34 Weeks & 3 Days

Sorry I'm a bit late on this post.

So last week Tuesday was my last day of work. It was pretty weird to leave there, realizing that it would be over a year before I'm back. I was glad that I already had a pretty good idea that my doctor was going to recommend stopping work, because I spent a lot of time the previous week cleaning stuff up and passing my work off to others. I'm still trying to get the hang of this whole "relaxing" thing. Between my numerous appointments (8 this week) and various "baby projects" at home, I have to consciously make an effort to keep things at a reasonable pace and not overdo it. It looks like I may also have to be okay with leaving some of the baby projects until after Bud gets here. Oh well. Keeping relaxed and healthy is the most important thing.

I only had two appointments last week and both were on Thursday. Thursday morning I saw the obstetrician. My blood pressure wasn't as good as last time, but still nothing too scary. (I think my blood pressure now goes up when they check it just because I get nervous about what it will be...) He's still okay with leaving me off meds for now. I see him again this Friday. He gave us a tentative date for the c-section - June 1st (around noon)! He did say it may get pushed to the 2nd, though. He said I should expect to be in the hospital for about 3 days, so that would have me getting home on Thursday the 4th or Friday the 5th, I assume. He also quelled some of my fears about nausea during/after the c-section, saying they have some new drugs that apparently work VERY well to help manage nausea. This was one of my biggest concerns, because (as some of you may know) I'm a bit phobic about nausea/vomiting. There are a lot of aspects of the c-section that I'm still really not looking forward to, but I've been hearing so many encouraging stories from friends who have had them, so I'm starting to feel a lot better about it. And when it comes down to it, even if it's miserable, it's FAST! (The OB said about 35 min!)

The baby is still breech, but obviously this is a moot point - except for the fact that her growing head is really starting to push into my ribs and make it difficult for me to bend over even to put on my socks and shoes! Also, my belly is soooo tight - even the obstetric nurse at the OB's office was commenting on it. I've gained almost 40 lbs now, and very little of that is anywhere other than in my belly (maybe 10 lbs elsewhere, but not more). Given that the baby was 6 lbs at the last fetal assessment, that leaves almost 25 lbs - pretty much all of which is in my belly! Ugh! No wonder my back is sore and my feet are so swollen! I feel like a pin prick to my belly would pop me like a water balloon!

Anyway, the second appointment on Thursday was my second laser treatment for my left eye (i.e. the retinopathy). We didn't get any more of an assessment from the doctor, just the treatment. I got 1400 zaps this time and the ones near the end were VERY painful and left me with a terrible headache for a few hours afterwards. But it was the last set of treatments, so at least it's over now. I see the ophthalmologist again during the last week of May just to assess if there has been any further pregnancy-related damage to my retinas. This will help us in the future if/when we need to assess the risks to my eyes of having another baby. He did say, though, that there is still a lot of "room" to treat my eyes if things did go badly again in the future...but obviously that's not terribly desirable either. We'll just have to take things one step at a time.

On Saturday we hit the big Whyte Ridge Mothers Day Garage Sale. We didn't have anything specific in mind that we wanted, but we came away with some toys and some clothes (all in VERY good condition) for Bud. It was quite a success after walking around for an hour in barely-above-freezing temperatures (there was actually snow on the ground when we woke up)!

I'm attaching a few pictures today that were taken last weekend by my very talented friend Michelle. We did a whole "pregnant photo shoot" and I get to see the rest of the pictures tomorrow, so I may add more to next week's blog, but for this week I'm just putting in a few of my favourites.

But first, this week's Bud facts:
- Bud has fully developed lungs.
- If Bud were to be born at 35 weeks or beyond, she would have an excellent chance of being healthy and strong (although we still want her to bake for longer).
- Bud weighs more than 4.7 lbs / 2.2 kg (as we know, this is not accurate) and is 18" / over 45 cm from top to toe.
- Bud is filling out and getting rounder - she'll need her fat later to regulate her body temperature.
- Bud's hearing is almost fully developed. (I can attest to this as she seems to quite like hearing her daddy's voice. When he talks right up to my belly it nearly always makes her move around. She already listens to him - when he tells her to kick, she does! Hopefully she's as responsive and obedient when she's out!)

And now, here are the pictures!