This week's video:
Well, I am now into week 37 of this pregnancy. A lot has happened since my last baby post so here goes....
N and I finished our pre-natal parenting classes. I actually enjoyed them. The hospital tour was traumatic... hospital is old thus facilities are not like what we witnessed in the labour videos we had previously seen. We saw a woman arrive clearly in active labour (and what appeared to be tremendous pain). It did not ease my fears. All in all though, I think I am as ready for labour as you can be, which is to say, not really ready at all. At our last class, every couple was given a doll. We were taught how to hold our babies and then directed through a breast feeding tutorial. N was really sweet - he held our fake baby properly the entire three hours! I tried to snap a picture but he refused to cooperate - but take my word for it, it was a cute scene. Last, to round out this journey, our instructor is planning to get all us first-time parents back together in August for a "baby reunion" and that may be interesting. Not sure if we'll be around as we are planning to be at N's sister's wedding in Regina at the end of August but we'll see what happens.
Weekend to-do lists are starting to thin. We have everything we need, I think. This weekend's list seems lighter than the past few... install car seat, set up baby monitor, a few items left to throw into storage, etc. Manageable. Last weekend we installed some shelves near our baby's "change station" and well -- N and I are not handy at all but I think they look pretty good.
36 weeks
My doctor's appointments have been ok. I don't need to see my BP specialist again until a week after I deliver. She's happy my blood pressure hasn't skyrocketed the last few weeks.
I am not going for a 4th ultrasound until after I deliver -- they think I may have a cyst on one of my ovaries (something registered on my last ultrasound) but I have been told not to worry about it as this kind of thing is common and almost always resolves itself. Still, I do need to follow-up with more appointments after I deliver to be certain. I was told that baby is head down (good) and borderline big (not sure if that is good or bad??). I'm going to say it is good. I've gained 14 pounds so far and so that just means the added weight is mostly baby. Maybe I'll come out of this lighter... I can live with that!
We have a potentially interesting/disturbing situation to contend with the week I am due. The G20 summit is in Toronto that week and the downtown is going to be shut down. I mean a HUGE area of the downtown will actually be fenced off and inaccessible to the public. What worries me most, is that they have announced that the "official protest area" is to be at Queen's Park (the Ontario Legislature) and this is one block from the hospital I will be trying to get to. They keep talking about how the last G20, held in Pittsburgh, was marred by three days of angry protests, clashes with police and tear gas. In fact, the concern is so great, that the U of Toronto -- 2 blocks in the other direction from Queen's Park is closing down campus during the summit and relocating all students that live on campus for the duration of the week. This means that N will be working from home those days, which is nice for me, but does nothing to relieve concerns that we will have one hellish trek to the hospital. Parking is bad enough in the area when there are no angry, insane, protesters marching down city streets disrupting the peace. We could take transit but they are warning of major disruptions on all forms of transportation in and out of this area. So... all I can say is that should this baby arrive on time, we will have one hell of a story to tell about how exactly we got to the hospital and what we witnessed en route.
View
Hmm.. that may be it. Until next week!
N said to add that this is what we hope to encounter en route to the hospital!
