FULL TERM!!!

I'm OFFICIALLY full term today! That means he's not considered premature or early if he's born today or later. So I no longer feel guilty for wishing that he'll get out of me NOW. Bring on the spicy food, speed bumps, hot baths, primrose oil, pineapple, glasses of wine, Chinese food, licorice, eggplant parmesan...

Into the Home Stretch

I saw my doctor for my 36 week appointment today. I now am seeing her every week, which is killing my schedule (and my wallet -- stupid hospital parking fees!). While I was hoping for a, "He's ready! Let's go to labor & delivery!", I also realized that I'm not quite ready for him to show up (actually having a crib would be helpful).

Well, my subconscious won -- While I was convinced that my baby HAD to weigh at least 9 lbs (to compensate for my sudden weight surge), he's only 6 1/2 lbs. I was concerned that since I have gestational diabetes, he would be super-big, causing me to have a difficult or perhaps premature delivery. He's measuring a little big (about 10 days ahead) and is in the 70th percentile for weight and size. The size is most likely just due to the fact that Ted and I are big people; I have my diabetes under control enough that it's not affecting bambino.

As for the TMI section of the post -- I'm 1 cm dilated! Which means..... absolutely nothing..... I can walk around for weeks this dilated, so it could be two days or five weeks.

There is a lousy part of the diabetes that I have to deal with (in addition to the 4 times daily finger sticks and daily insulin injections) -- starting next week, I have to go in for twice weekly fetal monitoring and ultrasounds. They check for the shrimp's heart rate and movement (TRUST ME, he's moving.....), and also for the level of amniotic fluid, which can drop low in diabetics at this point and cause complications. I'm waiting for the time when I spend more time at the hospital than I do at home.

Is it possible to buy stock in a hospital? If so, I recommend GBMC stock.

Rolling in style

Over the weekend, we went up to Lancaster to see Gretchen's cousins, aunt and grandmother, since they couldn't make it to the shower. They gave the monkey a lot of great gifts, including what has to be the Maserati of strollers if not the Rolls-Royce. This thing has more style then I could hope for in a month of creative pants choices, opens itself, and even has a bug net. Plus, the wheels are big enough that I could put the bug net to good use and take it on safari, and we have some blankets that match the overall look. All in a package that's greener then my hybrid Camry.

Just the ride:

Getting ready for the safari:

Lay this thing down, flip it and reverse it

So, we saw a huge special on Amazon on Flip Video cameras and we got one "for the baby." The theory is, we'll take this small cheap camera with us wherever we go and just slip it in a pocket or a diaper bag. That way we can get quick, cute clips of whatever the monkey gets himself into. We'll still probably get a nicer camera for times that we know we have something we want to capture (birthdays etc), but this is nice for quick clips and the web.

Gretchen wanted a memory of her pregnancy and the profound statements made by "the preggo-brain". Below, submitted for your amusement, our first flip video: