Weeble Garage

Yesterday I hit the big 35/35. That is 35 weeks with 35 days left to go. This is what I look like. I can’t wait to be able to tie my own shoes again.

35 weeks

As soon-to-be-parents, we have a lot of studying to do. We’ve read many pregnancy books, we’ve been online, we’ve talked to other parents, but we need classes too!

We hired a pair of doulas (I call them the DoulaDudes) to help us on the big day. A doula is not quite a midwife, more of a delivery coach who has lots of experience in the birthing process and can act as our “advocate” when doctors are making decisions around us. The DoulaDudes are giving us private lessons beforehand at their apartment. The first one was all about labour and delivery, complete with a pretend baby and a pretend pelvis. The second one which happens in November will be about childcare, because apparently these things don’t come with instruction manuals.

But wait, there’s more! Our local health clinic also offers a bunch of pre-natal classes very (very) cheaply. So far we’ve attended:

• Birth and Delivery 1
• Birth and Delivery 2
• Childcare - the most informative so far

These are group classes so we are getting to know a few other expectant parents too. We still have “Coping Strategies” and “Breast Feeding” to attend this week and next week.

I have a feeling that however much we read and learn, we will never be fully prepared for what is to come, but the more prepared we are, hopefully the smoother the whole on-the-job learning experience will be.

Yesterday Mark took me to my 32 week appointment. My blood pressure had been up at home for four days in a row, so they did a bit of monitoring and took some blood. My blood pressure was perfect in the hospital, there was no protein in my urine and the blood tests came back fine. In spite of everything being fine, I now have to go every Wednesday morning for more careful monitoring - pleh. Better safe than sorry I guess.

We also had a quick ultrasound to verify that the baby is growing well and to find out approximately how big he is at this point. The doctor was pleased because the Weeble is a good size - he weighs approximately 4 lbs 7 ounces and is on track for being about 8.5 lbs at birth. So, not a tiny baby, but not frighteningly large either.

Jen is currently using five pillows in bed. Two to rest her head on, one to rest her book on, one to put between her knees, and one to put her feet on. The five pillows plus the large bulge caused by the weeble mean that I have about five inches of bed space.

Turning over in bed is a whole new adventure for Jen too. Her muscles don’t seem to work the same way, and that coupled with having to re-adjust five pillows, avoid kicking me and avoid squishing the baby mean that a simple change in position takes several minutes and results in Jen gasping for breath.

Isn’t pregnancy fun?