The Last Few Weeks

Finally, it's May. We're in the home stretch here. I've lately been promoted to weekly doctor's visits. Eric was at the last one and we saw the baby on the ultrasound. The technician did some measurements to estimate the size of the baby. I'll get blood drawn at the next doctor's visit.

Most of my girl friends are pretty open about discussing personal issues -- in-depth discussions about medical maladies, relationships, and so on. Pregnancy brings this general female camaraderie to a whole new level. I find myself discussing the state of my cervix and its anatomical neighbors with not just my girl friends, but also with women I have just met (I'm also blogging about it -- never thought I'd be doing that). And no one bats an eye.

I've joined a Bumps and Babes group here that meets a couple times a month. These meetings usually have a speaker or a topic for the women there to discuss. We've had a breast-feeding consultant, a chiropractor specializing in pregnant women as well as children, a small business owner along with other people. I've been fortunate enough to have found other women who are due around the same time as myself. Some of us have formed a smaller group where we can commiserate about our respective pregnancies and, hopefully, will have little buddies for our babies as they arrive. We've had our first birth. Kristy delivered a boy via c-section on 25 April. Kari is currently overdue. Cara may go into early labor. And I'm just waiting until the end of May.

I had my morning workout today tugging on my compression socks. The pair I'm wearing today are thigh highs and are tighter than my knee-high compression socks. Imagine me sitting on the bed in my underwear huffing and puffing as I try to work the stockings over my feet. It's already a challenge to reach my feet. After several breaks, a lot of cursing, and about 15 minutes later, I have successfully got the stockings in place. Now I'm sitting here in pajama shorts (nice and stretchy), a t-shirt and my stockings. I can assure you that I look ridiculous. I'm going to dig out my muu-muus later on.

We just got a portable stereo with an iPod dock, something I've wanted to get for a while. Someone was telling me that newborns have initial sleep difficulties because their new environment is so quiet. They have gotten so used to the sounds of mom's heartbeat and digestion as well as other background noises that absolute quiet is unnerving. I'm not going to play sounds of digestion but some music would be nice. I've been sitting here all morning listening to music. The sound is much better than the laptop speakers. It's sunny and beautiful outside, but I'm having difficulty motivating myself into some decent pants to go for a walk outside. Maybe I'll have more energy after lunch. What I really want is a good chocolate milkshake. I've found exactly 1 place that serves a decent one like you'd get at Steak n Shake. I might have to flag down a cab and get one.