No News is Good News

Wow! It's been a long time since the last post. I suppose that's a good thing though. We are just plugging along in a cycle of disbelief, panic, excitement, worry, calm, and happiness. The car seat is installed. The bag is packed and in the trunk. The clothes and blankets have been washed and put away according to use and size. Now we wait.

Today we had a doctor's appointment. Everything is going great! No preeclampsia. Some normal swelling. Baby is moving A LOT. The heartbeat is as loud as we have ever heard. I am within a good weight gain range. And, most importantly we are at 37 weeks. Full term. The doctor offered for us to have "membrane shaving" done today, which sounded gruesome and might be. Basically, it separates the membrance from the cervix to "naturally" start labor. Both Anthony and I immediately started shaking our heads "no." We need him to stay in there for a while longer, but it is incredible to think that we are at that point where if he was born, he would survive. That's overwhelming. I feel like we should celebrate. Anthony and I did it. We made it. Not that there aren't any fears anymore, but I feel like we can at least breathe a little sigh of relief that we made it to this major milestone.

We took a few baby classes in the past weeks. Class #1 - Sleep Like A Baby. A sleep training class that taught us tips and tricks for how to help you and your child develop sleep patterns. This one scared the crap out of me. I'm never sleeping again was my take-away. I do not do well with no sleep. Mainly, I cry. I'm a crier anyways, but I really cry when I'm tired. I will just have to learn how to deal. My philosophy throughout the pregancy has been "everything is temporary so enjoy it for what it is, and if you hate it, it will be over soon enough." I am going to have to really focus on that during the no-sleep phase.

Class #2 - Baby Care Basics. Essentially, "how not to kill your kid." I liked it mainly for all the "if this happens, or if the kid looks like this, that is normal" discussions. I also learned how to diaper for minimal blow-outs and to lessen the amount of urine I will be wearing. Invaluable. It was also excellent to see how lucky I have been during the past 37 weeks. I really felt bad for some of the women there. I could tell they were already miserable and had months to go. Some day I will thank the baby for making this easy on me and Anthony (with the exception of my bipolar moodswings). I couldn't ask for a better pregnancy. That was probably the best thing I learned from class.

We also took maternity pictures at the Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. There was finally snow! Our friend Julia took them for us. It was a lot of fun! I will post those as soon as we get them. Here's a sneak peek:

I am sleeping through the night for the most part. Though Anthony is not. I guess I have developed quite a snore. I bought some BreatheRight strips which have not helped. I tell ya, there is nothing attractive about being pregnant. Between the gigantic undies, the clunky walking and movements, the rollercoaster of emotions, the hot flashes, and now, the BreathRights, it's a wonder that couples stay together at all.

Other than that, we are biding our time. I'm enjoying it just being the two of us. The day is fast approaching where we won't have this time to ourselves. I am valuing every second that we do right now. Just three more weeks. The next post will probably look much different - there will probably an actual baby here. Surreal.