End of August...36 weeks!

I can't believe we are at the 36 week point of the pregnancy. In some ways, it's been so long, and in others, it's flown by. Today I worked from home because I needed some peace and quiet to get my instructions put together for the staff taking over things while I'm out. I didn't finish everything today, but will also be working at home on Friday for the same reason. Plus, it gave me a chance to lay down and relax during the day. Sitting in the chair at our desk killed my back today...my chair at work is much better!

We toured the maternity ward on Sunday - Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, NJ. It's 2 blocks from the ocean, but the ocean view rooms - overrated. I am not making a special request for one. You can see where the ocean and sky meet on the horizon...no sand or breaking waves...if I end up with an ocean view, fine, but I don't think I'm going to care when the time comes! John feels pretty comfortable with where we have to go when the time comes...I was listening, but all I know is we go to the 3rd floor. they will have me in triage first to examine me first and then they put you in a room, where you stay until you deliver. TV and phone provided, though I don't anticipate giving out the phone number. You can get up and walk around if you want to before the pushing starts and before any drugs are administered. The nurse giving us the tour recommended we wait until we are there to officially decide on drugs, and try to wait as long as possible, as walking and moving around can help the delivery along sometimes, which I have read. I know some people wonder why we did not take a class, but I did talk to my doctor about it on Monday and he thinks I am doing what is right for me. He said you can come up with a birth plan, but more often than not you don't follow it that closely.

After the baby is delivered, they give us some bonding time with the baby when he will be most alert for that first hour, where I'll try to get him to nurse, and he gets used to our smells and voices. Then they will take him away to clean him, and all that other fun stuff, and once they have done whatever they need to do to me, we all go up to the 5th floor. There, we pay for the TV and phone! The rooms are nice, and private. When we went to the nursery, there were NO babies in there! They were in the rooms with the moms. But eventually one of them brought the baby back...so tiny!

My appointment on Monday was pretty quick - I think I gained 2-3 pounds, and they did a strep test to make sure I won't need antibiotics so nothing gets passed on to the baby. I am no longer keeping count of my trips to the bathroom at night OR during the day. John is amazed at how often I have to go. My one co-worker who was on vacation last week says I definitely dropped a little since she last saw me, but not to the point that I am going to deliver this week...as you know, I was nervous b/c Dr. Passes delivered 2 babies this month at 36 weeks. In a related story, John's sister's best friend, who was due 2 days after me on 9/22, had her baby girl this past Sunday after her water broke on Friday! Fortunately she was healthy, and mom and baby are doing well and baby got to go home today. Congrats to Allison and Scott on their little girl!

The photo above is from the other night - exactly 36 weeks. I was goofing around and had John take a picture of me pretending to look strong. We have a funny video of Tuxedo (baby related if you can believe that!) that I am having trouble uploading to the blog right now, so will try to do that later this week for some laughs!