35 Weeks

Time is really flying now. I can't believe my lil' guy will be here so soon. I'm not scared or worried, but I am curious about the whole labour and delivery thing. Sometimes I try to picture what it will be like and the first thought that comes to mind is me breathing like mad, in some awkward position, trying to alleviate the worst pain I've ever felt. And that might not be too far from the truth but it sure is kinda funny to me...for now.

I've got 3 more weeks left of work but I'm not the only one counting down the days. Gail works the day shift and unfortunately she's going on short term disability a week after me because of some surgery she's got to have. Patricia will be her replacement for the 6 - 8 weeks she'll be off. Pat's been with the company for a number of years and knows how to QC but she's been working on the floor at our warehouse for more than a year now. And since she's been gone we've changed how things are done. So she started her training this week and will be working with Gail until she's off. Which is great for Gail because she's having a hard time moving around. Extra help is always appreciated.

This week I saw the midwife again. There was a few routine things we discussed and then she checked my vitals. Blood pressure is still low, my iron levels are good and she took a look at my swelling feet. Although I wasn't worried about it, she did put Paul at ease. He was starting to get worried because they had begun to swell a lot some days. She informed him that this late in pregnancy it was very normal for feet to swell, especially since I worked on my feet. She said that keeping them elevated as much as possible and a massage at the end of the day would do some good to keep the blood circulating. After that she checked on our lil' bean and surprise, surprise...he's still head down, in the same position he's been in for the last two months. His heart rate is good and my fundal height is still normal.

Saturday was our last birthing class and I can officially say that it was a waste of time & money. I should have taken the class as soon as I was out of my first trimester and maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed. All the stuff we learned, I had already read about. We didn't cover anything different and to make matters worse, she didn't do anything more than just slightly touch on each topic. The only exception was labour and delivery, and even then there wasn't too much info. She never elaborated on the different positions a woman could choose to labour and deliver, and it seemed she was always under the assumption that we were all seeing OBGYN's. Anyways, I'm glad it's over and I can go back to my usual Saturday morning routine...sleeping!

Sunday was mothers day and thanks to Paul I was able to unofficially celebrate it. I wasn't expecting anything and he did surprise me with a pair of earrings. Diamond butterfly studs to be exact. They are beautiful and I have yet to take them off. As for celebrating with my mom, my sister and I took her out for breakfast. We originally wanted to go to the Pancake Factory but when we got there, the line was out the door. Their pancakes are good, but not that good! So we settled on Angel's and decided to go back for pancakes another day.

To finish off the weekend, Paul started moving all his office stuff downstairs. He's got 95% of it down there and it seems to be all organized. This now means we have half a nursery, yay! Hopefully my office will be moved downstairs next weekend and we can start on having a full room for the baby.

Speaking of which, he now weighs as much as a honeydew melon, about 5.25 pounds. His length is over 18 inches and still growing. His kidneys are complete and his liver is processing waste. His fingernails now reach the tip of his fingers and most of his development is complete. He will spend the rest of his time gaining weight. It is getting kinda snug in there so he has stopped his summersaults but hasn't stopped moving. I can feel him stretch his arms, legs and turn his head. I'm enjoying every moment of it too!

34 Weeks

Holy Shit! I'm 34 weeks into my pregnancy and time is not standing still. My lil' bean will soon be here and there's still so much to do. But not to worry...I'm not stressed out and it's unbelievable sometimes. I know some women would have everything done by now and I have practically nothing. Oh well. This lil' guy will have what he needs. Food, clean diapers, two loving parents and a place to lay his head when he needs to sleep. Anything other than that will just be extra. Nice extras, but I think we'll be OK for now. As for what's been happening this week, Paul & I met with Jody. We reviewed my revised birth plan and went through the breathing techniques, positions for labour, and initial breastfeeding holds. There's a lot of information to absorb so I've got to make some time to review all of this before my lil' bean decides to show up.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I had to go to bed early on Friday so I could be in Guelph for my birthing class. We had to do the 7 hour classes because we work afternoons and couldn't make the evening classes. It was a long day and to top it off, I didn't learn anything new. We covered things like the growth of the baby, nutrition, the anatomy of the placenta and things that could go wrong during pregnancy. And although I new all about this stuff, there's one thing that this class did teach me. Keep your feet up when you sit!

For the last couple weeks I've experienced swelling in my feet, but nothing like Saturday. We had breaks every couple of hours and an hour for lunch but nothing helped. By the end of the day my feet were twice their normal size and I could barley keep my shoes on. I did nothing else that night in hopes that my feet would deflate, but no such luck. It wasn't until Sunday morning that they started looking like my normal tootsies. I got up and went to church but by the time I got back, poof...they were swollen again. And on goes the cycle. I get up with normal feet, and by the end of the day they look like potatoes. Tater toes is what I call them, but it's just plain ugly. Kankles do not look good on me!

On the bathroom front, I think we've picked out a bathtub. We've decided to take it one feature at a time and since the tub is going to be the big ticket item, we're working on that first. It's nothing too fancy, but does have two features that I'm not going to give up, even if we decide on a different model. It's deep enough so the water will come up to your shoulders, and it's got air jets for a therapeutic massage. We haven't bought it yet, and we'll probably look around some more but we really like this one.

Well, my lil' bean is now weighing in at 4.75 pounds and is 18 inches long. His weight is comparable to a cantaloupe. His central nervous system and his lungs continue to mature while his skin is filling out nicely. He is developing his own immunity to fight infections and his skeleton is hardening. If he were to be born now, there would only be a short stay in the NICU and he would most likely develop as well as a full term baby. But lets hope my lil' bean isn't done baking just yet. Only 6 more weeks to go.