Still pregnant!

Had another non-stress test and exam with my doctor yesterday. Baby still seems to want to stay put for a while longer, and there are no signs of any problems with either of us, so that's what we're going to let it do - for now. We also put together a plan to induce that we will follow through on if nothing happens soon. First another non-stress test on Friday, then another on Saturday followed by the first of the actual induction steps. We'll be back and forth to the hospital to be checked and for more help moving things along on Saturday and Sunday, with a goal of delivering on Sunday.

(It occurred to me that Sunday is the 27th, which would be exactly five months to the day from my birthday. Perhaps Ray could remember our dates that way. It also occurred to me that the 27th is really not too far off from May 1, so if we changed our plans to induce a bit we could possibly please Karen by having a May baby. Finally two last things occurred to me: I am way too obsessed with dates (for example, license plate insurance dates - if you don't know, don't ask), and there is no way in hell I'm holding this baby in longer to please Karen. Sorry sis.)

I like having a plan. Much as I am aware that the plans could crumble if the baby so chooses, I like that we have a plan to look forward to if nothing happens in the next couple of days. And when the doctor and Ray and I were putting this plan together, I must say I very much liked that we might be able to plan it so that all of the hospital stuff happens over Ray's weekend (if all goes well I'd deliver on Sunday and we'd go home on Monday). Of course if things happened mid-week and Robyn was around, I know we'd get it sorted out and everything would be fine. But being able to have a hand in deciding the dates to avoid the need to sort that out is a nice perk.

I slept miraculously well last night. Maybe it's because we have a plan, so I was more relaxed. Or maybe it's because I'm about to go into labour any minute now and my body knew I would need full strength today. Honestly I don't care why, I'm just very pleased that it happened. I even remembered snippets of dreams, which I haven't done in a long while, so I must have been sleeping quite deeply. Only got up once to pee, too! I told you, it was miraculous.

Ray has noted that "His" ticker on this blog isn't quite right. If we're overdue, the ball should definitely be in the end zone, right? And really, since he started this whole thing off by "scoring," the ball should have started off in the opposite end zone as well. Hardy har har.

Have you tried the new Oreo Cakesters yet? Mmmmm.

Winter Wonderland?

What a strange day! We had a power outage at about 5:30am for around an hour and a half and I didn't hear anything by way of an explanation. When Ray got up he opened the windows to show me what had happened over night - snow! Not just a little snow, but a fair bit that actually stuck. Crazy! Last Saturday Ray spent most of the day outside and came back sunburned, this Saturday we have snow??? What is Mother Nature up to exactly? The snow didn't let up for hours. I took a few pictures around 11:30 this morning to prove it to you. Then a little less than three hours later I couldn't believe how much it had changed outside, so I took more pictures for you. Suddenly we had partly blue skies and most of the snow had melted away. Here are a couple of the pics, if you want you can see the rest here.



While the camera was out, Ray took a couple of photos of my pregnant belly. Yep, still pregnant. I can't believe how much bigger I look with the bare belly compared to the clothed belly! (Well, ok, they are zoomed differently but you get the picture. Ha! The picture!) Hopefully the next photos you see here will be of the baby instead of the belly.





I went to the hospital for a non-stress test today. Everything still checks out fine, just looks like things are moving slowly. Nothing much more to report. Unless anything changes, next up will be another non-stress test and appointment with the doc on Tuesday morning. Our friends who were due just three days before us delivered a healthy baby girl yesterday. Our turn next!

P.S. Yes, I did go back to that store today. Stocked up on cheap chocolate for under three dollars. Oh yeah.

D-Day

So. Today is April 18 - what I've been referring to as D-Day, as in Due Day. But baby's still enjoying it's time on the inside so looks like we'll have another D-Day - Delivery Day - some time soon.

Never buy a pool noodle for your kids. My two kids have gone nuts for one, and it's been driving me nuts! Allow me to start from the beginning. Our prenatal class instructor showed us how a cut-off section of a pool noodle can be a great back massager during labour because it feels great for Mom but doesn't take a lot of effort for Dad. So we bought one and cut off a section to pack with the hospital bag. The rest of it has been hanging around the house for a few days now. My eldest child, Ray, has decided it's a great toy and just loves to twist and bend it, talk into one end of it, make dirty jokes with it, use it like a telescope, etc. He's also figured out that you can hit someone pretty hard with it without it really hurting. So he's taken to hitting my other kid, Robyn, with it. Robyn has decided this is a really great game as well. The two of them have put a fair amount of time into the activity of slapping each other silly with a pool noodle, and I'm the Mom telling them to make sure they don't break anything, asking them to cool it when the noise gets to me, and of course being the first one to actually get hurt with the darn thing when Ray managed to hit me square in the glasses, pushing them into my face. Is this supposed to be parental training? If so, I'd like to opt out of the course. I've been getting ready for one infant, not two rough and tumble school aged boys in adult men's bodies.

Yesterday I found some Easter chocolate on sale for 75% off. Oh my goodness. Decent stuff too, even some Lindt brand. And some Russell Stover cream eggs (same idea and size as the common Cadbury ones, but with different fillings) for only 17 cents each! Holy smokes. Just what I needed! I spent a fair amount of time in the store aisle looking at all of the options, wanting to scoop them all into my basket but trying to give careful, logical consideration to my choices so I didn't load up too much.

I think I'll go back to that store tomorrow.

Doctor's update

Just back from the doctor's office, and basically the big news is... nothing. I'm a whopping one centimetre dilated which means pretty much nothing, and the baby is still sitting pretty high and not looking like it's ready for any action. Doc says it looks like we'll be fairly overdue. Assuming nothing changes, I'll go in for the non-stress test at the hospital on Saturday, then check in again with the doctor on Tuesday. If there's still nothing happening by Friday April 25 then we'll be talking inducement. So far I haven't felt anything I would call a contraction. I've had some moments of discomfort, and after I eat I'm often uncomfortable which I imagine is just because of lack of space. Today I've been feeling pretty nauseous so that's fun. Blah.

I'm still stuck between wanting to get the show on the road already and being completely freaked out in anticipation of the pain. Will keep you posted.

PS - Happy Birthday Trent!

Home stretch

Dang, these blogs are getting to be frequent. I must have a lot on my mind. Wonder why that is?

Oh yeah!


Only four sleeps until the due date. Sometimes I think I'm as ready as I'm going to be, so bring it on. Other times I think holy %&*# I can't believe I'm within days of this baby's arrival! No more countdown in months or even weeks. I'm talking in days (or sleeps) now. Soon I might be talking in days or sleeps overdue. Overdue! I can tell people I'm nine months pregnant. Decisions and tasks that I've been putting off until closer to the birth-day can't be delayed any longer. But I'm so good at procrastinating!

I've been working on what to pack in the hospital bag. I'm finding it much more difficult than I expected. Of course there's that bit of anxiety of forgetting something crucial, but then I remind myself that we live like 4 blocks from the
hospital and stores are close by, so it's not like Ray can't dash out for any forgotten items. Beyond that, I don't know how to actually get the bag ready when so much of what will go into it is still being used regularly. On the one hand I want the bag ready so we can grab it and dash out the door when the time comes, but on the other hand I'm still using the clothes and toiletries and whatnot that I would pack. I don't know what to pack for the baby, because I have a hard time picking a "coming home" outfit since I have no concept for how big the baby will be versus how big all these clothes are. How do you know if it will fit? Hey Moms, any tips?

We had a visit with the Landy's on Sunday, and that darn Lori went and gave me a box of girl guide cookies. Guess how long they lasted? Damn I just have absolutely no willpower with those things. (By the way, I was asked whether girl guide cookies are the same as girl scout cookies in the states - yes and no! Very similar organization, but in Canada they only sell two types that I know of - chocolate mint, and combo boxes of vanilla and chocolate cookies (oreo style). I hear in the States they have a zillion different kinds - I think I would be overwhelmed!)

Ray and I went out on a date last night. :) We had a gift certificate to a place we would not normally go to, and figured this was good timing - get in one last date night just the two of us. It was a steak and seafood place and boy was it tasty! Oh my goodness it was soooo tasty. I ate way too much of course and was uncomfortable for the rest of the night, but the meal was so worth it. Oh and the music was fabulous - I don't think they played a single song I didn't love, and it was pretty eclectic. I would totally go back, except that it was also soooooo expensive. It was a great treat but I can't imagine spending that again! Cost aside, it was a wonderful evening: just us, no distractions, beautiful weather for the walk afterwards. Perfection :)

Blah blah blah

Yesterday was probably the most productive day since I was told to stay off my feet, which means I didn't exactly follow doctor's orders, but actually my feet weren't so bad. Finished off the nursery, finished the last steps of putting the baby swing together (Ray did the nuts and bolts but left the cushion and mobile stuff to me), did some laundry including the last of the baby laundry (Ha! The last of the baby laundry! Did I just say that? It was the last of the pre-washing anyway.), did some general clean up, and started cooking in bigger batches so we can freeze more leftovers for those first few days after we bring baby home. (Side note - I doubled up on a casserole that I make infrequently because although it is sooooo good it is also sooooooooooooo fatty. So if you're in the mood for a disgustingly oily but yummy dish, let me know and I'll pass on the easy recipe.) So, things around here are certainly coming along. The last big task that I'd like to get done before baby & guests arrive, that probably won't get completed to my (or Ray's) satisfaction, is to clean up/organize/hide my craft stuff. It's taken over the dining room and I'm baffled as to how I can keep it handy enough that I will use it (don't want it to be out of sight and out of mind), but without having it on display in the current ugly mismatched rubbermaids and cardboard boxes, but keeping it portable enough for me to take it to crop days and retreats, and finally while keeping the dining room an actual dining room. So far the only solution I have come up with is slightly less than viable: move to a home with at least 3 bedrooms and have a craft room that is mine all mine.

There were quite a few sets of brackets in that run-on paragraph. (I'd count, but I'm too lazy.)

On an entirely different note, I'd like to tell you a story about my husband. I'm sure he'd tell it differently, but here is how I see it.

Scrabulous (an online version of Scrabble) has become part of the daily lives of Ray and I. Early on Ray introduced me to a website that helps you find words within your seven letters. He admits to using it when he plays against strangers, but we agreed we would never use it when we play against each other. Recently he beat me quite badly, with his score being well over 400 points - quite impressive, and slightly suspicious, but he vehemently denies cheating in this game with quite a bit of indignance, so I believe him. Today I suggested we play a game with both of us using that website he had shown me to help us, just to see how much of a difference it would make in our strategies and scores. It was neck and neck for a good while, but then Ray pulled ahead in and in the end beat me. As the game was coming to a close, he admitted to me that he cheated - his word, not mine. He had not been using the website we had agreed to, he was using a different website to cheat, one that not only unscrambles your letters into possible words, but also tells you the ideal place to put the word on the board based on all of the previous moves. It actually keeps a running mirror of our actual game board on the site, he just plugged in the letters he had each turn it and the program dictated exactly what the optimal move was each turn. In effect, he actually didn't play the game at all, the website did. When Ray confessed this to me, he was quite pleased with himself, and did not at all understand why I was angry. Well, that would be because he CHEATED. We flat out agreed to each use the one website for help, and he flat out cheated by using a different website unbeknownst to me. By the end of that discussion, he was backtracking and saying it wasn't really cheating since the whole game was a cheat with both of us using outside help. I maintain it was cheating because we agreed to one set of terms and he went ahead and played by different terms altogether. Bingo word of the day: CHEATER. Minimum 62 points.

I told Ray I was going to blog about this to expose him for the cheater that he is. He requested that I reiterate the point that he does not use those websites in regular game play - he doesn't want this blog to alienate his regular opponents since he enjoys playing the game so much. Karen et al, I'll leave that up to you.

Ray does earn a fair amount of brownie points though. He didn't say a word about me polishing off more than my share of those Girl Guide cookies or the ice cream before that. He brought home some chips I'd mentioned I'd been craving but hadn't actually asked for. He brought me flowers for no particular reason. Right now he is baking chocolate muffins, and a few minutes ago he even brought me a sampling of the batter. All of this and more just in the past week. He's a keeper I think. Love you, hun :)

What Goes Up...

We saw the doctor again today and guess what? My weight was down. This past week I lost weight, and the previous week I gained quite a bit. I have a new theory. Throughout the pregnancy I had been using the same exam room for every appointment - until last week. The office was crazy busy so I was weighed in a different room, with a different scale last week only. This week I was back to the usual room with the usual scale. So, I'm thinking that scale last week was out to lunch. In any case, I'm no longer freaked about my weight, and the doctor isn't concerned at all.

Baby has also come down some. Doc says for a first pregnancy the "dropping" can take several weeks, and it is underway but not complete yet. He figures I still have another two weeks or so to go. He also checked out a calendar and advised me that he's on call the weekend of the 19-20th so it would be really great if I could go into labour then. Ray pointed out that would be good timing for him as well, since if it happens on a weekend we don't have to worry about Robyn. Ok boys, I'll see what I can do.

The nurses had Girl Guide cookies for sale at the front desk. Boy are they smart, selling cookies in an obstetrician's office. They totally had me sold when they told me that the cookies had gone back to the old recipe. For a few years there the cookies just weren't the same so I was off them. I have verified (a few times over) that the old recipe is indeed back. Mmmmmm.

Laughing until you cry is the greatest, isn't it? Robyn provided me with a great belly laugh yesterday. In case you've never met Robyn, I'll fill you in on the two passions in his life: making people laugh, and music. He gets a real kick out of both. When it comes to music, he's got a great knack for remembering artist names and song titles, especially the oldies his Mom exposed him to. So Ray has started up a game with Robyn where he searches for song clips online and challenges Robyn to identify them as fast as he can. Often, Robyn sings along, even if he doesn't know the words. He'll passionately belt out a tune, with the right melody and timing, but with completely nonsensical lyrics. It's pretty amusing to hear. Yesterday, he topped any performance of his I've ever heard before. Are you ready for this? It was Backstreet Boys, Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely. Oh yeah. He rocked it out. Ray and I were busting our guts, trying to be quiet about it so Robyn wouldn't stop. He got through the entire song start to finish with such passion, and had an awesome time doing it. I'm pretty sure he missed every word. It was hilarious, and he was so proud - I think of his performance, and to see how much we enjoyed it. Good times.

Whine whine whine

At first, being told to lay in bed with your feet up sounds pretty awesome. But it wears thin. I saw my doctor again today, and this time he was a little more adamant about keeping my feet elevated. But I had things to do today! I guess I'll have to work on finding some balance of time on my feet to get things done and time with my feet up to keep the swelling down. All the while I will remind myself that this has been a very smooth pregnancy and if this is the worst of the associated afflictions, I should be grateful. But that does little to affect the boredom. Scrabulous can only amuse me for so long.

Anyhoo, aside from the swelling, doc still says everything is on track and looking good. No signs of anything happening early. I had a pretty hefty weight gain over the last week, which didn't concern the doctor but did concern me. After reviewing my eating over the past week and getting the reminder that being off work means I'm less active (especially since I try to keep those feet up), I guess it's not much of a mystery where those extra pounds came from. But dang, I still can't quite believe it. Overall my gain throughout the pregnancy is still within normal limits, but if I keep up the off-work-and-feet-up routine for another two or three weeks I will have tipped the scales a little too much. Darn, I was so enjoying all those compliments about my size.

Looks like I caught a short-lived flu. Spent a few hours praying to the porcelin god last night. (Imagine what my weigh-in today might have been otherwise!) Seems to have passed, but of course now I'm exhausted. Might nap after posting this. I rarely nap. But I guess it's a practice I should get accustomed to. Sleep when the baby sleeps, right?

Ack! I've become one of "those" women! I very much do not want to be the whiny type. I have to work on that.

PS - Teehee, my new ticker is a little out of whack. I thought I'd go with the cute little chicks, since baby already has quite a few of them in the nursery thanks to gender-neutral gift giving friends and family (er, the gifts are gender neutral, not the friends and family). But the poor baby is dwarfed by the giant chicks! No, please don't peck at my baby!

Home again home again jiggity jig

Well, I suppose now that I'm done at work and will be at home more, the high demand for more frequent blog updates will be unignorable. (No, that's not a word. Totally made it up.) I cannot disappoint my fans. By the way, shout out to those of you who read this without me knowing: Hi Nana! Hope Papa is recovering quickly!

Yep, I caved. I couldn't cut it. I didn't reach the goal of staying at work until March 31. Seriously, I am disappointed. I'd rather have more time with the baby before I return to work than while he or she is still hiding out. Plus I know that plenty of women manage to work right up until they go into labour, so I feel a little like a weakling for only making it to 36 weeks. But what can I say, several different things came up all at once that pointed us toward the decision to leave work earlier than planned. It's probably for the best. Of course it is. Convincing, no?

I gotta say, my feet really have been a sight to behold. For those of you that have not seen them at their largest, consider yourself lucky. I felt a bit like a freak of nature. I made people's eyes bug out at the sight. Including the women in my prenatal class who surely have heard of this condition, other Mom's who surely have felt worse than I have at this stage, and even a pharmacist who surely sees all sorts of nastiness. We went to inquire about compression socks, and the pharmacist was talking to us about the ones that she uses herself for vericose veins. At one point I lifted my pant legs to show her how bad they were, and she looked a little stunned before she recovered and advised us that I would need much stronger socks than hers and would require a prescription. My feet actually have behaved themselves pretty well over the last few days. They sure plumped up on Friday, the day we drove down to the coast - not surprising since sitting is the worst position for it. But after that it wasn't so bad - hopefully it will stay that way now that I'm settled back at home, feet up as much as possible. Ray's been awesome with the foot massages. Kelly even gave me one too, despite some serious rankness. She ran off to wash her hands immediately afterwards. What a trooper.

Speaking of Kelly... girl knows how to throw a very last minute baby shower like nobody's business. Ray and I went to Ladner to surprise my Mom and Dad, just for the heck of it (and maybe as a bit of a last hurrah in the impulsive travel department) in time for Easter. We pulled it off perfectly - Mom's face was priceless and I got the tightest hug ever. She might even have misted just a little. Perfection! Little did I know that while I was tickled with the success of that surprise, another one was brewing behind my back. Kelly only found out that I was coming to town on Thursday night, and by Sunday afternoon she and her cohorts had managed to lure guests (on Easter Sunday and with hardly any notice, no less), bake a cake decorated like a baby bottle, prep shower games, find time to shop and spoil us, hide all of this from Ray, stop Dad from nearly spilling the beans, and keep me 100% oblivious until the big reveal. WOW. I had been enjoying what I thought was a quiet weekend family visit, completely clueless that whenever I left a room someone else was jumping to action or taking a phone call making arrangements. I don't know how they managed to keep it a surprise, but they did. Thank you everyone!

Smooth Sailing

Well, we had another appointment with the doc on Friday. All is still going well, he had reviewed the ultrasound and everything's hunky dory there. There was a resident doctor shadowing my doctor that day, so when it came to certain things they did it twice - first the resident, then my doctor. When they were feeling around my belly to determine the baby's position, it was very weird. It was like my abdomen was play doh and they were just smooshing it around this way and that and when they were done somehow they knew that the baby's rump was way up top, head was way down low, back was along my left side and limbs to my right side. I have no idea how they did that. My weight was checked again and I don't know how it's possible that I only gained one pound with all of this Easter chocolate surrounding me. Maybe it was a little off because I was wearing sneakers instead of the usual boots I had through the weekend, but still - last weekend I was a bad girl with the mini-eggs, let me tell ya. This weekend is shaping up similarly. I figure if I limit it to the weekends that's better than every day - right?

Thought it was time for another photo shoot. Can hardly believe it's been 4 weeks since the last one. I feel ginormous, but people keep telling me I look small for how far along I am. I can still wear those same fat jeans, with the waist hanging really low below my belly, but it's getting more uncomfortable. It's not bad when I'm standing, walking, or lying down, but sitting is less than comfy. Wore the same shirt as last time for the photos, thought it might show growth better for those of you who don't get to see "us" in person.






Caught the cold I was so hoping to avoid, but really it was inevitable with Ray plus three people at work spreading their germs around. I tried the power of positive thinking thing, repeating my mantra "I am healthy, my immune system is at its peak" over and over. They say that a woman's immune system really is at its peak during pregnancy, as if the body knows it's all the more important to stave off those germs and protect both people. But alas, here I am, sniffling away, bit of a cough. It's not too bad right now, but it sure keeps me up at night, and sleep was already getting to be an issue. I even started wondering if I'll make it through March 31 at work. Sigh. But I should really shut up with the complaining if this is the worst of what ails me. I still feel like things are going smoothly - the doctor even said I was having a text book great pregnancy... woohoo!

On my mind: What happens if my water breaks while I'm in bed or on the couch or on the carpet? Surely there aren't enough cleaning agents in the world to make that ok. I think I might spend the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy on the kitchen tile. Yep. Eat drink and sleep there. It's the only way.

Mini Eggs, anyone?

I don't know if I'm really having a pregnancy craving per se, but man those Easter treats have been calling to me. Frequently. Even after I've given in. Still want em. Today I saw some scattered on the ground in a parking lot and I thought about holding a moment of silence for the wasted chocolate and for whoever had the misfortune of dropping those precious morsels.

More importantly... we're at 32 weeks now, and today was ultrasound day. Fun surprise: even though this was at the clinic, requested by my doctor, and covered by msp, we got to see some 3D images! Like at a private office, where you spend a decent chunk of cash to do it. Certainly wasn't expecting that! I didn't want to ask too many questions so as not to jinx it, it was such a nice bonus. It would be pretty cool if that got to be the norm. Anyhoo I'm told the baby is 4 pounds 14 ounces now (how do they know that? crazy), the heart rate was 128 bpm, and everything looks right on track. Now for the fun part... photos! Well, one photo. We only got one 3D photo printout, so here it is:

Baby was playing shy, wanted to keep it's face hiding behind it's hand. From this angle, the hand is covering up part of an eye and part of the mouth on the right side of the photo, but you can see the other eye, the nose, and part of the mouth pretty clearly. Or, at least, the parents of this beauty can see it. Maybe it's not so clear to others!

Right after we got home from the ultrasound, I laid down on my side on the bed and starting feeling a new kind of movement. Up until today mostly I was feeling what seemed like rolling around, but not those kicks you hear so much about. This time there was several minutes of kick kick kick over and over again, nice and strong so Ray could both feel it and see it. It was so constant, almost like a tick. But it's cooler to think it was kicking, don't you think?

Going to wrap this up now so I can send it along to those of you who can read from work... I'm excited!

Now why isn't that husband of mine back from his chocolate run yet...

Weighing the Issue

Well, good news and less than good news.

Good news, doc says my weight is back on track now.
Less than good news, doc said not to keep up the same weight gain pace.

Oh, sure.

For the last four weeks I changed my eating habits so as to try to gain some healthy weight. I was successful. Now I need to change my eating habits again, so as to continue a healthy weight gain BUT not as much as the last four weeks. How in the heck is that supposed to work? He's toying with me I think. Don't you think? Because that doesn't sound reasonable to me. Surely it's not considered reasonable to ask a pregnant woman to increase her food intake, then take it back and tell her to decrease it again. That is some form of cruelty. Right up there with tickling. Am I right or am I right?

I hope the preceding rant was perceived with its intended humour :)

Onward and upward: next scheduled cruel joke on this pregnant woman is Feb 22, when I get to drink approximately 42 gallons of water without releasing it until given permission. Hooray!

More Milestones

Last Sunday, at 28 weeks, I had another milestone. Ray very nicely made me a virgin strawberry margarita. No, that wasn't the milestone, he does nice things for me all the time :) It was such a sweet treat, and I sooo enjoyed it. Anyway I was lying in bed when he brought it to me, and I had a bit of it then sat it down absentmindedly. Ray left the room and came back with his own, and caught me laying there with my coffee mug of margarita balanced on my tummy. That was a first! Wonder what I'll balance next... It was a bit of a cheat since I was lying down and the cup was also balancing against my chest too, but then again I never would have done that a few months ago without the belly I've got now.

The next day, I went to the mall for a haircut and a little clothes shopping. The hairdresser was the first stranger to comment on my pregnant belly – that was pretty cool. She said they're told not to comment on that with clients for fear of being wrong, but I was wearing a pretty tight fitting shirt and she said my popped out belly button was a giveaway so she felt pretty safe saying something. Then I went to do a little shopping, still trying to avoid actual maternity clothes by buying larger sizes of regular tops that happened to be designed to flow around the belly. Normally when a store staff person asks if I need help with anything I always say no just out of shyness, even if I actually do need help. But since I'm looking for pretty specific stuff now I went ahead and said yes. The girl right away pointed me to just what I was looking for, saying that about a year ago she was in the shape I'm in now and was still avoiding maternity wear too. She said she managed to get through with zero maternity tops and only one pair of maternity bottoms – she lived in yoga pants and let the waistband sit below her belly. I wish I could get away with that at work – I'm down to wearing the same pair of jeans every day (yes, I wash them frequently) but who knows how long I can milk that for.

I had my test to check for gestational diabetes two weeks ago. If it had bad results I would have been called back already for the longer version, so I'm hoping no news is good news. I'd heard terrible things about the repulsive orange drink you have to chug, but actually it wasn't so bad. The comparison I heard was it was like McDonald's orange drink, but just the syrup without being watered down. Yuck. But actually it was cold and carbonated, and sure it was fairly sweet but really it was just like Orange Crush. Not hard to chug at all for me. More annoying part was sitting in the waiting area for an hour alone so they could make sure I didn't eat or drink anything else before they took my blood. Boring! Next check up with the doctor is this Tuesday, right before the 30 week mark. Yikes, three quarters of the way there! We'll see what doc has to say about my weight this time – I've been trying to work on it, but honestly I can't tell one way or the other what the change has been since early January.

I've said that I've enjoyed my pregnancy so far, I think I've been spoiled with few low points. Ray asked whether I'm actually enjoying being pregnant or I'm just happy that we're going to have a baby. I told him – both! I really have been enjoying being pregnant, and to borrow his term the “wonderment” has been amazing. Every day I think about how amazing this process is, how much is going on inside of me without me consciously doing anything at all. And the physical sensations, all of this baby's movements, I wasn't prepared for how cool that would be, definitely my favourite part of it all. And I do think I have been spoiled with few low points – sure I had some morning sickness, but it was isolated to the first trimester and I never actually threw up at all. And I had that nasty heartburn just after Christmas, but it was only a few bouts of it, over in a week or so and nothing since. I've been having a more difficult time with certain movements that used to be easy and mindless, especially moving around in bed, but so what? It's logical that I'm not able to move quite like I used to, and though I may have a bit of pain in the moment, it doesn't linger. So far, I'm counting my lucky stars that both baby and I have been been healthy so far and all those little symptoms have been just that – little. Here's hoping the rest of the road is this smooth, and hopefully payback doesn't come during childbirth!

PS - here's a photo showing my belly's progress... more on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=862609&l=d71f8&id=577420408

PPS - woops, thought that would be public, let's try that again for you non-facebookers:

You should see my belly button now. The other night, Ray actually took a video of it because it cracked us up so much. Can't describe it. Can't show you the video either, because then you'd see the icky belly hair. Combination of those damn genes from Dad and those damn hormones. Totally normal, but not exactly something I'd like to show off. Maybe if we can find a way to airbrush it out.

We had another regular appointment with the doctor the other day. Hearing that heartbeat never gets old. The only other notable thing from that appointment... wait for it... I'm UNDERweight. Seriously. I did not expect that. Not that I feel like I've gained a ton, but what pregnant women expects to be told she hasn't gained enough? Of course when I went back to work after the appointment I was very quick to tell my co-workers about this, especially the one who is ruthless with the fat jokes. So there! Needless to say, since that day I have been working very hard at correcting this problem. We'll see if I've overcompensated come the next appointment.

And speaking of appointments, now that the third trimester is fast approaching the appointments are becoming way more frequent. So far, I've been doing the regular 4 week ones plus an ultrasound. But now I have a glucose test in two weeks, a regular doctor visit two weeks after that, another ultrasound 2 1/2 weeks after that, and then another doctor visit less than a week after that, and those regular ones will get more frequent. Plus we'll have the birthing classes before you know it. Up to now everything has felt pretty routine and not too impactful (did I just make up a word?) on my day to day life (except for the constant thoughts of all things baby), but now it's starting to feel like, OK, this is it, this is where my life as I know it starts to fade. The centre of my universe is making it's shift. Bring it on!

I've been reading a book I got for Christmas (thanks sis): Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother's Soul. I love the Chicken Soup series. Sometimes Ray reads with me. There are some real gems, I totally recommend this book for anyone really, not just moms or expectant moms. So far, the most memorable tidbit: "Sex is like riding a bicycle. It doesn't matter how long it's been, it comes back to you." Not that I can relate. Woops, did I just share too much? Never you mind, just re-read that quote, I bet every one of us can relate to some extent.

And now to get our minds off our our sex lives, new topic! Wardrobe update: still fitting into normal jeans, although they don't fit quite so normally. But I'll milk as much time out of them as I can. Tops are another issue altogether - had to go shopping last week to pick up a couple that will tide me over until the next shift in size. Got a couple on a great end-of-season sale. Tell me, why do they have end-of-season sales when it is barely the middle of the season? In Kelowna we can count on cold snowy days through February and part way through March - we've still got at least 6 weeks of heavy winter coat type weather. Speaking of winter coats - my buttons are starting to pop sometimes. It will kill me if I have to buy a larger size winter coat for only a matter of a few weeks. All of the spending on short term stuff kills me. What? Me? Cheap? Naw. You got me all wrong.

Well off to make dinner. Gotta pack those pounds on. Doctor's orders!