the blog posts slow down. Teachers have been back for two weeks now, and classes finally start on Monday, which actually means a little more down time for me as I only teach in the mornings (in expectation of a part-time schedule after the baby arrives).
Baby preparations have been coming along quite well. The dresser finally arrived yesterday, just in time for Wes to help me get it upstairs before heading off to work. After unwrapping it from layers of protective cardboard and bubble wrap, we were really pleased with what we found. It's well made and coordinates beautifully with other pieces in the room. I stayed up unreasonably late last night washing all the clothes and blankets and folding them away into the drawers. Suffice it to say we don't need any more stuff for the baby, primarily because there's no room for anything else!
My 36 week appointment was on Monday. Unfortunately, the "delivery talk" that I was anticipating got moved to the next appointment, so Wes attended only to witness the usual pee-weight-blood pressure-belly measure-heartbeat check ritual. In true ER doc fashion, Wes commented on how ridiculous it is for healthy people to be seen by physicians (or midwives) this often and offered to simply check these things at home. I have to go weekly now, and while I'm completely satisfied to be just such a healthy person -- especially while pregnant -- it is a nuisance to get up to the hospital from school every week just to hear, "You're doing great!" I did gain 2 lbs. at this appointment, which puts me at +5 from my pre-pregnancy weight. This was the first midwife to comment on the minimal weight gain, but since I'm healthy and the baby looks healthy and the right size for his gestation, there's really not much to say. If this is the only time in my life I don't gain much extra weight, I'll take it.
It seems my body, too, is getting ready for d-day -- though it may be as many as 6 weeks away still. I've been having increasing contractions over the last 10 days. Last Tuesday I had about 5 hours of contractions 10-15 minutes apart. It was strange to have them come on. At first I was nervous -- those kinds of uncomfortable sensations can indicate something wrong earlier in pregnancy -- but then I realized what it was and got kind of excited. I know the stages of labor, so I wasn't worried I was actually in labor, but it still is an indication of time passing and getting closer to the real thing. I've had them on and off since then, usually when I've overexerted.
And if five pregnant women at my school wasn't enough, another non-teaching staff member announced last week that she, too, is pregnant --6 weeks -- and with twins. That means that by the end of the school year, if all goes well, there will be 7 babies born to faculty/staff at our school -- and there are only about 40 of those! -- and 5 of us will be first-time moms. What else can expect from an all-girls' school?
