36.5 Week Update

Picture taken on Monday, at 36 weeks.

The stats: Weight gain: 30 lbs. Dang. Baby's heartrate: 130s. Fundal Height: 36 cm. Baby's head is "decently engaged" already and my cervix has started to thin and shorten but isn't really dilated yet. People keep telling me I'm still carrying "high," but after doing yoga today I am feeling more pressure on my hips and lower in my pelvis. I'm sure it will only get worse as she drops! I can't wait until this is all over.

Thankfully I'm sleeping okay despite at least 2 trips to the bathroom per night. It takes a while to get to sleep sometimes, usually because of jolting kicks to the ribs, but I would say that I'm falling asleep faster than my pre-pregnant insomniac days. So hooray for that.

Congrats to Jay on the delivery of her huge and cute baby boy on Monday. You're my hero and I'm jealous that you're finished with this raw deal.

Mama Wears Prada.... sort of

Here are the spoils from J's trip to Eastern Europe..... the land of ~cough~ dubious authenticity. But a lot less dubious than what one finds here in Italy. Do I have the best husband ever or what? Especially since the bag was purchased with the intention of it being used as a diaper bag, no doubt because he's tired of hearing me whine about the un-stylishness of parenthood.

Today has been.... interesting. I did my workout on the treadmill and attempted once again to get in a few minutes of pokey 5 miles/hr running, after which my pelvis and hips lit on fire. Because the naval hospital will not deliver babies before the 36 week mark (in case I haven't already explained - they don't have a NICU, so one is forced to deliver at the Italian hospital - from all accounts, a very mother-baby unfriendly environment - even though many babies are not in need of intensive care at 35 weeks, I guess the military has to draw the line somewhere) I think maybe it's best to postpone such attempts until I'm in the 36-week clear----four days from now.

At the end of my workout, one of the wives of a guy at J's command came up to me and said, "are you ever going to have that baby?" Here we go, I thought, another 'were you expecting a new year's baby?' Seriously, some guy asked me that the other day. Like, 11 days after new year's. Fortunately though, this woman continued on, after I told her, 'not for another month,' to comment...."I see you in here all the time.... it must be paying off because I looked more like this machine (gesturing toward the treadmill) than you when I was 8 months pregnant." To all y'all who feel the need to comment on pregnant women.... we like those comments.

Driving home, however, not even the ravest review could take away what ailed me. Baby, like her mother, insists on being right, in that her entire body seems to be on my right side. So as I was trying to avoid speeding semi-trucks and lakes of water on the road begging for some hydro-planing action (Italian roads do not have ditches or any other sort of provision for run-off), nerves in my right hip and back were being pinched while my daughter vaulted her no-doubt immense head-if she's taking after me-into my bladder. How I didn't cause/get into an accident, I have no idea. From what I've read this kid probably weighs around 5 pounds by now, but probably still has a couple more to go. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not a very big girl. And my torso has always been the least-big part of me. So imagine a 5 pound bowling ball bouncing around in there. And then imagine it on steroids.

I have a doctor's appointment a week from today at which point I'll post another picture of my hugeness, or rather, her hugeness. Until then, please send Jay some healthy/fast labour thoughts as today is her due date and she's understandably eager to git'r dun.

34 Week Update

I had my 34 week check-up today. Baby is measuring on target and her heartrate is in the 130s (down from 150s) but the doctor says this is normal for the end of pregnancy.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, eep! I've gained a whopping 27.5 pounds. Since I eat well and exercise every day, doctor says it looks like mostly water retention and in my case, will probably go away quickly after the birth. He told me I'm in great shape and to keep up the good work. So I'm not going to obsess any longer...... mostly.

He gave me a prenatal yoga video to try (there are no such classes here) in the hopes of relieving my pelvic pain. Now that the swimming pool is back open, I have many more exercise options available to me. Including, I'm happy to report, a few minutes of running I've been able to do every couple of days on top of walking or cycling. Not much, but it's a start!

I was feeling great last week, but since Saturday have been sleeping miserably (half-awake most of the night) and have had mad heartburn. Having to get up at 3 to drive J to the airport this morning isn't helping either.

In other news, I can now tell you all that I got J the Ipod shuffle for Christmas (purchased before our Christmas party winnings) and, as a result, I am now the proud owner of an 8 GB Ipod nano. It's sweet. I love the Pod. It's my new best friend. But I have a question for y'all.... without having a tape deck in one's car, what is the best and most reliable technology available to hook up an Ipod to the car for playback? We bought a Belkin radio transmission piece o'junk and returned it the next day. Either it's a crappy brand or there simply aren't any completely empty frequencies in this country. What are your experiences?

2008

Welcome to the new year everyone! I hope you all partied extra hard for me since my celebrations were obviously very low-key.

Yesterday we drove up Mount Etna to the ski chalet. (Don't worry John, there was no lava flow to be seen at that altitude.) It was incredible how quickly the seasons changed the higher we got. Not only did I see snow, but also orange and falling leaves in a small portion of the mountain that seems to be a bit season-confused.

Not that it should come as any surprise, but guess what you get when you combine Italian driving with a complete and utter lack of experience with winter? Pure mayhem, that's what. Mayhem and brightly colored retro snowsuits. By far the funniest thing was their vain attempt to bring winter back with them by piling giant blocks of snow on the hoods of their cars before driving back down to milder conditions. So giant I question whether or not they could adequately see the windy-a** road in front of them.