The Pregnant Pooh Bear Lady

Here is the 41 weeks picture that I promised.

Just Kidding!

Here is the real picture.  Do you see the resemblance?

I am officially the Pregnant Pooh Bear Lady (except in this photo- amazingly!) because I do not own one single shirt that can cover the entirety of my now super-sized baby belly.  There was a bit of tugging and rearranging of my shirt and pants to be able to cover everything modestly for this photo-op, and believe me, after taking two steps, my waistband snapped back down, and my shirt started to climb "the belly".  This drives me nuts because it makes me feel like I look unkempt and slovenly.  I have given up caring whilst walking around the house, but it makes me terribly self conscience when I go out and about.

I had my weekly appointment with my midwife yesterday and she said everything seemed fine, but asked "So, do you wanna induce, or do you wanna give it some more time?"  Of course, I am going to wait some more, but she did send me over to the hospital (right next door to her office) to have an ultrasound to measure the level of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby.  I warned the ultrasound technician that we do not want to know the gender, and asked if she could let me know if she was going to be looking in that region, so I could look away.  She reassured me that everything is so squished in there at this point that it is usually very difficult to see the gender.  After a few minutes, she said she was surprised at the amount of fluid I had.  She said that she measured the fluid level at 19.15 (oz.? gallons? who knows...) and that a healthy level is between 10 and 20, but that it usually starts diminishing when you pass your due date.  She continued, "In fact, there is so much fluid that this baby has a lot of room to move around- you should probably look away or you might spoil your surprise."  Then she turned the screen.  So-  I guess that explains the Pooh Bear belly.  My uterus is just a giant fishbowl where my baby gets to practice his/her water aerobics : )

After the ultrasound, they sent me upstairs to the New Baby and Mommy Ward (Family Birth Center) to have a Non Stress Test.  I did this 3 years ago when I was overdue with Aiden, but they were so busy that I got shoved behind a partition in some unknown hallway for the test.  This time, as I walked to the testing room, I passed a few new mommies with their sweet and teeny newborns.  They were so small!  It is amazing that even though I just had a baby 18 months ago (and another one 18 months before that) I forget how itty bitty they are when they are newborn.  Well, it was a bittersweet experience, because I of course want to be holding my little newborn, but I know I can't be pregnant for too much longer (right?) and I'll soon be holding mine.  Anyway, for the NST, they strapped a fetal monitor around my belly and gave me a little button to push every time I felt the baby move.  I was there for an hour before they were satisfied that they had seen all of the activity that they wanted to see, but they did let me go with an appointment to come back on Saturday for another NST, if I do not have the baby by then.  I also have an appointment for another fluid-measuring ultrasound next Wednesday, but seriously, I'll surely have had the baby by then, right?!?

Oh well, I suppose this baby will come when the Good Lord sees fit and until then, as long as he/she is still happy and healthy inside their little fishbowl, I will continue to waddle around the house, making sure everything stays clean and ready for his/her arrival...whenever that may be!