Misc Pregnancy Notes & photo!

Photo taken by Mia this morning. Hate it - esp the hair, but it was the best of the ten she took.

Be warned, this one is full of (what could be considered boring) pregnancy detail (no, I won't be discussing hemorrhoids - although I could!).

I'm 36 weeks pregnant now. Can't believe I have still 4 (or 5 or 6) weeks of growing to go. That said, I'm feeling pretty good. I've had a couple of rough weeks - mostly due to the baby's positioning for awhile - back pain, pelvic pain, pain shooting down the outside and/or inside of my legs, and major heartburn (never had that before) - heartburn so bad that I actually went out and got some "Gaviscon" for it (Bucking my usual no-drugs during pregnancy trend even ones they are OK to take - so you know it was BAD). I spent a lot of time last week walking on all fours and I think that helped move the baby, plus I think it dropped a bit. I can breath. Part of the trick is to be in bed early, so lights are out between 8:30/9:30 which guarantees I won't see Eugene Monday to Friday.

I don't see how my belly can get any bigger, but then I bump (almost literally) into the mom in Mia's class that's due three weeks before me and I see where this going.... I've already dropped so that helps breathing.

Interesting thing about this baby, is that it moves the most when I'm walking. Movements that stop me in my tracks and alarm passer byes. Apparently it has more room since the uterus is all stretched out so it's doing flips and somersaults or log roll and sticking its body parts in places not gone before.

Food: I like to indulge in a croissant of some sort every day. Either an almond or ham & cheese. So yummy. That with a yummy Italian Latte, and I'm set. Helps me not miss my soft, moldy and smelly cheeses and red wine. However, between these daily croissants and no longer doing the afternoon school run, I will soon look not so neat and everyone will change their prediction to girl.

Appearance: Most moms look at me and say that I look very "neat." Not meaning well groomed or 1970s cool, they mean that copious amounts of fat have not spread everywhere. They think this means it's a boy, but I remind them of my school runs - round trip that means I'm getting an hour of exercise a day! That would do it. Everyone but two people (one of them being Mia) thinks I'm having boy. I've even officially said that what I think it is. This is mostly because I wasn't as sick as long, but also because this pregnancy has been so different from the first two, and just because I have that feeling. We shall see. I did guess right with Chloe and Mia, so...

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Do you know that between both my private midwife and my national insurance midwives, not one person has asked me to step foot on a scale? Shocking, no? Of course it would be the one pregnancy when I'm not quite as big as a house that I won't know how much I've gained. Also different here, is that there is no routine glucose test (which I would have declined anyway) and the rhesus negative shots are new here. For those that haven't had them, they are for those of us who have "negative" blood so that our body doesn't create antibodies against the baby if it's positive. In the US, I had one shot before each birth and one after (both girls are positive), but here you get two shots before (and one after if needed). They are a bit sceptical about it, give you tons of literature and then (as they do with all shots and injections) make you read the little bottle and confirm the contents, expiry date, and then you have to sign.

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Also, speaking of shots - the girls had their first ones yesterday (Mia's very first) and what was interesting is that they have one for Meningitis C and another meningitis. Meningitis is a bigger problem here than in the US - whereas the US has one for pneumonia and they don't.

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It's official - I've hit the no-patience time in this pregnancy. I have none for slow/incompetent salespeople, waitstaff or stupid people that generally exist around us. But most of all I seem to have none for MY CHILDREN. What is it about this time that makes one so impatient? This morning, while getting ready for school (or actually the problem was NOT getting ready for school), I wanted to throttle them and literally kick Chloe's ass out the door. I know there must be some genetic reason for this -- like priming the kids for the reality of me having a baby to tend to and that they will have to figure out how to put on a pair of g-damn socks without me or that I will not respond to a child writhing around on the floor, or maybe it's just that darling Mia came into my bed at 5:40am and with her squirming, tossing and turning kept me up until my alarm went off at 7. One hour and 20 minutes is a lot of precious lost sleep for a 36 week pregnant woman who is not a nap taker. Argh! Then I have from 8:50am until they get home at 4 to feel guilty about it - although I gotta say the guilt is not so bad - I'm feeling quite justified in my frustration. A seven year old should be able to..... or a four year old can... Blah, blah, blah.