36 Weeks

This week has found me very round and very busy, but I am back to feeling great. I had a good doctor's appointment yesterday. My scale at home is packed away somewhere, so I wasn't able to weigh myself, but the doctor's office scale says I'm down a half pound. I don't put much stock in that, since they weigh you fully clothed. I am negative for group B strep, the baby is still head down, and the heartbeat was nice and strong.

The somewhat annoying news is that my doctor's office is very conservative (big surprise), and if my water breaks, they want me in the hospital immediately, even if I'm not in labor and there's no bleeding. They will only let me go 8 hours before they induce, if my water breaks. I'm not going to worry about it, since only a small percentage of women actually have their water break before they are in active labor (something like 15% according to one of my books). But still...so conservative.

I've been so caught up in the renovations and Christmas preparations and wow-this-baby-is-almost-here-itis that I forgot to mention in my last post that I've made a little more progress on that job that I want so much! I've passed another hurdle, and much more quickly than I expected. Just two more hurdles to go...now that I'm getting close to knowing the final answer, it's getting a little nerve-wracking. I am constantly checking my email and mail for news. It's fortunate that there are so many other things to distract me right now, which certainly helps!

We've left our Christmas plans deliciously open. We've told everyone that it all depends how I feel. It is so nice to not have any stress about where to go, like we usually do given our big and varied families. And did I mention in my last post that the hospital has imposed rules on the maternity ward during the flu season, and only grandparents are allowed to visit? This completely eliminates the visitor stress issue for me. I have been worried about how to tell all of our incredibly thoughtful and generous friends and family that we didn't want a crowd at the hospital.

Less than four weeks until our due date...it seems so unbelievable that two and a half years after starting this journey, we will be meeting our daughter soon!