36 week update

I'm not quite at the 36 week mark but it's a quiet Sunday morning so I thought that I would use the opportunity to provide a little update.  Not too much to report on body changes at this point - I'm mostly just getting bigger and more uncomfortable. My "waddle" is getting worse - I need to put my hand down to sit down and I need to make a very concerted effort to get back up again.  My back is usually pretty sore by the end of the night and I have a good time chuckling at my "toes pointed out to the side, belly forward, hands on my back, slow steps" walking stride.  Oh well, only a few more weeks of that walking style are left.  

I'm now on weekly doctor's visits.  There continues to be no complications - my blood pressure remains pretty low and the doctor seems happy with the baby's growth.  I've let go of my obsession with how much weight I'm gaining - I no longer even bother to convert the number of kilograms into pounds (which probably helps with my lack of interest in the weight gain - I don't do the math so I just don't really know what I've gained).  Truth be told though, I'm sure that I will do a final tally right before my due date, just to know where I finished up.  The weight gain was certainly the hardest part of the first portion of my pregnancy but I have come to terms with the fact that pregnancy involves weight gain and as long as you don't go overboard with eating, all will be well.  

We started our pre-natal classes last week.  They actually finish after my due date so I'm not sure if we will get to all of them but the labour prep classes are during the first three sessions and those are the ones that I am most interested in.  After much humming and hawing, I decided to go with the health region classes but mostly because they are being taught by the local midwife.  I am already appreciating her point of view - she gives a very balanced perspective between the traditional medical approach and the more "alternative" midwifery approach.  In typical Scott anti-establishment style, he is somewhat horrified by having to attend such an organized and conventional course but he's just going to have to work through that.  He managed to work through it last week by having four beers before going to the class (it was just a coincidence that some good friends of ours had just returned from their trip to Europe and we went for beers with them to hear about their trip).  I made him promise that he wouldn't slur his words while we were at the class - I could just picture Child and Family Services coming to investigate us for being unfit parents, all because the "father" showed up drunk at the first pre-natal class!

To ease the Brand family's anxiety about how they will receive word on when I go into labour, we have created a telephone plan so that they know when I go into labour.  The rest of you will have to wait until you get a call/email announcing that the baby has been born.  I'm sure that word will spread fast though - everyone loves news of a baby's arrival.  

The weather has turned warmer this week and I am eternally grateful to those friends who had lent me some capri pants/light tops.  I did pick up a couple of short-sleeve t-shirts but I just can't bring myself to buy more spring clothes, given that I only have about four weeks left to go. I certainly am prone to getting hot these days and have even had to ask hospital maintenance staff to bring me a fan and turn down the heat in my office.  As I previously mentioned, I won't let Scott turn up the heat in our house but as with everything, he has resigned himself to another weird stage of pregnancy and honours my request. I'm lucky to have such a good husband!