We had a dr. visit this morning. Surprisingly, I have not progressed any more, but they say I’m ready to go. So, we’ve scheduled an induction for Thursday morning at 8:30 AM. I told Chad that this little stinker wants to come on her own time, so she’s going to wait until the day after the last guess in the baby pool to make her appearance.

We’ll let you know if she surprises us and arrives before Thursday.

The Superfly grocery store in our area has special parking spots for ‘expecting’ customers and parents with infants.  They’re nice parking spots, but I’ve never used them before.  Usually they are taken by lazy people with no children or pregnancy in sight who are ‘expecting’ to have good parking (I guess they misinterpret the signs).  Despite the fact that I look pregnant now, and it was nice not to have to roll to the back of the lot, I still felt a little weird parking in one of the spots.  It makes me wonder if I’m pregnant ‘enough’ to park there, or if you need an infant and a pregnancy to make it legit, or is it only for women who are so pregnant that they’re about to bust?

So I read in one of my ‘guide to pregnancy books’ that vivid dreams are pretty common.  The most recent one I had included TinyD running away from me right after he was born.  Never mind that he was a newborn, somehow he could sprint like an Olympic athlete and was running down the hospital corridor, sans clothing.  Briefly disturbing, but also kind of funny.  I’ve never seen a baby sprinting down the hall anywhere, but I’ve actually seen adults running naked down a hospital corridor (yes, more than once. No, I don’t recommend it as a method of checking out of the hospital). 

Hmmm…. OK, now that I’m entering the 3^rd trimester (starts sometime in the next few weeks, or maybe now, at 26 weeks?) the whole reality of TinyD arriving is starting to hit. Never mind that he’s been kicking quite a bit, so it’s not like I can forget he’s there, or that it’s getting really obvious that I’m pregnant, so that no one is shy about asking me.  But the practical things, like daycare vs nanny, finding a pediatrician, getting nursery furniture, etc are starting to seem a bit urgent to complete.  This fills me with concerns like “What if I can’t find a daycare or nanny and have to quit my job after umpteen years of school and training?” or “What if we don’t get our baby furniture on time and TinyD has to sleep in a laundry basket, like one of our cats?”  Fortunately, there is more than one infant care day care in the county and some of my friends with babies have recommended pediatricians, so I think things will work out.

I read “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy” which I picked up during our loooong airport layover coming back from vacation.  The author is very funny, to the point where I would laugh out loud while reading it, drawing stares no doubt from the people around me.  It covers lots of pregnancy topics, from conception to post-delivery and addresses a lot of the concerns pregnant women might have.  It encourages readers with a bun in the oven not to get a radical new haircut in the third trimester as you will still look incredibly pregnant, but will now have a pixie haircut to top it off.  It also had good advice about pregnancy clothing (share with your friends).  While not quite as thorough as some of the 400 page pregnancy guides, it’s still well worth reading.

Scariest-looking pregnancy book on the shelf?  ‘The Complete Organic Pregnancy’.  I only read the back cover of it and then had to put it down.  It has sections on how to avoid polluting you and your baby with your face cream and makeup (What?  Lead-based makeup went out of style 200 yrs ago, what else could it be?) as well as a lot of info about toxins in food and pretty much everything around us.  I already have enough paranoia about fish – is this the fish with lots of omega3’s? or lots of mercury? – so I think this is not the right book for me. 

We went to the doctor this am. I’ve progressed a litle, now 2-3 cm. dialated, but that was about it. The midwife says my cervix is ripe and ready to go, I just need the contractions! The assistant asked what the heck I was doing there - I should have been at the hospital by now. She then commented that you never thought you’d be wishing for pain, but at this point, that’s what I want to feel! Enough of these teaser braxton hicks and contractions. We made an appointment for next Tuesday, but Chad’s determined that we’re not going to that one.

Otherwise known as ‘baby radar’.  I can spot babies anywhere, even at great distance, and I think they’re all cute. Travis even caught me staring at a baby during the hockey game we went to a few weeks ago. Who needs to watch hockey when there’s a cute baby with lots of hair and pink pajamas sitting nearby?   I also notice pregnant women a lot more than before and instantly wonder how far along they are, if they’re having a boy or girl, and how they’re doing. 

I also find myself staring at animal babies, like pictures of a baby polar bear at the Berlin zoo or baby panda pics from China.  I also got kinda choked up watching the baby penguins hatching in the movie ‘Happy Feet’, which they were showing on the airplane flight returning from Puerto Rico.  The movie was irritating, and better without sound, but I still found baby penguins hatching to be pretty moving.  It’s a good thing I’m not home during the day to see diaper commercials on TV.  They might just bring me to tears because of the cuteness.

I had my last airplane trip this week and went to Puerto Rico for a GI conference. The conference was interesting, the weather was warm, and I went to the beach a few times.  I wore a pregnancy bathing suit, complete with belly-ruffle and it was really comfortable.  I got some complements on it (thanks again for the loaner, Mandi) from women who remember the bad old days of maternity b suits of the past and there’s a photo of me in it at the beach (which will not be posted on bf2k7). 

The food in PR was really good and I tried several local specialties.  Mofongo is a mash of cooked plantains (starchy, non-sweet bananas) with seafood on it and was delicious.  There was also lots of empanadas and fritters to snack on.  And good fish, which now I realize I can eat without giving Genghis mercury poisoning.  Instead, he gets a health dose of omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for him. 

While there, I had almost no access to email for 5 days, and I was only able to check it once.  This might be the longest I’ve gone without email access in years. I never realized how dependent I was on my internet access.  Strange feeling to be without. 

Tiny Genghis seemed to like playing in the ocean.  I may have to look into swimming somewhere closer to home. 

OK, so it was actually March 12^th (and no, I didn’t forget).  My cute husband is now 33, so catching up to me in age.  At least temporarily.  I bought him a new bathing suit, since he somehow lost his old one, only to discover that it doesn’t have the mesh underwear inside that most men’s bathing suits have.  Not sure why anyone would make an unlined bathing suit, or if it’s suddenly stylish to wear regular undies/boxers in the pool?  I also bought him a book of ‘Get Fuzzy’ comics, which is a pretty good strip (available in the Baltimore Sun is you want to check it out).  It also didn’t come with mesh underwear, but that’s probably ok. 

My pregnancy wardrobe has expanded a lot thanks to Carlie, Mandi, and Netra.  Each has sent me a nice collection of maternity-wear, which I’m putting to good use.  More and more of my ‘regular’ clothes are getting banished from the closet as Genghis gets bigger.  I now have more work clothes as well as a decent-looking pregnancy bathing suit, which I actually had the guts to wear in Puerto Rico.

My favorite staples of pregnancy clothing:

1. The pregnancy tank top.  Nice for wearing around the house, but also very useful under other shirts.  This keeps too much cleavage from showing at work (no patient needs that view).  They’re also useful for extending the length on shirts that are a bit too short and also cover up the less-than-attractive expandable elastic waistband on pregnancy pants. 

2.  Yoga pants/track pants/etc.  So comfy for the weekend.  I suspect these will be even more popular as I grow. 

3.  A cute dress.  Or maybe 2.  Nice for church, the occasional nice dinner, etc.  The empire waist is particularly important, so that there’s a break above the belly.  If I’m gonna feel pregnant, I might as well look the part.