OB Appointment

So I had an appointment this afternoon. She checked me, and frankly, not too much is happening! I am only a fingertip dilated, and not too effaced either. I was pretty surprised, because usually by this point in pregnancy (38 1/2 weeks), I am around 3 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. So that was quite discouraging. I go back again next Thursday. I've been having more and more Braxton-Hicks contractions in the afternoons and evenings, and it is always sad to realize they have been accomplishing nothing at all! I know people who rocket from 0 to 10 in a few hours--but I am not one of them, LOL. And you would think if it hasn't happened like that in 7 births, it's probably not going to happen with this one either! I had posted on Facebook that I hoped this baby wasn't going to take after Jonathan, who is #4. He was 2 weeks overdue and had to be induced--except that I really think my dates weren't that accurate with him. I was nursing when I got pregnant, and I never had an early ultrasound. He was the last baby I did the triple-screen, or any of the bloodwork for possible problems, because his numbers came back really low. Obviously he didn't have any problems, and if we were off a bit on his due date, that could cause the low numbers. I am not uncertain about this baby's due date, however--in fact, the doctor moved his due date back to Ap. 11 after an early dating ultrasound! So maybe he just doesn't want to come out. Sigh. I am ready for him to be born! My pelvis is aching, my pubic bone is so sore from his head being on it--I'm done! Jonathan was my biggest baby, at 9 pounds, 6 ounces, and I really don't want to have one bigger than that. I like to lurk on this doula website, and one of the websites often mentioned there is Spinning Babies. The site tries to help women get their babies in the best position for birth. I'm going to try some of their exercises--maybe he's just not in a good position. We'll see. If you drop by in the next few days, and I am crawling everywhere on my hands and knees, you'll know what I am doing!

Birth Curiosity

Jonathan has been quite curious about birth with this pregnancy. He has suggested a few times that I just have the baby at home, so he could see the whole show, LOL. When I told him it was kind of messy, he suggested I just have the baby outside! That way the carpet wouldn't get dirty. Good thinking! I am sure our crabby neighbors would LOVE that! ("I'm sure there's a covenant about that, 'David'--keep looking!!") Ha!

Anyhow, when I was at the library last weekend, I picked up a video called From Conception to Birth, put out by Discovery Channel, thinking that might answer some questions. I watched it that night, and tonight all the kids and I watched it together. It wasn't bad, as far as the actual pregnancy part went. They were very tasteful about conception, never really mentioning how the sperm and egg got together, so that made it nice for a multiple age range viewing. And they had lots of nice computer graphics to show how the baby develops during the 9 months in the womb.

But the birth scenes--oh, my goodness! They drove me crazy! The video follows 9 women who are expecting, and it shows the births of 3 of them. Two are having their 3rd babies, and one is having her first. They all have total hospital births. They never come out and say they were induced, but it seems like they all could have been. The two women having their 3rd babies get epidurals pretty much immediately, but the first-time mom wants to hold out. You can hear the nurse say something like, "Well, the contractions only get more intense, so be sure to tell me right away whenever you want your epidural." Shockingly, she gives in pretty soon after and gets an epidural as well. And all 3 of these women are just laying back, like huge beached whales, during the whole labor! No changing positions, no walking around, no comfort measures . . . NOTHING! I kept telling the boys, "They could be doing things so much differently, and maybe they would cope better with their contractions!" But no one was suggesting ANYTHING to them to do differently, or even to the husbands to help them.

And during the whole time, the narrator was intoning drivel basically about how impossible it was to give birth, how scary, how painful, etc. Gah. No encouragement for expecting mothers there! All 3 women pushed again pretty much laying flat on their backs. I seriously can not imagine a more uncomfortable position to be in to push, not to mention the bad physics of then having to push the baby UP over the pelvic bone from that position. And sure enough, the first-time mom had a really hard time. She pushed for while with no progress until the doc threatened her with a section ("I'll let you try for 15 more minutes . . ."). Then somehow she got a second wind and managed to push the baby down. Again, no one suggested anything that she might do differently!!! As if a c-section is the only other option out there! I kept telling the boys, "Laying flat is THE worst position to push in! Work WITH gravity, not against it!" Gah . . . so frustrating.

The actual births were filmed very nicely--all from above or from the shoulder. You could see the baby emerging, but not really anything else, so that was really nice. They did a great job with that. The boys couldn't believe all the tugging on the babies as they were being born! And the girls were a bit alarmed at the blood and goo all over the babies, LOL. I do think the video answered any questions about childbirth, so that was good, and I didn't hear Jonathan say anything about wanting to see this one, LOL. I think seeing all those precious newborn babies made us all very excited to have this little guy come soon, though! And hopefully everyone will have more sympathy and understanding for me!

Happy Birthday, Anna!

Well, I am a few days late with this post, but Anna turned 5 years old on Monday, hard as that is to believe! She has been eagerly awaiting her birthday for quite some time now! Bob had to go TDY to California Monday, but fortunately he didn't have to leave until 1:30, so we were able to still celebrate with him before I took him to the airport. We had Anna's birthday meal at lunch ("tuna pockets"), and then she opened her presents and we all had a chocolate chip cookie (we made them Monday morning) and a scoop of ice cream. It was kind of nice to have the celebration in the middle of the day like that! Anna got a magnetic princess book from Grandma and Grandpa B (because she loves the one Aunt Amy gave Grace so much!), a princess coloring book and puzzle from us (puzzle is already missing 3 pieces . . . sigh), and a set of pink pom poms from Uncle Dan and Aunt Melinda (she knows what to do with those from watching all the basketball games, LOL!). She got to play with her presents the rest of the day, so I think she liked opening them up in the afternoon as well!

We are going to take cupcakes (at Anna's request--no big cake! Woo hoo!) to Bible study on Friday night, so we will continue the celebration then. Bob flies back Friday afternoon, and my parents drive in then too, Lord willing, so there will be lots of people around for the second party! In the meantime, Anna is enjoying being 5, along with all the added maturity and growth that goes along with this huge jump in age, LOL.

Winding Down

It's hard to believe that the school year is winding down for us, especially since we're not really slowing down, LOL. Well, I am, but that's a different story! At the one co-op for the younger kids, they are in their last unit, which is weather. They'll finish that up and then have 2 weeks the end of April where they will take the Presidential Physical Fitness test. People have been practicing here, although some have been practicing more than others, so we'll see how that all goes. Nathan actually has to take a PFT Tuesday for Civil Air Patrol as well.

As far as Rivendell goes, we officially end May 10 (our 32nd week), so we have a few more weeks. Life science, however, only had 27 chapters, and we have diligently plowed through them, so we will be done with science in 2 Tuesdays, on April 5! This worked out perfectly, since I am due April 11. That week we will have our spring break, since another mom will be busy with last minute details of her only daughter's wedding that next Saturday. After spring break, the boys will just have literature/writing, Spanish, and history, so I know they will think they have it easier!

I have been very pleased with the BJU Life Science text this year. It has given the boys a very thorough overview of biology, and I know they will be quite prepared for their high school biology class. It covered a lot, though, and there were definitely some chapters where I would have liked to spend 2 weeks! The next time I teach it, which will be Lord willing in 2 years, I probably won't be having a baby, so we will be able to slow down a bit. Next year we are doing physical science, or, as it is currently faddish to call it, "Integrated Physics and Chemistry", and that book only has 21 chapters, so I am looking forward to going at a slower pace. I will say, however, that I am not looking forward to the subject matter as much, LOL. I love chemistry, but physics is NOT my favorite. Oh well.

We will also be stopping the official memory work part that I have been doing with the younger kids in the afternoon after spring break, although I have everything all copied out for the rest of the year, so they can do it individually if they want to. That's what we'll do, anyway! The kids have learned a ton of stuff this year--we're almost all the way finished with Hebrews 11:1-12:2, and we've memorized 5 poems completely. We're on point 27 ("The Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression--1929") of the 32 point timeline, and the kids are really doing well, even with the dates. They've also memorized a science fact each week from the life science chapter that the older boys are working on, and I must say it has been helpful for the older boys to hear the younger kids chanting things through the week like the formula for cellular respiration, the stages of mitosis, and the main bones of the skeletal system!

I have been so pleased with Nathan's progress in Spanish, writing, and history this year as well. In Spanish, he is so much more fluent than I ever was after 2 years of high school French! Siri is going to have them keep working on some stuff over the summer so they don't forget everything before August. And now that we have started doing Latin again, Nathan is singing the praises of Spanish, as compared to Latin! Luke is looking forward to starting Spanish next year.

I have also seen vast improvement in his writing, thanks to Theresa and her wonderful teaching. He has become a lot quicker at expressing his thoughts on paper, as well as clearer. He is still much more succinct in comparison to some though, LOL. He has also enjoyed the books they have read and discussed for the literature part. Luke is also taking a literature class from Theresa in the afternoon, and he has also really enjoyed the discussions and books. Theresa pretty much has them writing something each week, which has been great, and Nathan has had to do a lot of timed essays for practice as well. Right now he is doing a big research paper on blood.

In history, the boys have finally reached Rome. Christine tells me each week about the lively discussions they are having, which is Nathan's favorite part. Tapestry of Grace also moves really quickly, and in fact next year, when we do TOG Year 2, we are going to split it into 2 years, since it covers so much so fast. That will hopefully give the boys more time to do some of the extra more hands-on activities that we just haven't had time to do this year. They have covered so much ground, and they are retaining a lot too, as evidenced by all they talked about at the museum in Philadelphia!

The past 3 weeks we have met at our house, as opposed to our church, where we usually meet. Our church building is being remodeled to make room for more offices. When Craig, the church administrator, first told us this was on the agenda, way back in August, we thought, "Oh no!" But the timing has worked out perfectly. It's been really nice to not have to lug all my science stuff up and down stairs in the church--it's right here at my fingertips! When I'm not teaching, I can sit on my own couch, in my slippers! And my bathroom is right around the corner, as opposed to up the stairs. Nice! Plus, the girls can just play in the playroom, and we don't have to spend time cleaning like we do when we're done at the church each week! We do really miss the big field outside for the boys to play football, but they have the trampoline (I am sure our crabby nieghbors love that we now have 17 kids over here Tuesday afternoons, LOL), as well as the basketball hoop. We do love meeting at the church--it is nice to have a dedicated place that feels more "school-like" and official, and where the classes can be a little more spread out, but this has worked out well for the short-term, and it has sure been nice for me at the end of pregnancy. Craig said today that they are really coming along and hope to be done in the next 2 weeks--they should for sure be done when we are back from spring break. And the women's bathroom is being remodeled as well, so I know it will be very nice!

So that's where we are. We are already making plans for next year, and I think it will be just as great! The Lord has been so faithful with this co-op--what a wonderful group of ladies and kids! We have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them!

Three on Thursday

Nathan pointed out that I hadn't blogged for awhile, so I thought I would steal an idea from my friend Beverly and give a brief summary.

1. Our top oven is not working. Last Monday I was making cookies to take to our small group dinner. I had chosen to finish the Latin exercise I was working on first, so I was a bit pressed for time. I know I heard the oven beep when it was preheated, but when I turned around to put in the cookie sheet, the oven temperature display was blank! Huh! So I turned it back on again. A few minutes later, it was back off again. For some reason, I kept on playing around with the buttons, but it never did work. At some point it occured to me that if I wanted to bake these cookies, I had better get the bottom oven heated! That's what I ended up doing, and we took 2 minivans over so I could finish up. I was hoping it was an isolated incident, but alas, the oven has continued to not work. Now it doesn't even bother heating up at all--it just shuts off a minute or 2 after being turned on. So we are in the market for a new double oven. Of course, the family who lived here before us had 5 kids, so between our 2 families, those ovens have gotten a lot of use! They are almost 20 years old, so I guess I can't complain too much. And the bottom one is still working, so it is not completely urgent. But still . . . I do like having 2 ovens, and I use them both frequently!

2. Friday night Jonathan asked me to cut his toenails, since one was jagged. As I was doing so, I noticed a big wart on the bottom of his big toe, right where his toe joins to his foot! Jonathan said it hurt, but he could offer absolutely no clues as to how long it had been there, LOL. He then pointed out a smaller wart on the palm of his hand, which probably came from his picking at the one on his foot. Was he ever going to mention these to me?! Bob and I talked about over-the-counter remedies, but we decided I should take him in, since (once it was noticed) he was complaining about it hurting quite frequently. Also, with the baby coming, if an OTC remedy didn't work, then I would have to take him in along with the baby, and that's a hassle. The computers were down Monday, but I was able to get an appointment for his yesterday at 1:15. This doctor was very nice as well (and her last duty station was Okinawa!), and she decided to freeze off the palm one, but not the toe one. She said it would be really painful, because it was in such an awkward place. So now we are soaking his foot in warm water with some vinegar every other day, and then we put a piece of mediplast bandage over the wart. Hopefully that will work with some degree of speed. Jonathan was a trooper for the freezing part, although he was a bit nervous.

3. Our church has started a new women's ministry model (men's too, actually), where you are paired up with one or 2 other people, and all the groups go through Romans. Then we meet every few months as a big group (well, just women or just men) for something fun and social. So this afternoon I had my first meeting with my partner Kimberly, and we had such a great time! She has 3 small kids (4, 3, and about 5 months), and I have enjoyed talking to her at church and when I brought them dinner after her baby was born. I am really looking forward to getting to know her better, and I think our study of Romans will bear a lot of fruit in both of our lives!

So that's a quick update. I want to post an update about where we are with Rivendell, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Hopefully soon!

Faith's Well-Baby Appointment

So I just posted on Wednesday that I didn't have any more appointments scheduled until my OB one the last week of March! But yesterday morning I was thinking about how I had never scheduled Faith's 2-year well-baby appointment, and how it would be so much better to get that out of the way before the baby comes. So I called the appointment line, and miraculously they had a well-baby appointment open for 1:00 today! I took it, and Faith and I got to spend some "Mommy/daughter time" at Bethesda this afternoon!

We had the absolute nicest doctor. Actually, he was a third year (resident? intern? Can't remember which, and I get them all confused), so there was another doctor in there for part of the time, but eventually she went off and did her own thing. This guy was also the 7th of 8 children! How cool! His family's pattern was "3 boys, 1 girl, 3 boys, 1 girl". Anyhow, he and his wife have a 2 year old, and his wife is 8 months pregnant as well. She is thinking she wants to homeschool, so we had some talk about how that worked for us, how the older ones help, etc. You know how sometimes you can just tell that a person is in line with your choices and doesn't think anything you do is weird?! That's how this was, and it was such a pleasant appointment!

And Faith is perfectly healthy. She is 25.6 pounds, which puts her about in the 30th percentile--pretty chunky for one of our babies, LOL. I think she is going to pass Grace up! She was smiley and happy, but she was not very cooperative, as far as saying anything or pointing to anything, like her nose, when asked, even though she definitely knows that! Oh well--she wasn't going to put on a show, LOL.

Then we went to get shots. She only needed the second hepatitis A one, and we went ahead and got a flu shot for her. Now I need to remember to take her back after 30 days for the second one. Apparently 2 years ago we got one flu shot for her, but not the second one, and you have to have 2 the first time. Then, whenever you get another flu shot, you only need one. We rarely get flu shots, but I figure this way she'll be set. It's not like I won't be in several times getting shots with the new baby, so she will just tag along! Anyhow, she was a real trooper while getting the shots. I wished I had brought certain other family members *ahem* to see a demonstration of an appropriate amount of crying (about 20 seconds, LOL). By the time she got to pick out a sticker, and I gave her a lollipop, she was way done with the tears. So nice!

So Faith is healthy, and I still don't have any appointments lined up for next week! But things could always change . . . I'm sure there are plenty of other things that I need to get done, and maybe something else will jog my memory!

It's What We Do . . .

Grace: "How old will I be on my birthday?"

Me: "4"

Grace: "And then I'll be 5 . . . and then I'll be 6!"

Me: "What will I do when we have such a big, big girl?!"

Grace: "Have another new baby!"

On the Other Side

I am happy to report that I am have survived these past 2 1/2 weeks of the "cold that wouldn't leave", as well as all the appointments every day. I am finally feeling better! Last Wednesday was the worst day--I was certain the whole thing was turning into a sinus infection because my face felt so heavy and full, and my teeth were hurting so badly. Fortunately, Thursday was a better day, and things seemed to finally really start draining. It took the weekend for me to actually start feeling better, though. We were supposed to go to PA to visit Bob's family last weekend, but we ended up not going. It was a hard decision, since his sister Rose drove in with her girls, and his sister Ann was going to ride up with us, so we would have seen all the siblings, as well as Bob's parents, but it was the right one. I was still feeling so miserable, and the kids were mostly all snuffly and hacking away with coughs as well. Not good to travel with (or sleep in a hotel room all together!), and certainly we didn't want to pass the love onto all Bob's family! So we just hung out here at home and rested. It must have worked because I think we are seeing the tail end of this dreaded head cold!

I am so glad to be done with all these random appointments as well! The last 2 weeks I have had at least one appointment every day, and occasionally two, and that's not even counting our two co-ops or the Latin class! Teeth are cleaned, Anna's tooth is fixed, the pantry is full, my back is aligned, Nathan's eyes haven't changed since his last eye exam (and 2 new pairs of glasses are coming our way, since he was down to only one pair), we got pictures of all the kids done, and Luke's braces are adjusted. Whew! And this morning I had an OB appointment where everything looked good. I'll go back in 2 weeks, when I'll be 38 weeks. And right now, I have no other appointments on the calendar until that one! Woo-hoo! It will be nice to actually stay home and have uninterrupted time to do school, especially with Anna and Grace! I haven't exercised very consistently the past 2 weeks either. Part of that is just because I felt so crummy, but most days it was because I really didn't have time. So it will be good to start walking on the treadmill regularly again too. Got to keep the baby moving down! Less than 4 weeks to go!

Anna at the Dentist

Anna had her appointment at the dentist this morning to fill the spot on her tooth that never enameled properly. Although Anna has really looked forward to her last few visits to the dentist, she started off more shakily. Before she was 2, she fell and one of her front teeth turned gray. That dentist appointment, back in December 07, went fine, but that was before Anna started her "terrified" phase, where she was petrified of pretty much anything. Her appointments back in the summer of 2009 were ones for the books, where one time she wouldn't even open her mouth until I laid back in the chair and had her lay on top of me! Fortunately, she is past all that now, and her cleanings go just fine. But I was a bit worried about getting a cavity filled . . .

I am happy to report, however, that I had absolutely nothing to worry about! Anna marched off back to the dentist chair all by herself with nary a backward glance! When the lady came out to get me about 30 minutes later, she was full of praise for Anna, saying she couldn't believe how she just laid there and didn't make a peep! She said she had never seen anyone so young be so calm and composed, with no nitrous oxide or anything! LOL--we've come a long way!! And now Anna is happy not to have that orange-y spot on her tooth anymore!

Bad Mom Award

Yesterday was a busy day! Caleb and I made what is hopefully our last trip to the commissary before the baby comes. Now Caleb has actually come down with the cold I have, so we were a snuffly bunch, and we brought a ton of kleenexes in with us!

Actually, our main challenge came when we drove up to Ft. Myer and realized that the gate we usually enter was "closed for repair". That did seem like a good plan, since the gate was a pile of rubble, but nonetheless, it was a total surprise to us! That particular gate had been completely remade not long after we moved here, so maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I never dreamed it would be redone again so quickly. Since it had been closed awhile back, I knew there were other gates, but I was stuck in the van with no map, no GPS, and no real memory of how to get to these other gates. And the problem with being down in Arlington is that you pick the wrong road and suddenly you are headed somewhere you really don't want to go with no possibility of recovering, so I was quite hesitant about trying to wander around and find the gate on my own. I told Caleb we'd try one thing, since I had vague memories of a gate being off of Rt. 50. Indeed, there was a gate there, and it only took a few missed exits (and lots of prayer, and a phone call to Elizabeth L.) to get to it, LOL. It's technically off of Clarendon Rd., just for my future reference . . .

So eventually we got there and got all our stuff. This was indeed a big trip--almost $900--and we are hopefully set to eat for awhile, as well as have this baby! I got a ton of newborn and even some size 1 diapers.

We arrived home around 2:30, and we started unloading. Finally all the stuff was out of the minivan (although not stowed away), and I was working in the garage to put away to freezer and extra fridge stuff. I heard Faith fussing away by the van. She was upset because I had closed all the doors, and she wanted to go back in there. I left her there and went back into the garage. Finally I finished up and collapsed on the couch for a few minutes before our afternoon Latin class. Luke and some of the other kids were playing outside, but eventually they came in and Luke shut the garage door. (Do you see where this is going . . . ?)

After resting about 15 minutes, it dawned on me that I should put Faith down for a nap . . . she had been getting crabby, so why wasn't I hearing her anywhere? I asked where she was, and no one knew, so we all leaped up and started looking. I went out the front door and some of the boys went out the garage just as the McC's were pulling up for Latin. Fortunately, Caleb happened to glance in the minivan window. There was Faith, who obviously did manage to open the door for herself at some point, sound asleep in her carseat. She had even buckled herself in! Whew! I think I lost 10 years off my life in those few minutes! She ended up napping for a good while during Latin class, while I sent boys out to check on her every few minutes.

I was already a candidate for the Bad Mom award earlier this week, as I left Grace's little Beanie Baby puppy, the one I used as a model for her 2 year birthday cake, in Philadelphia. Ooooooops! Thankfully it was found and is supposed to be on its way back to us. We've been praying every night for safe travels for Grace's doggie, LOL. She has actually been remarkably philosophical about the whole thing. Luke was generous to let her have his old Beanie Baby elephant that he used to sleep with, and that has helped.

So I have definitely not been on top of things this week! Less then 5 weeks to go . . . but unfortunately, as others have so rightly observed, those brain cells that turn to mush during pregnancy never really return!

The Infamous Haircut

So back on that horrible Sunday, Grace took a pair of scissors to her own hair and lopped off a big chunk right in the middle of the back of her scalp. I knew theoretically that it could have been worse, but I still had such a hard time dealing with it. It took me 2 days before I could even really look at her to begin to evaluate how I could attempt to make things better! Here is what it looked like. She cut up and down, so there was a nice, long hunk missing, and no possible way to do layers or a block or anything like that to disguise it. I guess I could have shaved it, LOL.
So after contemplating for awhile, I finally just cut everything shorter and tried to blend the back as best I could. It really isn't as noticeable now, unless you are really looking.

And, thankfully, you can't tell anything from the front, so we are still going to attempt pictures sometime in the next week or so. Before anyone else gets hold of any scissors or gets a black eye or anything . . .

Belly Shot!

Melinda asked for a belly shot, so here is one from this afternoon! I'm 35 weeks along. First, the view from the front:
Now, the side view. Oh my goodness!

I am at the stage where no clothes are really comfortable--my shirts ride up, and my pants ride down! Oh well--only 5 weeks to go!

Penn Museum

Yesterday we had such a fun day! We went on a little field trip to the Penn Museum with our Rivendell co-op. One family couldn't come, but we still made for a large group--6 adults and 16 kids! This is the same museum that we visited back in June 2009, when we took our weekend trip to Philadelphia and stayed with my college friends. Back in the fall, someone posted a message on a homeschooling email loop that Christine and I are on about this great deal they had seen for the museum--buy 4 tickets for $16! So we all did that, although it seemed like the beginning of March was light-years away when we were planning this trip. I think we were all doubting if it would really work out as the time actually got closer, but we all made it there and had a terrific time. It was a great review for the kids too of all the ancient history we've been studying this year with Tapestry of Grace year 1.
We started out on the 3rd floor with the gallery on Upper Egypt. The mummies were impressive, as always!

Then we moved on to the Asian gallery, where the crystal ball was admired.

In several places, Christine had the 3 Rivendell boys go through the room and pick one thing to explain to the younger kids. Here Nathan is explaining about the lion, which would have guarded a palace or something. The Chinese lions look like dogs because lions aren't native to China, so the artists used dogs as models. I had always wondered about that! Also, this is a male lion because it has a globe under its paw. Female lions are depicted with baby lions under their paw. Interesting!

Here is a group shot taken by a kind passer-by in front of a Japanese Buddhist shrine. I told you we were an impressive group! Buddhists at one point in time underwent a period of persecution in Japan, and so they started making these minature "portable" shrines, of which several were displayed.

We moved on through the Rome and Greece galleries before heading outside to eat our picnic lunches on the benches in front of the museum. The weather was beautiful, praise the Lord, so the kids got to run around this fountain and work off some steam. Then we headed back in and finished up with the Lower Egypt gallery, as well as the American Indian and African galleries, which aren't that big. Here are the 3 Rivendell boys in front of one of the excavated pillars from a palace in Lower Egypt. You can see a doorway in the background.

We were done by 3:30, and we all headed back home, exhausted. The 3 girls fell asleep pretty quickly in the van! All the driving and walking about did me in, and I am still so tired!

We are supposed to go to PA to visit Bob's family next weekend, but this drive has made us have second thoughts. I might be too far along to make another drive--it was so frustrating to have to stop all the time for me to go to the bathroom, and I was so uncomfortable sitting! So we'll see how I am feeling in a few days.

Pregnancy Update

I'm now over 34 weeks along--less than 6 weeks to go! I am feeling big and uncomfortable, so yeah, everything is normal. I have definitely been mushy-brained lately--I made whole wheat biscuits a few nights ago and used baking soda (4 1/2 tsps!) instead of baking powder! Blech! I am even more foggy-headed because I have a cold and am all snuffly. I'm sure I could kick this thing if I could just lay around all day for a day or two! Ha, ha, I crack myself up!

I had an OB appointment yesterday, and everything looks fine. The little guy is a very active kicker! I lurk on this doula forum, and someone posted a link to a woman's blog, where she had a slideshow of her last birth, which was a homebirth. It was all lovely and quite natural, but she had an 11 pound baby and had to push for like 2 hours, even though it was her 5th baby!! Ack! So that is my latest nightmare and worry, LOL, especially since I already do have big babies (Caleb was 9#, 5 oz., and Jonathan was 9#, 6 oz.). Anyway, I asked the doctor if I should take another 1 hour glucose test, just to make sure I didn't have gestational diabetes. She was quite surprised at this request, LOL! She was really not that concerned. She said I passed the last 1 hour one with plenty to spare (my number was 102, and anything under 140 is passing), I haven't gained too much weight, and the baby is measuring right. She also said that the 1-hour test, which is just a screening anyhow, gets less and less accurate once you get more than 28 weeks along. So I didn't take another test. I guess I'll just keep up with the exercise, although I didn't exercise today. This cold is making it hard for me!

As I was walking up to the line to make my next appointment, 2 pregnant ladies were talking. I heard one of them say she was 35 weeks along, which surprised me because her belly was clearly larger than mine! I don't like to brag, but I usually win most belly contests at this point, LOL. I asked her if she was expecting twins, and she said yes, in a surprised voice. She looked really great--all belly! She called it a "torpedo belly", and that was what it looked like! She actually lives in Annapolis, but the Naval Academy doesn't have an OB department in their clinic, so all the ladies have to come to Bethesda. That's quite a drive, especially when you are pregnant with twins! So whenever I am tempted to complain, even about the drive to Walter Reed, I need to be glad I am not having to come from Annapolis!