Infant security at the hospital

Last night we went on a tour of the Labor and Delivery wing of the hospital. They showed us the rooms, told us where to park, and explained the visiting and safety procedures. I found the safety procedures fascinating. Upon arrival, I get an identification wrist band (Lyle, too, if he wants one). This band has an electronic device in it. Once the baby is born, a matching band will be placed on her ankle and wrist. My band and her band will be linked so that everyone knows which mom goes with which baby. If a different mom (with a band) gets too close to my baby, an alarm will go off. If the baby is taken too close to an exit, an alarm will go off, and if anyone tries to tamper with the baby, an alarm will go off. It's called the hugs and kisses system - mom gets the kisses tag and baby gets the hugs tag. The baby's band also has a gps device in it so she can be located at any time (which might be more useful once she can drive a car - but I suppose they remove them when we leave the hospital).

3rd Trimester

I've decided I'm officially in the third trimester. Whether that happened last week (27 weeks) or this week (28 weeks) varies by website, but my doctor's appointments have now changed from monthly to bi-weekly so I've decided that's as good of an indicator as any. I passed the glucose blood test with flying colors which means I don't have gestational diabetes. The doctor said I process sugars very very fast (which is the opposite of diabetes). She said I should avoid things like eating just cake for breakfast because it might make me light headed. I hadn't even considered that an option until she mentioned it. I think that's the end of all the testing. I have to get a Rhogam shot this week because my blood is Rh- and then, unless something unexpected happens, I won't see another needle until delivery. Yay!

At this stage, the average fetus is 15 inches long and 2.2 pounds. It feels like she's a lot bigger than that but since my weight and measurements are right on target, I suspect she's about average. The baby is as active as ever, over the last two days I don't think an entire minute has gone by that I haven't felt her move. Lyle has taken to calling her Thumper because it feels like a rabbit is in my belly. I guess that's as good of name as any.