Thirty Six Weeks

I know I've been making you all wait impatiently for an update, recapping the events of my thirty-sixth week of pregnancy.  But, we had an appointment with Duckie this morning and I wanted to wait to post any news from the visit.  Personally and physically, I feel like all the cliches are coming true.  I feel like I'm going to be pregnant FOREVER.  Truthfully, I think these last twenty-three days are going to just drag by, and he'll probably be late to boot!  I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning.  I'm ready to get this show on the road!  We've had quite a few "false starts" and a few times I've told Jeff that it's time to get to the hospital, but it's all just wishful thinking.  I keep thinking that I've been pregnant through all four seasons at this point, and at least I know I'm not going to head into a fifth season with a bump!  The end is in sight.  This baby is riding low now, and I'm finding it harder and harder to bend over. 

Which brings me to the one bit of news of the week.  On Thursday morning, I slipped coming out of the shower at the gym.  Fortunately, I sort of caught myself on the way down, but I landed on my butt.  Hard.  And, for those of you who know me well, a fall is nothing new in my book.  Still, my first thought was, "Is the baby okay?" and fortunately, I didn't have to wait more than a few seconds before he resumed his endless tap dance on the sides of my stomach.  Me, though, I could have been better.  So, I called Duckie, just to be on the safe side, and told him the baby was moving around, but that I felt pretty poorly.  I stopped by his office that afternoon for a little check-up, and Baby Storms was fine.  He told me to go home and make sure I took it easy for the next week or so. 

However, on Friday morning, I got a call from his nurse, telling me that Duckie didn't feel right about letting me go home the day before and wanted me to come back for another check-up.  Talk about scaring a pregnant woman right out of her maternity pants!  So, we went back to Duckie's office, he had another little peek at Baby Storms (who continued to practice playing the air guitar) and he also gave me the once over.  I was moving a little slower and hurt quite a bit more.  However, more concerning was that my blood pressure had gone up in the twenty-four hours since my visit on Thursday.  So, the words "modified bed rest" were tossed around, and Duckie basically told me that if I wasn't working, I should be resting.  I was also sent to physical therapy, which was wonderful, because it was basically an insurance-covered back massage.  I have to tell you that it's impossible to sit still when your "nesting instincts" are humming like crazy.  I was a bit of a neat freak before I was pregnant, but this is a whole new ball game.  I keep thinking, in a manner of speaking, that "every day is going to be my last" and I want my whole world to be in order so, when the time actually DOES come, I won't have to focus on anything but getting this kid out into the world.

Today's appointment with Duckie also incorporated my thirty-six week check up.  I'm continuing to measure on the small side, but Baby Storms is measuring right on the money.  I think the fact that I have such a long torso helps spread the baby around and he's not compacted so tightly.  My blood pressure was still a bit on the higher end, so I'm stilll under strict instructions to take it easy and I've got to stop going to the gym.  Not that I have been over the past five days.  No signs of labor yet, which really doesn't mean anything. 

So, here we are on Tuesday morning...at thirty-six weeks, and riding on minimal sleep...

I get up to go to the bathroom about twice a night.  Jeff calls me the "pregnant Chinese woman" because I have this weird elephant shuffle when I get up.  My joints are so stiff from only sleeping on my sides, in addition to having a sore back, that it takes a few minutes for the juices to get going once I'm up.  This weekend, Jeff and I are taking our "Labor & Delivery" class.  While I'm very excited to be a big part of bringing Baby Storms into the world, a part of me wishes I could be a fly on the wall, observing Jeff and I work together as we go through the experience.  We've been reading about what we need to bring with us to the hospital.  Most of the books recommend bringing a snack or sandwich for the labor partner, in case hunger pangs strike in the middle of the night and he doesn't need to leave the room to go and forage around a quiet hospital for food.  I'm relaying this to Jeff last night, who half-snorts, and says, "Why wouldn't I just go to the cafeteria?"  My response was, "Because you'll bring your cell phone" which prompted laughter.  Jeff has a terrible habit of "losing" himself when he gets distracted.  This is how that scenario would play out:

Jeff:  I'm going to the cafeteria to get a sandwich. 

Me:  Okay, huff, huff.  Be back quickly.  Huff, huff. 

Jeff would then leave the room, pull out his cell phone just to "see something" and subsequently get lost amid the corridors in the hospital.  But, he wouldn't notice that he was lost because after he "checked the scores" or "caught up on the news," he would call his brother or his mother or one of his buddies to give them a "progress report" on the labor.  This phone call would lead him to meander further around the hospital, getting more and more lost, until he disconnected the call and realized that he didn't know where he was.  He'd find a staffer, ask where the cafeteria was, and finally go and get a sandwich.  While in the cafeteria, there'd probably be a television and he'd get caught watching "Sports Center" or CNN and decide to sit down and eat his sandwich.  After he finished eating, he'd probably call someone else, start texting with someone from his office, or check to see if anything happened in the world in the last hour, at which point he'd realize that he had no idea how to get back to the room where I am.  He'd feel badly that he'd been gone for a long time, and decide to buy me a gift in the form of a stuffed animal.  He would finally ask a hospital employee how to get back to my birthing suite.  Then, he'd arrive and have been gone for forty-five minutes.  And you think I'm being dramatic.  Ask my husband if this is a completely plausible scenario.  Ask him how many times he's driven past the exit to our house on the freeway because he's been on the phone. 
          

The baby's room is all completed now - all his clothes are washed, his pacifiers and bottles have been sanitized, and now we're just waiting.  I had my final two showers last week, and I can't tell everyone enough how grateful we are for everything.  Seriously, its an incredible feeling to be so showered and spoiled.  My mom and sister put together an amazing shower for me last Saturday.  My girlfriends were also generous, and I received a number of gifts with a mother's stamp of approval.  We also received the video monitor, which I was really excited about, and I've got it all set up and ready to go.   

So, I hope I've made this sufficiently long in order to make up for posting late.  We've got twenty-three days to go, and I'm hoping that by December 1st, I'll be holding Baby Storms in my arms and not in my belly!