33 weeks!

It's been an eventful week! I went to Cooperstown on Saturday with my parents and sisters. We took Dad to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as our Fathers Day present. It was a great time and we all had a blast. Lots of laughs as Mom posed lovingly with a picture of Derek Jeter. My feet weren't very pleased with me by the end of the day though - cankles and sausage toes! As of today I finally have something resembling ankles again! We had a great family day at Moreau on Sunday celebrating all my nieces/nephews birthdays. The weather really didn't look like it was going to cooperate, but we went forward with it anyway and the rain held off and we even had bits of sun throughout the afternoon! Even though we were missing some members, it was a great time with most of the family there. So nice to get in the water too, and it was actually a nice temperature this time!

The little guy seems to be trying to make his exit through my abdomen wall. He's been pushing outward so much lately, it's so crazy to watch and feel of course! I still can't figure out which limbs are protruding. I thought I might be able to figure it out but when I saw his feet next to his head in the ultrasound last week I gave up trying to figure it out. He's just too much of a contortionist!

I pushed myself a little too hard yesterday but at least my efforts were rewarded. I really wanted an aquatic source of relief without having to mooch off people all the time (and to those I have mooched off of - THANK YOU). So I took it upon myself after completing 3 loads of laundry and cleaning the laundry room to actually clean out our hot tub. We had drained it at the beginning of the summer since I didn't think I was allowed to use it. I asked the midwife at my last appointment and she said as long as the water is under 100 degrees it's fine. It had to be drained anyway, we hadn't used it since the ice storm and it was all gross inside. So I drained it completely, scrubbed it out and refilled it. Made me really sore, but made me enjoy it all that much more when Jack and I soaked in the 96 degree water and caught an episode of the Office on the laptop later that night.

We had our first childbirth prep class at Seton Health last night. Jack was still skeptical about their necessity but I knew it wasn't so much instructional as it was informative - letting you know about all your pain management options, and letting you know all of what you can expect. Our class consists of 12 couples, almost all of which are expecting boys! I was a little nervous about finishing up the class only 2 weeks before I'm due, but there are 2 couples in the class that are due before me! Last night's session included the ladies making a list of physical changes they've noticed and the guys making a list of all the emotional/psychological changes they've noticed in their women. I was proud that Jack's contribution to the guy list was that he noticed that I'm so very happy. The nurse who leads the class then went through the items and explained why we're experiencing them. Not surprising that a lot of them are just caused by hormones. She also covered some anatomy while explaining symptoms, and we both learned some new things. We finished off with a relaxation exercise. I was willing to have an open mind, but Jack knew me and knew I wouldn't really get into it so as the instructor was starting to gently lay the groundwork for a scenario to focus on with the plinky planky music in the background and I closed my eyes, Jack pinched my arm. He started to giggle and made me chuckle, and I closed my eyes again. Then he poked me. So much for having an open mind about it. I lost it. The rest of the class is all relaxed and quiet so I'm trying not to distract them, but holding in the laughter was SO hard. I had tears streaming down my face. But all in all we found the first class beneficial.