I’ve got the “Big Foot” syndrome alright…every day, my feet swell so much that they can’t fit into any of my shoes and I have to step on the strap rather than fasten it around my ankles like I am supposed to!  At night, it gets even worse…have to walk in Nei’s shoes since mine are too tight.  Although they don’t hurt, they do feel as they look: swollen. 

My manager informed me that this is just the beginning, and that toward the end, I will get the “Big Face” syndrome too. :~(~~ Doctor also says this is normal, and that now, it still seems to go down somewhat during the day…toward the end, it stays swollen all day every day! *Sigh* Now I am starting to understand why experienced moms have shared that by the 8 to 9 months, you will be ready to have your baby!

I have two main duties today: my client project manager called me during the week that I need to be standby in case their application go-live needs fire-drill, and the 2nd one is much more involved - I need to learn how to help the mommy during the labor.

In case I forgot, I have to write down what I have learned: there will be four major stages:

1. Early labor (first stage), this is where the cervix dilates from 0cm to 3cm, the mom stays at home during this stage which usually takes 8-10 hours. My main job is to time the frequency of the contraction, message the mommy and coach the mom to breath. The mom normally feels pretty excited about the labor because the pain has not arrived yet.
2. Active labor (first stage), this is where the cervix dilates from 3 cm to 10cm, it is the time to get into the car and head to the birth center, this stage usually takes 6 hours. My main job is to drive the car, coach the mom to take deep breath.  The pain starts to kick in and the mom needs to decide whether epidura is needed (nowadays 80% of woman use it)
3. Transition stage, this is when cervix fully dilated and the pain has reached the peak. My main job is to sweet talk and encourage the wife because she wants to give up the whole deal and go home.
4. Pushing stage, this is the stage where the mom use contraction (her uterus muscle) to get the baby out now that the cervix is fully opened. The mom should feel relieved and pride on her self during the stage because the peak has just passed.  My main job during this stage is use my cemara to take photos.
5. Technically there is also a fifth stage called “delivering the placenta”, but this has nothing to do with the baby so I choose to ignore that details.

Man, lots of practice to do to get prepared for the big day of Aug 10 now…

Had another doctor’s appt today - very grateful to God that everything is progressing right along well. Owen’s heartbeat was 147-150 (he was playful), my stomach measurement was just right (forgot to ask what it is now), and I found out that my glucose tolerance result was normal.  Asked the doctor why I had spasms near my breastbone, and he said that’s normal; as the uterus grows larger, it pushes the rest of the organs upwards and sometimes pushes the ribs outward/inflames the ribs.  Another wrinkle for the day!