Rest of the Week Update

I didn't get around to doing my weekly update for this week, so I'll try to at least get the stuff about what's going on with me in here.

Baby News
As far as baby symptoms go, the last two weeks I've been feeling very...pregnant. My back aches alot, it is alot of work to get up and down, and I've still been having some Braxton Hicks contractions, although they are more noticable when I've been really active. Grace has been even more active than usual. She has big movements which make my stomach jerk all over the place. It's kind of fun. On a sadder note, I'm getting some very faint stretch marks on the lower half of my belly. They aren't really dark yet, but I can see them. Hopefully, they'll be even lighter after baby. Last night I had really bad shin splints. My legs hurt all evening so I took a hot bath, some Tylenol and went to bed at 10:30 p.m. I started noticing the same leg pain today when I was leaving work, but I took a hot bath and relaxed when I got home and they seemed to get better. My belly button is really starting to struggle too. The very top of it feels like it's poking out a little. There's still more in than out, but give me another 6 weeks.

Election Day
I voted for the first time and it kind of felt important as Ohio was an important state. I didn't feel like getting up early, so my plan was to go after work. Throughout the morning though, I started hearing from others at work about how long the lines were at the polls. Eric went at 10:00 and didn't finish until 12:30 p.m., so I dedided I should go early. They gave us permission to miss a little work for voting, so I left the office in time to arrive at the polls at 4:15 p.m. I finished at 6:15 p.m. and the line was at least twice as long as when I got there, so I'm glad I went early. One cute story...the woman in front of me, went and got her son from the daycare at the church we were at around 5:30 p.m. He was about 5. When they got back in line, she told him that I had a baby in my belly and said, "Isn't that neat." He said, "Yeah." Then he just kind of stared at me for a minute. His mom said he was thinking of a question to ask me. Then he asked, "How are you going to get that baby out of there?" I kind of laughed and said that was a good question. His mom jumped in and said that was a long story and we just decided not to go into any more detail. At least he didn't ask how the baby got in there.

Breastfeeding Class
Wednesday, Eric and I went to the Breastfeeding class at Babies R Us. It was from 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m. All I can say is that I'm glad it was free because the teacher was a nutcase and seemed to have trouble keeping her thoughts organized. What we did get out of it was the basics as to what are good positions to hold the baby in, important tips about latching on so it doesn't hurt, and a little information about the different types of breast pumps. After class, we looked at the pumps and were considering getting one, but if I'm planning on pumping daily at work after I go back, we might need to get one of the expensive ones that cost close to $300. The cheaper versions are better for occasional use or you have to do manually and that might take too long. I figure first I'll figure out if I can breastfeed. If things are going well and I want to continue when we get close to the time to go back to work, then we'll consider a pump. There's no reason to spend the money now when I may decide to switch to formula 2 weeks in.

Doctor's Appointment
Today I had a doctor's appointment. The most amazing thing about this appointment was that they got me in right away. My appointment was at 1:15 and I was done by 1:30 p.m. I usually haven't even seen the doctor by that time. My weight was good. I only gained one pound over the last two weeks. According to the hospital scale, that puts me at 25 pounds gained so far. My bloodpressure was good and I'm assuming all the stuff they test your urine for was fine. When the doctor came in and asked about questions I had a few. I've been trying to schedule a client meeting at work, but my Client Executive has a very tight schedule in November. The best week for the meeting would be December 3-10, but the client is about a 2 hour drive away. That close to my due date, it scares me to consider driving that far. Especially with this man who I would not be comfortable with him having to deliver my baby on the side of the road. The doctor agreed and no trips even that far away once we get to December. I've also had a minor toothache the last two days and so I asked if I should try to wait until after the baby's born if it keeps bothering me. She said no, if it keeps hurting go to the dentist and let them do what they need to do. I asked her about the labor and delivery process from her standpoint and she told me that I won't have to call her office. When I go to the hospital the hospital will call and discuss everything with the on-call doctor and she/he will come in time to deliver the baby. My doctor is on call on Thursdays and Fridays so if I go on one of those days, she'll be there, if not, I'll get someone else. In other news, we will start internal exams at 36 weeks. I have an appointment in 2 weeks where I will be 35 weeks, 5 days, but she'll wait until the next one. After my next appointment, I will begin going weekly. Dr. D will be missing my first 2 weekly appointments (Thanksgiving week and the week after), so I'll be seeing someone else on the staff. That doesn't bother me as it's not especially likely that I'll go on a Thursday or Friday and get my doctor at delivery.

Home Chores
My shower in Columbus is this weekend and since two of my GWO girls are coming in for the weekend, I've been trying to get some stuff done at home. I've had a busy week otherwise though and been pretty tired, so I haven't been quite as productive as I would have liked. As of today though, I have everything from last weekend's shower put away. This means that I did do all of Grace's laundry from the new stuff. Eric finished staining the bookshelf and today we took it upstairs and it looks nice. I decided to go ahead and start laundry for Eric and I since I'll be busy all weekend, and I'll have one more load to do tomorrow before I pick Danialle up at the airport. I worked on a couple of lists as far as what to pack in my hospital bag, although it's not going to get packed until at least next week. I did the bills on Monday and spent a good portion of time writing things in the checkbook register as we hadn't had one for a month and I wrote everything in a notebook. I did not get around to finishing up the Wedding scrapbook, but I did get 5 thank you notes done today. I'll have about 3 hours tomorrow to work on stuff. Eric is planning on cleaning for me (how sweet!) and I will try to either do the scrapbook or finish up the Thank you's. The scrapbook is taking up more room on the table though and I'll have more thank you's after this weekend, so I may opt for the scrapbook. We'll see.

Ok, well that's about it. I'll owe more updates after this weekend. I'm going to attempt to remember to do a belly pic and measurements for 34 weeks. Maybe the girls can remind me. I have another shower on Saturday. Sunday another childbirth education class and will also be due for another weekly update. I've got too much going on! At least the time is passing quickly and I have more to do than sit around and wait on Grace to get here. Ok, time for bed. Goodnight.