No one says no to a pregnant woman

Yesterday Aaron and I had to (by had to, I mean volunteered to) put postcards outlining all of our church’s Easter services in the mailboxes of people in a specified area around the church.  Normally, this is a rather easy task, but I’m really starting to waddle (that happens when one is 24 weeks pregnant), and Aaron is training for a half marathon, a distance he ran that very morning.  Needless to say, he was stuffed.  Proper stuffed.  Could hardly move his legs.

But yesterday was the last day we could do the letterbox drop.  Aaron gets home too late to do it on weekdays, it’s already dark when I pick him up from the train station.  I could do it by myself, but pushing a stroller filled with an impatient toddler on the grass while waddling along behind it probably wouldn’t work out too well either.

Aaron pushed Hannah in the stroller on side of the road (no sidewalk in some parts), while I walked on the grass putting the flyers in the letterboxes.  No problem, good exercise for a pregnant woman.  Some people, though, were out in their yards, watching us as we neared their houses, wondering what we were stuffing in mailboxes.  Crap.  Letterbox drops are easy when we’re just sticking the paper in the box.  A lot of people don’t really want or like getting flyers, especially religious ones, in their mailboxes, let alone in their hands in their own front yards.

I walked up to the first yard-dweller with a nervous smile plastered on my face.  “Would you like me to put this in the mailbox, or give it to you?”

I was expecting a “No Thanks,” accompanied by a grunt and scowl, every single time.

Instead, they all smiled at me and took my little flyer.  Maybe I should take up door to door sales whilst I have this big belly.  People see me waddling around, feet all swollen, red-faced and sweating, making an effort to put things in their letter box, and they can’t say no.   How could someone say no?

Hannah started getting bored.  We gave her some flyers and Aaron wheeled her over to a mailbox.  She reached up as far as she could and deposited a flyer with a huge happy smile.  “More mailbox!”

Hopefully people will remember the cute little toddler putting flyers in their mailbox, and/or the waddling pregnant woman and come to one of the Easter services, so they can learn about the true meaning of Easter.  I mean, chocolate eggs are nice (especially for someone who is pregnant…), but that’s not Easter.

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39 weeks

Pregnancy: 39 weeks 1 day
Total weight gain: 16.9kgs (37.25lbs)
Baby size (approx head to foot): 50.7cm (19.96in)
Baby weight (approx): 3.3kg (7.27lbs)

The count is in the single digits and less then a week away!!! Of course that is assuming Mushi decides to arrive on or before my due date. It’s CRAZY to think that at ANY TIME I could go in to labour!! We are very much ready for it though, we just want to meet little Mushi (and I just want to get him out of my pelvis!)!! The Jess thinks that Mushi will be born on the 1st of July, and has thought so since the beginning. That is her dad’s birthday and babies in the family tend to come on other family members birthdays (Aaron and his Grandma share the same birthday, as to a cousin and aunt or something along those lines). Or, maybe the 12th of July as that is Aaron’s Mum’s birthday (as well as Jennifer, my cousin’s, birthday). I’d much rather it be on the 1st, I don’t want to have to waddle around being very uncomfortable until the 12th. I, on the other hand, think Mushi will come on the 4th. It’s Independence day in the U.S. plus The Jess has a ball that day, and I think it would be funny if she had to turn up to the hospital in her ball gown while a bit tipsy. Would make for some interesting photos. Aaron thinks it will be the 5th.

When I went to the hospital for last weeks appointment, I was told I was “fully engaged,” meaning Mushi’s little head is right down in my pelvis and ready to be born. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he will be born asap, as first babies can descend a few weeks or more before being born. It does mean that he is in position and ready and could come at any time. The hospital appointments are generally uneventful. They take my blood pressure, measure my fundal height (which is inaccurate at this stage since they can’t measure the bottom of my uterus as it’s sitting in my pelvis), feel the baby’s position (laying on his side, head down, on the right side of my uterus. Good position to be in), listen to his heart rate, ask me how I’ve been feeling. At the appointment before the last one I had to take a lower vajayjay swab to check if I have strep B (or something similar sounding, but I think that is what it was checking), a bacteria that naturally lives down there and is not harmful usually, but can cause strife to the baby while it’s being born. Happy to report I’m negative on that front (which means I don’t have to have an antibiotic drip while giving birth. Phew. Don’t like needles!!).

I’ve been getting heaps of Braxton Hicks contractions lately, but they still don’t hurt at all. I don’t even feel them all. Sometimes if I’m paying close attention, I can feel them start (my uterus becomes hard), but usually I just notice when I touch my belly and find that it’s quite hard, then softens after a bit. Maybe I will be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t even realise they are in labour until the endish of the first stage because the contractions don’t hurt. Apparently that is how some people end up having to race to the hospital and give birth very soon after they get there. Usually you know you are in labour for quite a while before hand. Even though I know that most labours don’t begin with the water breaking (despite what the movies might have you think), I have this irrational fear that mine will break in an embarrassing public place (i.e. on the bus, at the store, at church, etc.). Let’s think about this: say I’m grocery shopping, I have a trolley full of groceries, but am not quite done yet. My water breaks. Do I finish my shopping, go to the checkout, then call the hospital? Do I ditch the groceries, and immediately leave? Of course I don’t drive by myself (Aaron is teaching me to drive the manual car, and I’m not quite confident enough to drive by myself yet. I’m a wussbag), so that would add another element to the equation. Do I then get a cab home, call someone who lives close by to come pick me up, get on the bus, wait for Aaron to come and get me?? Be good water, don’t break in public!

It is getting quite uncomfortable for me to do anything. Every time I stand up, there is a head on my bladder and I always feel like I have to pee (which maybe could be mistaken for a bladder infection except that it goes away when I sit down and take some of the pressure off). Again, due to a head being in my pelvis, there is a lot of pressure on my tailbone, and in the general butt area which can also get quite uncomfortable. Hard chairs certainly don’t help this either. When I eat, my belly prevents me from getting too close to the table. I end up getting lots of my dinner all over my shirt. Why don’t I just lean forward over my plate you ask? Mushi doesn’t like it when I lean forward, it must squish him. He immediately lets me know with a swift knee in the top of my uterus. Not like the kind he does when playing poke my limbs, but a sort of “knock that off mommy, I don’t like to be folded” kind of way. I’ve started keeping a towel next to me so when I eat I can drape it on myself.

A few people have asked me if I’m going to have photos of my labour. I do want photos, but only of the waist up. I don’t mind having photos of me making hideous “oh my goodness, this really hurts” faces, but I don’t need to see photos of the baby coming out or anything. I don’t need to see that place anyway, I certainly don’t need to see it with a head sticking out, and no one else should be seeing that part of me either (except Aaron and the doctors of course). I’ve heard that some people have those photos in an album at home, and actually show people. To me that is like saying “hello, here is my vagina.” So no, no photos South of the border thank you very much.

I finally took my citizenship test on Tuesday. It took me about 3 minutes (which was going through it twice to make sure I didn’t accidentally choose the wrong answer for any of them), and I got 19/20. I couldn’t remember who Australia’s first prime minister was. If you have read the citizenship textbook, the test is quite easy (well, except the one question…), but if you haven’t read it, you probably would fail miserably. I was going to eat lunch with Aaron later that day, since I was already in the city anyway, but I finished so quickly, I had 2 and a half hours before our lunch. Even though I’ve always been embarrassed by this prospect, I went to the movies by myself. I didn’t particularly want to walk (I mean waddle) around for 2 hours as my feet would end up the size of fully inflated balloons. The only movie that finished in time to meet Aaron for lunch was in Gold Class, so I thought what the heck, I just passed my test, I’ll treat myself. I was still quite embarrassed to be going to a movie alone (no offence Dad, I know you do that a lot), but then the only other person in the gold class cinema was a random guy who was also by himself (several rows in front of me, luckily not nearby as that would have been very awkward). Oh, did I mention I was watching a total chick flick, The Proposal? I didn’t feel so embarrassed after that. Although expensive, Gold class is very comfortable. They have big overstuffed recliners that you sit in. Perfect for a very pregnant woman who needs to put her feet up.

Thursday, I had someone from Baby BeeHinds come over and do a nappy (um…diaper) demonstration. As I said in the blog months ago, we are going cloth. Cloth nappies are not like the used to be. Now they are fitted, have inserts to catch more pee, have snaps to make them bigger or smaller depending on your baby’s size, etc. They are very good. The ones I got are “one size fits most,” so I won’t need to buy anymore nappies, they are good from newborn to something ridiculous like 3 or 4 years old (I hope Mushi is potty trained before 3…). Sure I spent $533 on them, but if I were to use disposables, I’d be looking at at least $2000 (and that is a conservative estimate) for the time Mushi is in diapers. Plus, we can use these for our next baby. They will take about 10 days to get here, so hopefully we will already have a baby by then….

I know this post is long, but what the hay, I’m going to keep going. No one is forcing you to read this. Saturday, The Jess and I decided to go to Pancakes on the Rocks (for those U.S.Aliens reading this, Pancakes on the Rocks is a Pancakes restaurant at the Rocks in Sydney. No ordinary pancake place though, this one serves chocolate pancakes with chocolate syrup, and chocolate ice cream. That is one of their concoctions anyway). I wrote down the driving directions, and we set off. Things got hairy only a few minutes into our trip when we accidentally took the harbour tunnel instead of the bridge. The directions tell you to take the Bradfield Highway (not actual name, but I can’t remember it’s actual name at this time), but then the road signs use no such highway name and just give you highway numbers (like 1). So, I ask you, how are we to know which lane to be in?? We chose a lane that takes you over the bridge, as we knew we needed the bridge (we knew that much at least), but at the last minute the silly lane forked, one to the bridge, one to the tunnel, and we ended up in the tunnel. We did then find some of the roads listed later in the instructions, but didn’t realise we were now coming at them from the other direction, so turned left when it should have been right, and ended up having to pretty much tour the whole city. An hour later, we found the road that Pancakes is on. Or so we thought…. After we parked, closer inspection of the street sign revealed that some hooligan had turned the sign so it was pointing at the road we were on, but should have been pointing to the road next to it. No big deal, we’ll just walk. That’s all fine and dandy usually, but it turned out to be quite a long walk, and I really really had to pee. We had to stop at a very posh hotel on a pier and ask for directions, as well as to use the bathroom. Luckily they humoured us (probably because a young guy was on the desk, and guys always take quite a shining to The Jess). Finally, an hour and a half after leaving the house, we got to Pancakes (this should normally take under half an hour). By that time, I wanted a real meal and not just something sweet (what is wrong with me?!?!), so after all that, I ordered a savory crepe, and The Jess got the nice black forest pancake (but I stole some of it). After sitting at the table for a while, another waitress came and insisted we move to a booth as it would be more comfortable, and then had a go at the other waitress for putting a heavily pregnant woman at the table with the hard chairs. I have to say, I did appreciate the booth. I like booths anyway, but at the moment, they are even better!

Ok, last paragraph, I promise. I read that babies tear ducts work in the womb, but can’t yet function outside the womb. I think that is probably a good thing. Seeing your tiny little bundle crying will be hard enough, but imagine if it also had all those tiny little tears coming out as well. It will be a shock to see tears for the first time though. I just can’t wait for Mushi to come out!! Come on Mushi, we want to meet you. Hopefully by next weeks blog we will have a little Mushi to write about (although then it won’t be Mushi anymore, it will have a boys or girls name…).

34 weeks

Pregnancy: 34 weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain: 14 kgs (30.86lbs) but I did weigh myself at night rather then first thing in the morning before I’ve eaten or had anything to drink….
Baby size (head to butt): 30cm (11.81in)
Baby size (head to foot): 45cm (17.71in)
Baby weight: 2.1kgs (4.6lbs)

34 weeks. Wow, not long now! Good thing too because I just keep getting bigger! I can’t believe I have gained 30 pounds! If I sit too long, my back starts to ache, if I stand or walk for more then about 2 minutes, my feet swell. If I lie down (on my side of course, wouldn’t want to cut off blood flow to Mushi) too long, my hips hurt. Lucky for me, my couch seems to be quite comfortable for long term sitting (with me sideways, taking up the entire couch, with my legs extended). Some chairs/benches/couches make me ache in 1 minute flat. The very worst culprit: the pews at church. Luckily we only have 6 more weeks until I can be comfortable in the pews once again. After lunchtime, I will have reflux for the rest of the day and half the night as well. I suppose this is not surprising considering that my stomach is now smushed way up, and I’m pretty sure is sitting nearly level with my boobs. It doesn’t seem to hold much anymore either, and I can never finish my dinner. When you look at this depiction of a 34 week baby, you can understand why:
Ok, that little copy and paste thing didn’t seem to work… I’ll put it on the side with all the other photos. Sometimes cheeky little Mushi likes to kick me in the actual stomach, which really doesn’t bode well in the reflux department.

I think when Mushi gets older, he/she will really like to play games with us. Already, Mushi plays games with Daddy while Mommy is sleeping at night. Aaron told me that when he comes to bed, he puts his hand on my belly and then Mushi will kick him and have a good old time for ages. How I can sleep through all of this, I’m not sure, but do. Mushi also likes to play the “poke my limb” game. He sticks out a limb (not sure which one, it’s really hard to tell!) so we can feel it from the outside, then we push it, he takes it away, and then returns it in another spot where we poke it again (and repeat). Sometimes I think it’s an elbow, sometimes a foot, but as I said, really hard to tell!

plate. Anyone who knows me well will be quite shocked/flabbergasted/amazed at something I did this week. I, Sheri Thomson, tried beef. That’s right, you read that correctly. It’s very hard to argue with Aaron’s logic. He said to me “aren’t roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes some of your favourite foods?” Why yes, they are, I really like them (we had them this week, prompting this little discussion). “And you used to always say you hated them until you tried them a couple of years ago.” Uh oh, I see where this is going…. “So if you thought you hated potatoes and sweet potatoes because you didn’t like them when you were little, then you tried them and loved them, then maybe you will like beef if you try it.” Slam dunk, how can I disagree with that?? We made an agreement that next time we went to Bento-ya (a good excuse to go there really), he would get the teriyaki beef and me the chicken (because that is what I get every time we go there because I have never tasted such good teriyaki in all of my life), and I will try some of the beef. Nervousness rising…. Also, in exchange for trying the beef, Aaron would buy me some gelato (mmm…). The day in question came all too soon and I found myself with a bit of beef staring at me from between my chopsticks. “Keep an open mind,” Aaron said “you’re not going to like it if you convince yourself you won’t before you try it.” Ok, open mind. He decided to mark this fateful day with a photo of me about to eat the beef. Ok, just go for it (I know these thoughts should be in italics, but you know what? I just can’t be bothered). I put scary beef in my mouth and started chewing. That’s right, I didn’t just swallow it, I actually chewed it (not like when I started eating peas…put some in, swallow whole, wash down with water, repeat). At first, I was pleasantly surprised. I quickly realised though, that the pleasant surprise was just the teriyaki sauce coating the beef. Once I got past that, I really didn’t like the beef. I did swallow though, so that in itself is an accomplishment. Now we know I definitely do not like beef. Not because I tried it when I was like 2 and didn’t like it then, but because I actually tried it in adulthood. It’s been about 24 years since I last tried beef, and sorry beef, I still don’t like you. You can moo on someone elsesGelato, here I come!!!!!!!!!!

Disturbingly, I saw what Aaron would look like pregnant this week. The men were encouraged to try on the “sympathy belly” at our antenatal class. I asked the teacher how much the belly weighs, and she said it would be fairly heavy as it represents a nearly full term baby. We were all curious after that, so she went off to find the exact amount in the brochure or manual. “8 kilos,” she said. We all laughed. That is a lot less then any one of us has gained. Later they showed us a video of babies bonding with their parents. Even when they are newborns, they will look into your eyes for a couple of minutes. It was so cute! I keep finding myself getting cluckier by the day. I suppose it’s all the hormones.

we went again (after Aaron picked me up in We have decided that we need to either get rid of the computer, or tv to make room for a small home gym to keep us fit and healthy. First we thought maybe we would get rid of the tv, get a tv tuner card for the computer, and get rid of the tv and stand (or keep both, but get a small computer desk to put in our room). Off to IKEA we went. We looked at some computer desks, but then realised that we probably should have measured the proposed desk area before purchasing. After navigating the maze filled to the brim with crazy shoppers that is IKEA, we went home. Next we decided that we would get a big tv with the same resolution as Aaron’s monitor so he can still play games on it by plugging it into his computer, but we can still use it as a tv. Off to IKEAParramatta as I had a girlie night with The Jess and Romana. It took us about 20 minutes to find each other in Parramatta. Would have been easier except the Church Street mall cuts Church street in two and I was confused as to which side Aaron and the car were on…). We picked out a nice compact tv stand that would leave lots of room for our future exercise bike and weights, as well as a little dresser for Mushi. Completing the maze once more, we finally found ourselves at the self service pick up point (for those of you who have not yet ventured to IKEA, you find what you want from the displays, write down the aisle and row number, then go to the giant warehouse and pick out the boxes yourself). First up, new tv unit. Out of stock. That’s ok, let’s get Mushi’s dresser. Out of stock. We must have good taste. Another fruitless trip to IKEA. Lucky though, Aaron got the new big tv later that day and I don’t think it would have fit on the stand we chose. Apparently we didn’t learn our lesson about measuring from our first trip. We did at least get a very cheap breakfast, mine was $2.00 and Aaron’s $2.50. I think maybe the eggs were made from powder, but I suppose that is to be expected for such a cheap meal.

Later that day, I went to Equip, a Christian women’s convention/conference at Darling Harbour. I have never seen so many women in my entire life. I went to the elective on Hospitality, which I found quite good. After, they had an afternoon tea, but no food. Mel, Katherine and I decided we were quite hungry, so, tea mugs in hand, 10 minutes until the main talk, name badges on, we set out to the shopping centre food court. We found a Macca’s (McDonald’s for you non aussies), and finally, we could satisfy our tummies. I’m sure people thought we were quite strange walking around the shopping centre with non disposable tea mugs. The talk started with, well, I’m not quite sure what you call it really, maybe dramatic reading? There was someone reading for each character in the book of Esther. There was also a narrator, who I think, should have a career in movie trailer voice overs. He was just that good. The talk was very good also. The only problem was I couldn’t get comfortable. Even though the chairs were nice and cushy, no matter how I sat, some part of me would be very uncomfortable, usually my back. I’m just getting too big and awkward I think! I suppose traipsing around Parramatta as well as IKEA earlier that day didn’t help things. I’m still not sure why, but as we were coming out of the conference, there were fireworks going off in the harbour. Some from stationary platforms (or something) out in the water, and others off the back of 2 jetskis. It wasn’t a holiday or anything, but we were complaining, everyone loves fireworks! We ate dinner at Wagamama, where, of course, I got the teriyaki. Not as good as Bento-ya though. As I said no one beats the teriyaki at Bento-ya. Embarrassingly, my nose decided it was a good time to start dripping blood. At least we had all finished our meals by that time. Nothing to see her folks, just pregnant woman nose bleed! By the time I got home, I think my legs were about to fall off. For the first time, the feet swelling went past my feet, and all the way up to my knees. I think I walked around way too much that day.

Tomorrow I have my last ultrasound to see if my placenta has nicely moved itself up. I hope so, otherwise I will need a scheduled Cesarean! I am looking forward to seeing Mushi again though. Hopefully they won’t accidentally tell me Mushi’s sex. I’ll have to tell them when I first arrive that we don’t want to know.