The State of the Cervix Address

• BP: 112/74
• baby's HR: 154 (good, said nurse)
• urine: "looks great!" Not something you hear every day, is it?
• weight: yeeeeah, not telling. Let's just say that around Christmas the first digit of my weight went to a number never before seen, and it's just gone up since then.
• fundal height measurement: 38. This should roughly correspond to the number of weeks pregnant you are. I'm 38 weeks 6 days today, so that's just fine. They'd only worry if the number was significantly higher (excess amniotic fluid? ginormous offspring?) or lower (baby is too small?).
• And the magic number everyone has been waiting for: 2! Yes, that's right ... I'm still 2 cm dilated. If you don't know, I need to get to 10. But it's all good, because as of right now, the dresser for the baby's room is still sitting in the living room, clothes still need to be washed, we still need to go out for our last pre-baby dinner/movie ... she can stay where she is a while longer.
  

pregnant or elderly?

I have reflux, I have issues that are too TMI to discuss in a public forum (that's what I get for laughing at commercials for said remedies, I guess), and today my hips feel like they're either grinding in the sockets or about to pop out of them, leaving me in a jello-like heap on the floor.

I suddenly have a lot more sympathy for the elderly.

weekly update

My OB appointment went well. Baby is head down and "very low," according to the doctor.

Stats are as follows:

• BP: 112/76
• baby's HR: 161
• ye olde cervix: 2 cm dilated, 75% effaced

I'm measuring on target, and doc is estimating that she'll be average to a little over average weight at birth -- between 7-8 pounds. She claims, and oh how I'd like to hold her to this prediction, that once things start rolling, it should be a "piece of cake." Mmm-hmm. I've never heard anyone describe labor and delivery that way, except maybe my mother -- and we all know that moms are just angling for grandchildren. ;)

better late than never ...

My friend Kristen has been gently pestering me for a while now to start a baby book, blog, or anything to capture the details of my pregnancy before I forget everything. I figured there's no time like the present (or 37 weeks 5 days) to get started.

Obviously this will evolve past a pregnancy blog once the little one is here in a couple of weeks. Until then, feel free to browse the archives. I'm trying to backdate the posts I write so it will *almost* be like I've been writing all along.

People say the weirdest things to pregnant women.

By far, my favorite:

"I know what you been doin'! You been SCREWIN'!"
-- yelled loudly by an obese, semi-toothless man wearing overalls and walking with a cane, as he passed me at the grocery store

And then, some random others:

"NOTHING looks cute on a woman who's 9 months pregnant. NOTHING."
-- said by someone I'd just met at a party, who then looked at me, gaped for a moment, stuttered ... and then shockingly apologized.

"Are you sure there aren't twins in there?"
-- a friend's well-meaning mother

"You look too small for XX weeks ... are you eating/is the baby ok/are you seeing a doctor?"
-- too many people to count

"Pack up those cookie sheets. You don't need to be eating cookies. You're pregnant."
-- our realtor

Another popular version: "You're going to eat/drink THAT?"
-- coworkers, mostly

"She likes your milk."
-- our realtor again, explaining why a toddler I had just met liked me

"Oh, I had a stillborn baby at 40 weeks."
-- ultrasound technician (one would think people in this line of work would know not to say things like that to pregnant women!)

"Do you want that DECAF?"
-- Starbucks barista, after glancing at my belly

I've come to the conclusion that rather than using the Think, Then Speak method of communicating, most people operate under the Blurt Out Thoughtless Things, Then Go On Their Merry Way school of thought. Good times.

heartbeat - best sound ever.

http://www.geocities.com/antoycat/heartbeat1_10262007.wav

is it hot in here, or is it just me?

I had no idea how hot I would be. I had heard that your basal body temperature would be slightly elevated due to increased progesterone levels or some such scientific theory, but this pregnancy thing takes hot to a whole new level. We're talking kicking the covers off at night despite a cranking a/c system, being so warm that you wake your spouse out of a dead sleep just by grazing against him, waking up feeling like you have a 104-degree temperature but having the thermometer register at only 98 or 99.

It's a strange adjustment, for I'm an always-cold kind of person. I've learned to preface a handshake with an apology so as not to scare anyone with my ice blocks for hands. I have to wear a sweater at work all day if the air conditioning is on. In the winter, I'll sit around the house wearing a winter hat, gloves, and down jacket on top of my other layers to stay warm. I even purchased wool heated mittens that plug into a USB port to help stay warm at work.

If it's a warm summer, god help me -- I might have to resort to cruising around in hot pants and tank tops to stay cool. I could really go for a giant frozen margarita right about now ...