Anyone have any insight on cord blood banking? We'd like to hear from parents who decided to and why, and those who decided NOT to and why.

Also, to all the medical professionals... is there any evidence that you know of where 1/2 Caucasian, 1/2 Asian children are prone to any sort of disease that may require cord blood? I have no idea about this, nor any idea where to start researching. Might as well start here!

Feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks.

Week 29!

Just got my email update from Pregnancy Weekly.

The first sentence?

"This is a good time to learn how to power nap during the day."

!!!!!

Trust me, if there's one thing I definitely got right with this pregnancy, it's power napping. 15-20 minutes and I'm all good.

So where are we at week 29? He's about 2.5 lbs and 15.5" from head to toe. That's the same as last week. I thought this was a massive weight-gain and growth period? I guess I should only take my information from one source to keep it consistent...

He's really active. Kicks up a storm. Just lovin' it. Paul, over at Running a Hospital, left a comment yesterday wondering if I've tried playing different types of music for him to see how he reacts. I hadn't, but started to thismorning. Right now we're listening to a cd called "Lullababy". He's not kicking as much as when I play Chopin, but we'll see. I'll try different kinds and see what he likes when he's here with us, on the outside. I won't play any heavy rock or metal though... no offense to folks who dig that, but to me it's painful to listen to, so why would I subject my son to it? If he likes it when he's older, good enough, but until then? No go.

For right now, we're adding to the registry, building the hospital bag and birth plan lists, getting the nursery ready, contacting the cord blood people and cloth diaper services for more information... the list goes on. It's all coming together. I just have to make sure I schedule enough time in my day to really focus on what needs to be done and get my act together!

Stood up to get a cup of tea thismorning and had some serious stomach pains. Don't know what it was, but it passed in a matter of minutes (with me walking around my house rubbing my belly and really nervous), and he's kicking again now, so all must be well.

He requires more nutrition than ever from now on, so I've got to make sure I eat and eat well. I have been more hungry, and more often lately, so I'll pay attention to that but make sure I grab a healthy snack instead of a snack that just happens to be close. The halloween treats are all gone now, so no more Kit Kats for Stephi!

All for now. Might be time for one of those power naps! Yawn....

Something I've been thinking about is cord-blood storage. My girlfriend and I were chatting about it last night as she's considering it too.

What's to lose?

Nothing.

What's to gain?

Possibly everything.

She found a company here in Canada called Lifebank that stores it. And it's not expensive. Surprisingly, only $2,750.00. And for eighteen years at that. I haven't looked at this site at all, just passing along info but will look more into it as I go along. (When I opened the website and said what I was doing, the baby starting kicking up a storm! So I'm thinking that he's saying YES Mom, YES!)

There are a few doctors and scientists that read this site, anybody have any comments, suggestions, advice? Please leave a comment.

Off to a harbour tour and lunch with mom for the day.

Later.
s.