Feeling optimistic.

I'm officially 29 weeks, 1 day. I had an OB appointment today. The doctor took a sample to run our latest fFN. I should have the results tomorrow. Overall things went really well.

My doc and I were both feeling pretty optimistic. We talked about at what point I'd be taken off of the various meds, and at what point we might consider stopping the bed rest. Since we got pregnant, John and I said our goal was to get to 34 weeks. At 34 weeks, most babies have finally developed the coordination needed for the suck-swallow-breathe reflex. The reflex lets the babies nurse or suckle a bottle without choking on the milk. Most preemies born prior to that point require a feeding tube until they develop the reflex. While she'd still be small and at risk for some issues, after 34 weeks the NICU stay is so much shorter and typically easier.

Anyway, my OB says I can go from bed rest to restricted activity when I hit 34 weeks. That means I could get up and cook dinner, or play with Zeke. She said I still couldn't do the grocery shopping or the trips to Costco (too much heavy lifting), but we'd be so much less dependent on others.

We were also super optimistic in that we talked about the fact that John and I could sign up for some childbirth classes. Z was born before we got to take the complete set (we only went to one). I'm not really sure what to expect with a full-term baby. I had a really easy labor and delivery for Z. He was so little there wasn't much work to be done. A term baby, well, that'll be different. J and I both need to know what to expect.

So, overall, we're feeling pretty optimistic this week. We're talking about having a term baby. We're still 9 weeks away from that milestone, but I'm feeling hopeful that we'll get there.