38 weeks now... finally....

Well, had our 38 week check this week - that is Teeny and I... all is well - my blood pressure is still low 108/64 and my swelling is the usual stuff to be expected - fat feet by the end of the day! Teeny is still head down and in position... and my cervix is still firmly sealed... we have been instructed - that is Flex and I... to have lots of sex and good orgasms... well I suppose it doesn't matter so much what Flex's are like - but mine should be good to get things softened up and ready...

So there is our project for the week!

Ta ta for now...

did I mention I HATE raccoons?

So my life at 37.5 weeks preggo is about struggling to sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time... and Saturday I finally removed the beloved snoogle, that has served me well, from the bed and went to a foam side sleeper pillow and full size pillow between the legs... and found that I slept for 2 hour increments... Ahhh bliss...

So after a lovely dinner at Bern's Steakhouse last night to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, we get home and hit the sack - me thinking I had worked out the perfect pillow combination for a 38 week preggo woman's night of 'sleep'. All went went until 2.00 a.m. when Chiron the beagle shot out of his bed like a cannon and raced through the house with his blanket still on his back... so i jump out of bed and run through the house after him imagining projectile vomiting (did i mention our terrifying ordeal with him last week after peanut butter dog treats - uh yes that whole peanut butter salmonella thing hit our house like a ton of bricks - or lots of dog puke i should say)... anyhow - i realize he is at the door on guard - then Alex appears... and we hear what sounds like a raccoon convention outside...

So we all head back to bed and to peace and quiet for 10 mins... then a raccoon cacophony starts again and Chiron shoots out of bed again... get him back to bed and tell him to 'leave it' (our command for ignore noise, food, other dog, etc) at the next outbreak - so he dutifully sighs and goes to sleep and ignores the raccoons - soon both he and alex are snoring peacefully - while i lay awake from 2.16 a.m. until 4.23 a.m. listening to what sounds like 10,000 effing raccoons having a rave in the park behind our house...

So here i am at work... blogging and hating on raccoons - coz with 4.5 hours of sleep (once you add in the preggo pee trips and periods of wakefullness just to move from one hip to the other) I am not doing so well at working and concentrating!

37 weeks and counting...

Okay so we had our usual (now) weekly visit and all is the same... baby's down there, nothings open - got some time yet! :) This week they said we may follow the usual first baby pattern and go late.

So weird to hear that after all the issues at the beginning and thinking we would surely go early - go team!

Anyhow - I may yet get the Pisces baby and skip the Aquarius, so I may not end up with 2 Aquarius in the house... ahhh! Only have to go 7 days over for that one... although I am getting to the point where 7 days over - agh... although I am happy to let Teeny hang on as long as he/she needs for gestational purposes - go Pisces!

How the 36 week visit went in my head...

It is important to remember when reading this that Dr X is Jamaican and any dialogue of his must be done in an accent and with the relaxed hand in the air gesture….

Nurse: Oh great – you gained 2lbs and your BP is very good

My Head: Wow – good news and with only one toxic (but delicious) trip to checkers burgers

Nurse: Ok, disrobe from the waist down and drape the cloth and Dr X will be in shortly...

Dr X enters the room – we have small talk and then he ‘goes in’ for the exam…

Dr X: Oh yes, the baby is VERY low in your pelvis

My Head: Yes – I HAD noticed… and so did everyone else when I walk… Per Alex – you are walking like a duck now… per all the ladies at work – OH NOT LONG NOW! J

Dr X: But your cervix is still closed, so we have plenty of time

My Head: If you consider 4 weeks plenty of time to prepare and get the house ready – whilst working full time and going to 2 baby showers, 1 wedding and 2 parties for 2 year olds…

Me: So if I go into labour should I follow the 1:5:1 rule for going to hospital and calling you (contractions for 1 minute, 5 minutes apart for 1 hour or more)…

Dr X: Where do you hear this stuff… no no no, don’t worry – just go to hospital when you become too uncomfortable to be at home

My Head: Holy ambiguity…

Me: And should I call you then also?

Dr X: oh no – just go into hospital and they will find me….

My Head: Oy vey…

So basically – when I am too uncomfortable to be at home go in and they will find him.. thank god we are having a doula – I mean I could feel too uncomfortable after 1 hour of labour – or I could end up with the head half way out if left to me… But it is nice to have someone relaxed and not worrying too and getting me all worked up – as I am prone to be!

In other news – my hair line mole was an Actinic Keratoses – a precancerous growth – so it got burned off with the news that if I had not come in it would have become cancerous… so keep an eye on things and checkups every 6 months. Oh the joys of growing up in the sunshine state and being a sun whore!

Bike rides and butt aches...

You know how you feel when you go for a long bike ride - when you haven't ridden a bike in a while - that thing referred to as 'saddle sore'.... yes - that - THAT is how I feel 90% of the time now... back on my yoga ball chair at work as of this a.m. - UGH!

In other news the mole turned out to be an Actinic Keratoses, which is benign, but if left would have become cancerous - so had that burned off and now need to keep a close eye on other moles... going in for checks every 6 months... Oh the joys of growing up in Florida and being a sun whore!

all the medical stuff...

howdy internet.... 2 things since last time... i didn't gain any weight at my last check up and as baby should gain 1lb a week at this point they are monitoring that... the fact that i weight less preggo than i did before baby is due to the fact that i have only wanted salads and lean protein and things since getting pregnant - my eating habits have changed so much for the better - and i know basically i am losing weight (not trying to - i promise), but baby is gaining - as has been proved by the ultrasounds and uterus measurements. Last week i was 35 weeks along and my uterus measured 36 cm... but if i don't gain weight this week i have to go and have more ultrasounds to make sure the baby is growing... :) So i have been drinking full fat coke - ate a checkers for lunch and trying to eat more fatty stuff than i had been so i can show i can gain weight - how backwards!

tomorrow i go to get a mole in my hair line checked... it has gone funny - it has grown and developed a kind of scaly/scab... nice... fingers crossed its something minor and not the result of too many years in Florida sunbathing and walking dogs in the bright sunshine with no hat...

Zero station

Well my dear friends – I had the first of my weekly final stage doctor visits today… the first of the cervical exams and all that fun stuff... Anyhow – the baby is at zero station… in place – head in pelvis and facing the rear and all that good stuff – as if I hadn’t known that by the change in discomfort I have experienced and the fact that the butt suddenly appears like a second bump right in the middle of my belly!

Anyhow – he finished ‘the exam’ and sat up and looked at me and said ‘you are one of my 2 miracles and it looks like you’ll have a vaginal delivery – the baby is right in your pelvis’… how bizarre to start out the way it all did and end up going by the book…

Our doula is coming to our place Saturday afternoon to discuss our plan and see our house and work out all the logistics for the big event. Can't believe we are actually at this point.

Illiteracy and pregnancy tourettes...

As i go back and review my posts i am horrified by my spelling and grammar - bear with me - 2 things i have found during this pregnancy - I cannot type/spell or sting together words... and I swear like a fishwife ALL the time - I even say the 'f' word in front of my mother and Flex's Nani now with regularity... and I was bad before - but in control - NOT anymore... Plus i have not got around to figuring out how to edit a previous post so just leave the crap spelling and grammar in there.... apologies! :)

Lightening speed...

Well, not much has happened other than that thing they call lightening - or the baby dropping. New Years Day (exactly 34 weeks preggo) I suddenly realized I had gone 24 hours without taking a tums antacid... and since I HAD been taking about 4/5 a day to that point I knew something had changed. Also - I suddenly felt as if I was waddling and was carrying a bowling ball twixt the legs... this is a description I have read both on medical websites and have received as Ilsa's description from her communications.

And boy- having a bowling ball between your legs causes all kinds of pain in the nether regions... also the top of my bump appears lower and feels empty now when pushed on... although I still get the occasional knee or foot there, but now in passing as opposed to for 10 hours at a time.

When I told Flex that the baby had dropped his eyes bugged out and he asked if this meant I was in labour - I assured him when I was in labour I would tell him 'I am in labour' and not just say 'oh I think the baby dropped'! However, it did make me think I should pack my case and we should get the car seat installed - just in case.

The baby room is making progress and we have the bassinette, dresser/changing table installed and supplies in place. The clothes and blankets/sheets are all washed and in the closet and a colleague has provided me with a diaper genie... The stroller was purchased and assembled this weekend - so now we just have to get the pack-n-play set up (not urgent) and the car seat in place... Thanks to Ilsa for her great 'real' list of hospital packing needs - she was only in 3 weeks ago so I trust her advice. All the books and websites make it sound like you need to take everything, but the kitchen sink...

In other news - the dog was up throwing up Saturday night and the cat has a UTI so was up mewling all last night - I think the animal pact, aka Operation baby preparation, to get Flex and I ready for sleepless nights has moved into full swing... agh.

Hope you all had a great New Year's Eve - we had dinner with Flex's family and were in bed by 10.00 p.m. It did feel sad to not be with friends somewhere, but smoky bars and late nights... I am truly passed that at the moment. Now onto waiting for the arrival of Teeny... fast approaching.