38.8 Weeks

The stretch marks have begun to set in, but Tiva doesn't care.

The Honest Truth

I have been more or less hostage to the house for two weeks now, save midwife appointments and short essential errands (I had to renew my driver's license before the baby comes - cruel to make you take a photo at nine months pregnant...) I am growing a bit fussy because of this confinement or convalescence, depending on how you look at it, and so Nathan took me out for dinner last night at one of my favorites, Heartland. By the way, the poached pear dessert they have right now is righteous.

As we were being seated, we passed a table with a mom, dad and young man of I would say three or so. The boy looked up at me and said, loudly, "WOW - SHE'S FAT!" I turned to him and said, "Yes, yes I am." The dad sunk his head into his hand in embarrassment while the mom attempted to explain to junior that I wasn't fat I was just pregnant. Very, very, very pregnant.

I think Nathan was worried that it would somehow break my spirit, but I found it amusing, not to mention, accurate.

Back to the couch now for Big Momma.

I hope I really like my house...

Yesterday was unexpected. Nathan and I arrived for our regularly scheduled 36 week pre-natal appointment, expecting a fairly routine visit, maybe a half hour, and then we'd be off for lunch somewhere. I had had a busy morning at work and was formulating plans and emails in my head for when I got back to the office. Suffice to say, plans derailed! First my weight was up. Way up. I had gained 8 pounds since my last vist. That's a red flag. Second, the edema in my legs had reached the "pitting" stage. That's another red flag. My blood pressure?, normally very good, was high. Red, red, red. The low-tech, yet somehow very accurate, belly measurement that they take each visit was big, too. So, in addition to the regular tests for Group B Strep and iron, they ran a series of tests for Preeclampsia and sent me off to the maternity triage room at St. Joe's for an ultrasound and a non-stress test.
I was a bit shook up by all this news of course and I ran back to the office to see my HR and IT folks between the clinic and the hospital. My midwife wrote a note that I gave to my HR department that stated that I am under orders to stay home and off my feet as much as possible for the duration of my pregnancy. I packed up my desk, hugged my co-workers and had an overwhelmingly surreal feeling as I left the office, realizing that I wasn't likely to be back there until January.
So, to the hospital we went and the ultrasound showed that the baby is very healthy - he's practicing breathing, moving a lot and all his organs and parts look normal. We also found out that he is big. We suspected that he was big, but the ultrasound estimated him at 9 lbs 6 oz and he's not due for 24 more days. In fact, the ultrasound estimated that my due date should have been September 28th. That's, um, four days ago. Now, granted, an unltrasound this late in pregnancy can be off by more than a pound, but that means he's likely already at least 8+ pounds!!! After this, I was also hooked up to a fetal monitor for a half hour and all signs are good. The boy is doing just fine.
As for me, we'll have to closely montior my blood pressure and edema and we are going to have to discuss induction if things don't start progressing naturally on thier own realtively soon. I hope to work for at least another week, albeit from home. So, I hope I really like my house, because that's where I'll be until further notice!