The Pediatrician

Last week we met our future Pediatrician and the thought, "Oh my, we're about to have a baby" crept into my mind. If you compare the pregnancy to a 400 yard dash, we're rounding the corner and heading for the finish line. It's almost here.

We loved our pediatrician. He was knowledgeable, personable, and laid-back—yet confident. Pediatricians live by their pager, and he told us to call him any time for whatever reason. When raising a child, “there are no dumb questions,” he reminded us.

Helen and I both walked out of the office feeling good about him. One interesting point he made during our session was about maternal antibodies and how these are passed on to the baby. My wife wanted to bring this up because often when I teach at a nearby school (a.k.a. germ factory) I sometimes (okay—often!) end up catching a nasty cold or sickness. One of our questions was if I should stay away from baby (a sentence that equals our basement) when I have a bad virus.

During the last three months of pregnancy, antibodies from the mother are passed to the unborn baby through the placenta. The amount and type of antibodies passed to the baby depends on the mother's immunity. For example, if the mother has had chickenpox, she will have developed immunity against the disease, and some of the chickenpox antibodies will be passed to the baby. This is good for the about the first 8 months of the baby’s life. Essentially, the maternal antibodies are an evolutionary adaptation that allowed baby a greater chance to survive the first year. Long ago baby always was strapped to mom, often alongside when working in the fields or traveling great distances on foot by nomadic peoples.

Passive immunity to measles, mumps and rubella usually lasts for about a year, which is why the MMR jab is given just after your baby's first birthday.

So yes, I'm still allowed to get sick and still be around the baby. Lucky for me, because hanging out in the basement by myself gets awful boring. :)

Post from Helen

It’s been over 33 weeks now and I’m starting to get hopeful that Jason and I will soon be meeting this baby face to face! Today he (or she) had the hiccups in the middle of the day. It lasted about 3 minutes long but it was hard to pay attention to the lecture when all I wanted to do was think about the baby. As Jason probably mentioned, I’m hoping to make the delivery as comfortable as possible so I invested in a program called “hypnobabies.” Problem is, I keep on falling asleep when I listen to the CDs that are suppose to be learning from. If I could really fall asleep this easily during labor it would be pretty amazing! Of course, sleep is something I can’t get enough of and am trying to store up on before the baby comes! Hopefully this weekend Jason will finish painting the room and we can get the crib purchased and assembled. We’re registered for Baby CPR this Saturday so it seems like much of our spare time is spent doing things for this baby!

Helen at 8 months

The Five S's

8 months now. And the evidence is showing as Helen is a little bigger and flinches a bit when the baby kicks. Our last Dr. appointment went well and both of us we're glad to learn the baby was not breech. Helen swore the kicks originating below her rib cage were head butts but the doctor, after palpating the stomach, assured us it was the baby's other end. Butt butts. So the baby is in position.


One book I can recommend is called "The Happiest Baby on the Block," by Harvey Karp, M.D.

One thought in the books describes the 3 months after being born should be thought as of the 4th trimester. In others words the baby is still connected to the feeling of the womb, and there are some simple inexpensive techniques to create this feeling and calm your baby during this time.

Here they are:

1. Swaddling
2. Side/Stomach
3. SSSHHH
4. Swinging
5. Sucking

The book goes into more detail about the above points. There is also an accompanying video that demonstrates these ideas and will make you a believer. We'll soon find out and get to try these techniques.

A Helen post

We’re almost at 31 weeks today. I’m extremely excited to meet this baby in person, if only I knew if it is a boy or a girl! Whichever it is, it is in the breech position right now—as evident by the fact it keeps on kicking my bladder. I am hoping it will turn sometime soon. In the meanwhile, I’m going to try something called “Hypnobabies” which is suppose to be a type of hypnosis you can use to not feel any pain during labor. It’ll be a mute point though if this baby stays breech (since I’d need a C-section at that point) so I’m hoping he/she turns.