27w, 2d

Our first (and probably last) birthing class was today! We woke up at 7 AM (Which was very hard to do, especially since neither of us could fall asleep until after 2 AM) and we started class at 9. It went all the way to 5PM, but thankfully it gave a bathroom break every hour, provided snacks and a nice lunch. It was an interesting way to spend the day together, but honestly we learned nothing. Anyone who's done a bit of research would have already known everything that was covered, and I've done SO much research that I felt like I could have taught about positions, medications and risks. In fact, quite a few things that the instructor tried to just brush over were wrong. Parts of it didn't apply to us since we're doing a birth center birth, but I had that stuff researched too. lol. I guess I paid $100 to feel a bit more secure in my research! If nothing else, the practice massages that Bill had to do on me felt good (except the back strain reliever one - I couldn't stop giggling because it tickled so bad. I finally told him to stop and said that's not one we'll be doing in labor, or at least not the way that was taught.)

 After class, we went to get my hair fixed. I've been really unhappy with my dead hair for a while now. It seemed like ever since I got pregnant (and way before, but especially now) there were horrible split ends that went up half my hair. There were literally split ends on my split ends on more split ends and it looked pretty gross and thin. I decided I might as well get it now, when my hair is supposed to grow a lot and look healthy, and when I'll be SO hot in the spring/summer that I'll want to chop it all off (so best to do it now before temptation sets in to do too much! Plus, it's a now or never type thing - once the baby is here, there's no way I'll be thinking about hair cuts!)  I was really nervous about it, since the last time I had a hair cut was when I was 10 and had it all chopped off and it wasn't the best experience. This one was MUCH nicer! I got it cut to about my shoulder blades (that was where the splits went up to) and got it slightly layered on the sides to frame around my face. I'm 23 and this is the first time I'm having a real haircut to experiment with my hair, so I liked the experience. It feels so much healthier now and it lays a bit thicker. Plus, it only cost us the price of a Coke Slushie to get it done. Here's some pictures the best I could get it (it was really hard to show the layers!)  It's sooo much easier to brush out now!

I bought Katie her first few pieces of clothing yesterday as well. All little pink onesies from 0-3 and 3-6 months. It's just nice knowing that I have SOMETHING to put in her drawers. I can't wait to get loads more though.

Sophie graduated from being a puppy to being an adult dog this week, as she started her cycle this week. We thankfully were prepared for it for a few months now and had some doggy diapers on hand to put her in. She's not overly fond of them, but I'm very proud of her - even when she gets aggrivated with them, she never pulls them off. I fully expected her to do so, especially at nighttime but nope, she keeps them on even when she's in her cage or anything. Finally, something I told her to do once and she listens every time! When I first put her in one though, I couldn't stop laughing because she just looked so very silly in them! This was after I panicked for a good ten minutes, trying to figure out why there were drops of blood all over the kitchen (at first I was terrified, because I'd been pacing the downstairs from experiencing cramps and thought Omg, I'm bleeding! Once that was ruled out, I checked my hands and arms for cuts, since i had just made dinner. Nothing. Well I had also just been in the basement doing laundry, which Sophie had joined me for, so I wondered if she cut her paws or mouth on something. I checked it all, nothing. I don't know why I was so very clueless, in the back of my mind I kept thinking it looked familar (a family dog we had years ago was very tidy, but once in a while you could spot blood near or around her bed) but it didn't click. I even thought it looked a bit pink, so maybe it wasn't blood and just some food I dripped. It really took a good ten minutes of brain storming and checking out to realize, oh duh, roll her over! So I told her "belly rub!" and she rolled over and there it was, the source of the blood.) Anyway, this is her silly butt:

Also, we decided on a full name for our little girl, who currently has half a leg sticking out from the top of my uterus and is pushing her fists in all kinds of uncomfortable places. She'll be Katherine Isabelle Keller, our Katie Belle. Bill said today he liked Isabelle so much that he wanted to save it for our next daughter (as a first name) but at the same time we both felt like it belonged to Katie already, and we definitely didn't want to risk not having more girls and never using the name. It seemed to go along with our plans for Katherine and while we were talking about it, all the other names just really faded and Isabelle was the clear choice. We made the final decision while we were eating together in the cafeteria of the hospital during the afternoon break from the birth class. So yes, I suppose we definitely did get something out of the class! We were struggling with it every other time we talked about it together at home.