And the waiting begins

Today is my first day home from work.  Technically I'm on vacation so not really on mat leave just yet.  It's still weird though, knowing that I'm off for a year.  I went for my weekly check in with the doctor.  The baby is low which is good, but my cervix isn't ready to give way for the baby so I think she's staying just where she is for at least another week.  I don't mind as that means I get some time to rest and relax and do some odd things around the house.  My mom is going to come hang out tomorrow and we're going to do some baking and possibly visit the William Ashley sale in the evening.

Changes

I think time is coming for this little one to arrive.  Obviously I have noticed changes throughout the pregnancy but I feel like the past two days have been different.  My hormones are going crazy as all of a sudden I feel like crying at the weirdest moments and I keep having hot flashes.  On top of that my feet and legs are starting to swell and walking....well, that's a whole different ball game.  The pressure on my pelvis is a bit painful every time I take a step.  I've given up even trying to wear heels.  Today at work I was conducting an interview and normally would have changed out of my running shoes but could not be bothered.
In the past week I've started feeling 'menstrual cramps' on and off and it reminds me that I have enjoyed NOT having my period for the past 9 months.  I don't think I'm going to enjoy that coming back into my monthly schedule.
I had managed to only get up once at night but am now back to 3 or 4 times and while baby used to sleep through, she seems to be up at around 3:00/3:30a.m. I know this is just preparing for me for after she is born but I would just love to get a nice stretch up uninterrupted sleep one last time.
Needless to say, I am so looking forward to the end of work so I can just laze at home in my pj's all day long.  Let's hope baby doesn't decide to come early and not give me any break at all.

Weekly check in with the doctor

Today I had my weekly check-in with the doctor.  I'm up to 162 lbs.  He didn't say whether baby had dropped or not but did say "You have a good size baby here".  The heart rate was good, measurements were good and my blood pressure was good.  He also said to be prepared because first babies are usually late.  Although funnily I've had two people (Kim and my acupuncture) tell me they had a feeling I would be early.  I thought I would be late, but then my instincts don't mean anything so I wouldn't go by then.  Let's hope I can at least make it through this week to finish off work.
Next week I get an internal exam (yuck!) to see if my cervix has decided to open yet or not.  I don't think it's going to be pleasant and I'm not looking forward to it :(

The surprises keep on coming...

Today I had another surprise shower at work.  This time it was thrown by people outside my department.  Again I was clueless.  I was talking to someone about work and followed him without thinking into a meeting room where there were a ton of people just waiting for me.  It made me realize how lucky I am to work with people I like, get along with and consider to be friends as well.  They got me my diaper bag, gift certificate to Elmwood Spa, more outfits for the baby and one lady also made a diaper cake.  It's so pretty I don't want to tear it apart.  I'll have to post pictures later as I didn't have my camera but there were 2 or 3 others taking pictures.  Fortunately this time we didn't play any games so I didn't have to eat any more baby food.

Weekly Check-in with doc

I had my weekly check in with the doctor.  I'm only up 1 pound this week bringing me to 161 lbs.  My blood pressure is good, whatever measurement they take of my belly is good and the heart rate is strong.  Also the results from my strep B test came back negative so no antibiotics for me while in labour.
The doctor told me to think 511 in terms of coming to the hospital when I go into labour.  That means contractions 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute and this should be happening for at least 1 hour.  He also said, by contraction, he means a lot of pain in which I'm doubled over and can't speak or smile.
After the doctor's visit I went and picked my Mom up from the travel agency.  We went to Markville where she treated me to a shopping spree at Thyme Maternity.  I picked up some more nursing bras (which I think I'm going to start wearing now), a couple of nursing tops, some more nightwear and underwear, because you know my philosophy on those...you can never have enough.  We then hit Toys R Us where I used some of my gift cards to get a change pad and cover, nursing pillow and some nipple cream to soothe me while breast feeding. 

I also stopped in at Winners/Home Sense to pick up bedding for the guest bed.  So we are now all ready for the Mom's to stay over.  We then rested our weary feet at the Pickle Barrel for lunch.  On the way back through the mall we stopped in at Ardene where I picked up a couple of slippers.  I've started to pack my hospital bag but I don't think it's big enough.  I need to repack what's in there or get a slightly bigger one.
As I was sitting here updating my blog, our neighbour from across the street came knocking on the door.  She is due very soon as well with her second.  She must be going through all her stuff as she gave me some bibs and blankets.  Again things you can never have enough of.  I'm very fortunate to have friends and family around willing to lend/pass on their baby items.  Babies grow so quickly it's almost a waste to buy new stuff as it hardly ever gets worn.

Another surprise baby event

Today at work my department had a surprise baby luncheon for me.  I had noticed a lot of activity happening in the past couple of weeks but could not figure out any details.  I went about my day as usual and was going to go for lunch before 12:00noon as I was hungry.  However, Charlie was chatting with me so I did not get out.  I was just asking my colleague Julia what she wanted when she said "Come with me, I have to show you something".  I followed her into one of the meeting rooms where the rest of the department was there.  They table was set with cupcakes from Prairie Girl Bakery (my favourite) and with Greek food.  It was great.  I was not used to being the hot seat as I am usually the one to plan our department events.  It was payback time, as I normally make them play all sorts of games, while I 'host' or just watch.  After lunch they blindfolded me, made me taste baby food and try to guess what it was.  I can see why babies don't like to eat some of that stuff...especially the vegetable ones.

Fortunately I'll be able to make my own with my brand new Baby Bullet.  I am obsessed with this infomercial and had mentioned to Julia that I was going to get it, so they all pitched in and got it for me.  I can hardly wait to try it out.  I know baby needs to be a bit older but I'm really looking forward to it.
We also played a game where I had to say what attributes I would want baby to get from Mommy and which ones I would want baby to get from Daddy.  That was fun too!
I work with a great set of people and am going to miss them when I'm gone but plan to stay in touch so they don't forget me :)
I'll post other pictures from the shower when I receive them.  There are some great ones as I'm tasting the baby food :)

Starting weekly visits

Today I had another check-in with the doctor.  From now on it's going to be weekly visits.  I'm happy to report that I didn't gain any weight from my last visit 2 weeks ago to now.  I did find it a bit surprising though as I felt like I've eaten quite a bit of junk food lately and all the Thanksgiving food over the weekend.  Maybe Baby has had enough and doesn't have enough room to grow anymore.
Other than that everything looks good.  Her head is pointed down and her back is to the left of me.  I could have told the doctor that though as she keeps jabbing me on the right hand side.
I supposed the countdown is on.  We have the car seat installed, I have clothes for baby and sort of packed a hospital bag so I guess we're ready for whenever she decides to come on out.

36 Weeks

Prenatal Class

This weekend Raju and I headed to Sunnybrook on Saturday and today for our prenatal classes.  I was prepared for the fact that we would be watching birthing videos but I guess I never really took into account how graphic they would be.  I really didn't need to see a woman with all her parts out to see.  I liken it to when I was getting my belly button ring.  I knew it was going to hurt but really did not need to see/inspect the needle.  Just do it and get it over with.  I definitely will not be asking for a mirror to see what is going on down there.  I have to say though, that the women in these videos did not have epidurals (apparently that would make for a boring video) and although in pain managed to get through it.  I'm not saying "no" to the epidural but I think I'd like to see how long I can last without it. 
Today I found much more practical in that we got a tour of the hospital, practiced some more massage and position techniques to get through labour pains and even talked about breastfeeding.  I know I'll forget much of this when the time comes but it seems like there is a lot of support in place to help guide us through so I'm not too worried about it.
Aside from packing my bag for the hospital I think we're as ready as we're going to be.  It's one of those things that you can talk about a lot but just have to experience to get through it.