Is anyone still out there?

Wow - long time no post! Even though I'm not yet full term, there is a part of me that would love this post to have been delayed by some baby-havin'. Oh well - I guess it's all for the best that these lil punks are dead set on taking full advantage of their current lodgings. They fucking love it up in here! And now that I'm done with work they may never want to leave. This week has been very chill - all about playing Scrabulous, catching up on tivo, reading and generally relaxing. I have thrown in a small amount of "nesting," but that's really just me cleaning up the horrid mess that I've made in the babies' room. It's shocking, though, how quickly I get tired! Also at my most recent ob appointment, I noticed that the street we always park on is a bit downhill from the office. I guess I always thought it was flat, but yesterday by the time I got to the corner I felt like I'd summited Everest! Oh the huffing and puffing...

Speaking of my appointment, my c-section has been rescheduled from 5/9 to 5/15. In my previous post I said that "my" doc suggested 5/12, but it was in fact another doctor in the practice. Please pardon the fib; it just didn't seem that important at the time. Then it was the scheduling nurse who went with the 9th when the 12th and 14th were full. Once my actual OB got wind of it, he decided to move it back because he wants to wait until I'm a full 38 weeks. So the 15th at 5pm is what we've got now and I'll be 38w4d and SO FUCKING READY! I'm hoping for something to open up on the 12th or 14th, mostly because the time of day of the current one kinda sucks. W and I were just saying how hard it will be to fall asleep the night before what was then a 10 am c-section. We described the range of excitement as being akin to Christmas morning. Then it was Christmas morning times 2. Then it was "exponentially better" than Christmas morning and then all of a sudden it was 11 at night and we're trying to figure out what the Twin Factorial of Christmas morning would be. DORKS! But now all that's out the window and we get to spend an entire DAY sitting around waiting for the littles to arrive. Madness!

I've started weekly nonstress tests, which are actually quite nice. The staff is very cheery and I get to lie in a pretty comfy bed and listen to my babies heartbeats for peaceful 30 minutes, give or take. I had my first one last Friday afternoon, which happened to be my last day of work, and I was having contractions like crazy. None that felt too major, but they were quite frequent. At today's test, after a week of chilling in my new recliner, there was just one teeny one. I guess this resting stuff works! My blood pressure had gone up a bit last week., but now it's down to 120/70. Can't complain about that.

Life is uncomfortable, but I really don't have much to whine about. Here's my list of non-complaints. :)

• I'm huge (63 pounds gained - it's all in my legs, I swear*)
• I have to pee so often that it's BEYOND cliche
• My little girl continues to burrow into my back at around 3 am every morning. OUCH.
• My right hand is pretty useless. I can't squeeze or hold onto much of anything with it.
  
• I'm starving all the time. Constantly.
• Except when I'm so full I could burst. Violently.
• I find it hard at times to sit up at all because the little man is exploring the upper regions of my ribs.

So, you see? Nothing earth shattering. But I'm definitely ready for the next part of this adventure. But first...I gotta pee.

*Seriously, my legs are full of fluid. When the girl burrows in, I find it helpful to hang out on my hands and knees for a bit. Well, lately I've noticed that there's this extra layer of cushioning on the front half of my shins. It's FLUID! EW!

And the countdown begins

Well, I tried to schedule for 5/14 as planned, but it's booked. As is 5/12, which is what my doctor suggested (and is also the anniversary of when W proposed!). So now I'm scheduled for May 9th at 10am! Which is less than one frickin' month away!!!

Insanity.

In other news, I was at BRU yesterday returning some stuff we don't need for some stuff we do, and when I was at the register, the manager offered me a deal on some diapers that had been returned. They were out of the box, but still in the wrappers. 192 dipes for $15!! I don't know how much diapers cost, but I knew that was a steal! It was kind of weird, though. Buying baby stuff like boppies and blankets is one thing, but DIAPERS? Moms buy those.

Also, I wanted to change my countdown thing to reflect the c-section date, but for some reason I can't find link to edit my Blogger Template/Layout. Anyone??

33 week update

I suck at titles these days. Anyhoo - we had an ultrasound this morning and things are looking really good in there! Our girl is 4 lbs, 7 oz and the little man is 4 lbs, 4 oz. That's like real live baby-sized! Smallish, but still! They have been holding tight in the same positions for the past two months (she's breech and he's transverse) so I'm not holding out too much hope for a vaginal delivery, but you never know! I've been getting (and googling) advice on how to encourage her to turn, so hopefully something will work. Otherwise, we're looking at 5/14 for a scheduled c-section. I should probably make sure my doctor's going to be around then, but assuming he is, we like that date. I'll be 38.5 weeks at that point and probably ready to burst. My cervix measured 4.5cm today, so I feel as confident as I can (for a total pregnancy rube) that I should be able to hang on til week 39.

We finally got a wee glimpse of the little man's face. Here he is all squnched up, apparently sucking on his knee. Clearly he's more flexible than either of his parents! For those who find r0rschach tests easier to decipher than these ultrasound pics (like me), he is giving us a profile shot, with his head on the far right of the picture. You can see his eye socket, a (kind of gigantic) schnozz, and his puffy cheek, and then his leg is the curved thing w/ the knee right near his mouth. The tech also said she could see that he's got some hair. We couldn't make that out, though. I honestly think they just make shit up at these appointments. I know she's a trained technician and all that, but how does she identify these blobs so quickly?? Ok, here he is...MY BLOB:


Even though it's been uncomfortable at times (like most of the time) and I'm ready to move on to the next phase, pregnancy has provided W and I with some funny moments. For instance, this morning before our u/s, just parking the car made for a bit o'hilarity. There was a huge cement column between me and the next car and for a few moments I thought I might be trapped on the wrong side of things. I had to hold on and squish in my belly to squeeze between the car and the column. W was just laughing hysterically, as there was nothing he could do. There was no space in front of the car to get around either. I suppose I could have gotten in the back seat and slid across, but with my 50+ pounds gained (yeah, baby!) the scooting would have been no easy feat. I dissolved into such a fit of laughter, that of course I started snorting, which echoed throughout the garage. Classy.

One weird thing was that I had a little spotting after the cervix check. My ob nurse said that it's just because of the wand. It hasn't happened before, so it's definitely a little concerning, but it's tapering off, and I have an ob appointment tomorrow, so I'm trying not to worry about it. I know there's still that polyp there, so I will just assume that it got irritated.

I also have my mid-week day off tomorrow, which I'm very excited about. Last week's was so lovely. I just hung out all by my lonesome. That is the best, isn't it? I mean, not all the time, but on occasion just being alone is so great. I actually am a little worried about the fact that it will be a long, long time before I get a day all to myself. Of course, one might point out that I DID ask for this influx of permanent company and I totally agree! I'm so excited, but parenthood definitely does come with sacrifices and that's going to be a big one for me.

In other exciting work news, I think we found the temp who will replace me. I will feel lots better about that, and will be able to bow out gracefully at the end of next week. Actually, probably more like Monday, 4/21, because we have a big event that day and I don't want the poor temp to be overwhelmed. I do feel kind of bad perpetuating this myth that I'm coming back, but I don't have much choice since I'd like to take advantage of the short term disability and all that.

I had another enlightening observation to make, but alas, it has escaped me. I guess typing a bunch of boring shit tends to erase all the important thoughts from ones head. Damn.

Update: As I sit here on the couch needing to pee for the 47th time and dreadfully sad about how difficult it is to extract myself from this godforsaken piece of shit, I am cruising Jezebel and found this. For a mere $13??? I'm seriously considering it...