the idea of baby sleeping through the night because that means I can, too, I still want what's best and recommended (and realistic!) for sleep habits, haha!)  So a copy of that is going into the mail for her this week, and I'll get a copy to Craig's mom too so both grandmas are covered.

I picked up a few more baby books (those touch-and-feel kind) and some infant hats from Amazon over the last few days.  I love the GIGANTIC book collection we've compiled for baby.  The only small probably I've been noticing is that Zephyr (one of the cats) had taken to carrying baby's monkey stuffed animal (courtesy of Lorene) and giraffe stuffed animal (courtesy of MaryJane) around the house occasionally!  I am never fast enough to get a picture, but he looks so silly - a 14-pound black cat carrying an infant-sized stuffed animal down the stairs in his mouth!