Week 36: Anticipation*

I am now 36 weeks pregnant and officially four weeks from my due date. However, at my appointment yesterday the doctor said she thinks I have about five weeks left. I'm really not sure what to think of that but I'm going to stick with my prediction of April 15.

My newsletter from Fit Pregnancy tells me:

Your due date just suggests a time when the baby's likely to be born. In reality, you could go into labor any time between now and six weeks from now!

They also say that Baby is about 6 pounds now and 20 1/2 inches. Obviously this is the "normal" size at this point. Based on measurements my doctor takes of my uterus, she says I am on track. So I'm not worried about him being too small or too large yet.

The newsletter goes on to say, "Five to ten percent of all mothers report that babies start to slow down as they grow larger and get more cramped for space." I have yet to experience that. Baby is moving as much as ever. I'm pretty sure he thinks he can make more space by pushing and kicking. It's a bit like sharing space on the couch with my dog -- she may be little but she thinks she needs lots of room.

Still, I think Baby's pretty comfortable in there at the moment because I haven't experience the lightening I keep reading about:

You may feel a lightening sensation on your ribs and organs as your baby descends into your pelvis. Breathing and eating will be easier, but you'll be running to the bathroom more often than ever, and the change in pressure may cause shooting pains in your groin or leg.

I still have trouble catching my breath and I'm going to the bathroom constantly. I think Baby is doing a lot of stretching out in there. Like I said, I think he just keeps making himself comfortable. Sorry, dude, you're going to have to come out pretty soon.

*Anticipation - expectation; hope (If today's title has you thinking of ketchup, you are a reader of a certain age.)

NST*

Tomorrow, I head to the doctor for an NST. Having a baby-addled brain, it didn't occur to me to ask exactly what an NST is. When the doctor told me to schedule it, I just kind of assumed it had to do with growth and was just something I needed to have. I have since looked up what an NST is.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, an NST is a Fetal Non-Stress Test. It's "a simple, non-invasive test performed in pregnancies over 28 weeks gestation. The test is named 'non-stress' because no stress is placed on the fetus during the test."

The test involves attaching one belt to the mother’s abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes. If the baby does not move, it does not necessarily indicate that there is a problem; the baby could just be asleep. A nurse may use a small “buzzer” to wake the baby for the remainder of the test.

The test is performed if

• You sense that the baby is not moving as frequently as usual
• You are overdue
• There is any reason to suspect that the placenta is not functioning adequately
• You are high risk for any other reason

I fall into that last category because of my advanced maternal age. Baby has been moving plenty. Sometimes my belly looks like waves of the ocean rolling along. And he's given me some really strong kicks to the ribs on several occasions. But nothing's quite compares to how weird it feels when he gets the hiccups. It's a bit like a muscle spasm but not exactly. Although hiccups are a little more steady as opposed to the karate kick to the ribs that can take my breath away and make me sit up straight. Maybe that's his strategy -- trying to improve Mommy's posture.

*OK, technically, this is an acronym rather than a word, but whatever.

It's delightful

My good friend over at Grandma's Briefs writes about delight today, asking "When did you last experience delight, by any definition?"

In answer to that question I'll tell you about my afternoon yesterday. Because I am due late April, which falls right toward the end of our tutoring sessions, I decided to take this semester off from my duties as a site coordinator with our local children's literacy center. However, I have acted -- and will act -- as a substitute when I can.

Yesterday afternoon I covered two sessions at one of our library sites. And while I find that particular site coordinator to be a -- ahem -- challenge, the students and tutors at her site were delightful, especially one little girl who couldn't help herself and put both hands on my tummy. "Is it in there?" she asked.

If an adult had done the same thing, he or she would probably have gotten slugged (unless it was a friend who asked first) but this little girl was so cute and so gentle, I couldn't help but be delighted. It is probably one of the sweetest things that's happened to me in a long time.

Naturally, Baby picked that time to be completely still. He'd been kicking and wiggling and squirming most of the day, including early in the morning while I was trying to sleep. But when this sweet little girl wanted to feel just a tiny little kick? Nothing.

I think he just likes being contrary. I can't imagine where he gets it.

Dance Dance Revolution

I know breakdancing hit the height of its popularity 20-some years ago, but I'm pretty sure Baby was trying out his flares, back spins and body rocks yesterday evening. If he wasn't working on his dance moves, maybe he was trying out some kickboxing or taekwondo. Whatever it was, it was pretty intense.  My little alien was nonstop motion for about 20 minutes or so. And it wasn't just cute little flutters. It was major movement.

I think it's very cool when he moves around in there. The S.O. gets a little freaked out when he feels the baby move. I'm not sure if it's the reality of it all or if he's just weirded out by the feel of my stomach having a life of its own.

One day I really should take a video of the S.O.'s reaction to feeling Baby kick. You should get to laugh at the look on his face as much as I do.

The little soccer player

Yesterday, the S.O. finally got to feel his future son kick. I wish I'd had the camera handy, because the look on his face when he felt that little push against his hand was priceless.

Between that and seeing those 4D images, I'm pretty sure the S.O. is having to face the fact that he really will be a daddy before he knows it. I'm pretty sure intense fear and over-the-top excitement are competing for the top of his emotions right now. I know they are mine.

Tiny dancer

Last night, the S.O. and I watched the movie "The Good, The Bad, The Weird" on Netflix Instant. It's a Korean gunfighter film. Yes, that's right: Korean gunfighters. During the climactic chase scene, Baby was going nuts, moving all over the place. It felt like I had a little tap dancer in my belly. I like to think Baby is going to be just like Daddy (who is half Korean) and Mommy (who loves Asian action films).

On the other hand, maybe Baby didn't like the shouting and the shooting and was trying to protest. But because Baby sure seems to move around more when I'm happy, I'm going to go with the idea that Baby LOVED this movie as much as Mommy and Daddy did.

Check out the trailer:


As I said, it's on Netflix. And it is a ton of fun.

Kickin' it

For some reason I didn't sleep well -- or much -- last night. I felt like I couldn't turn off my brain, even though the things going through my head weren't worrisome. So I don't think it was thoughts keeping me awake. I had trouble getting comfortable. My hips hurt and my nose kept running. It was probably the combination of all those keeping me awake.

I'm pretty sure Baby was awake with me, because as I lay there about 2:30 a.m., I felt a tiny little flutter in my lower abdomen. This was the first time I felt something that I'm pretty sure was Baby moving around. I would have written the flutter off as gas, but it happened twice more in exactly the same spot. And I've heard that first-time moms-to-be sometimes mistake baby's movements for gas.

I have to admit -- as much as I said I wasn't going to let things I read get to me -- that I was a little concerned over not feeling movement from Baby. So I was pretty happy to feel those little flutters, even if it was at 2:30 in the morning.

Does that mean Baby is going to be up at that time once he or she actually joins us out here in the real world? Should I start preparing for 2 a.m. feedings? Well, it seems I'm awake anyway.