hmm...

I just logged on my blogger page out of boredom and discovered that I haven't updated my blog since the 5th. How can that be? I could have sworn that I updated last week, but I suppose I hadn't. Then I realized that the 5th was just last week and I'm not as behind as I feel that I am. :oP

Let's see...well, at last week's exam Dr. Hulsen did do the Group B test, which came back negative. w00t! I was also diagnosed with a yeast infection though, which sucked but the medicine I was prescribed worked wonders and my nether regions have not been swollen since. Yay for modern medicine! During my pelvic exam, Dr. Hulsen said I hadn't thinned or dilated yet, which was a complete bummer but it's still early!

We also spoke with the doc about me having my tubes tied after the baby is born. He said that he could do it while I'm in the hospital, post-delivery, although he wanted Mark and I to think about it carefully because it's a pretty important decision. After the appointment, Mark and I talked about it and decided to go ahead with the tubal ligation, that is if my insurance pays for it. I am finished having children at this point and have no desire to be pregnant again.

At this week's exam I found out that I am one centimeter dilated!! Mark and I also talked to Dr. Hulsen about my shortness of breath, which was causing my hands and feet to tingle. He said it was normal however it's going to get worse within the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure I have dropped yet and found out that since this is my second child, I may not drop at all. Ug. We also talked about when I would go on my maternity leave and Dr. Hulsen left it up to me. Mark and I told him we would see how the week went and discuss it at my next visit.

Well, that evening I started to spot, which is normal after a pelvic exam when you're preggers, but by noon the next day I was 99.9% sure I had lost my mucus plug and was still spotting. I couldn't tell if I was having contractions or not though -- I kept thinking that I was imaging them.

The spotting and mucus continued through the night, so I made an appointment to see Dr. Dalla Riva yesterday morning (Dr. Hulsen was off work). He examined me and said I was still at one centimeter but that he did notice the spotting and the mucus. So we decided that going on maternity leave early would be the best bet for me, especially since I work so far away from home.

It's bittersweet going on leave early -- the good part of it is that I get to relax and have a lot of time to prepare before the baby arrives. The bad is less money, less time post-partum with the baby and I tend to get bored really easily. I also have to miss my work baby shower which was supposed to be today at noon. I asked Mary Anne if it would be okay if I still attended and she said she was uncomfortable having me there when I've been told NOT to go to work, even though I wouldn't be working. She said if anything should happen while I'm there (like go into labor), that Express-Scripts could be held accountable. Bummer. Mark is going to drive me up to work on Monday so I can pick up my gifts though so it won't be so bad. It just sucks missing out on the lunch and the cake and all that fun stuff.

Physically I am feeling better today. No more spotting, a few Braxton Hicks scattered throughout the day, but nothing serious. I spent the majority of yesterday on the computer, doing nothing but today I've made myself a list of things I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to get the pieces of our crib upstairs today and I was going to assemble it myself, but when I went down to the basement to take a look at it, it's covered in cobwebs and dead flies. EW. I'm going to make Mark clean it off. :oP

I guess that's all I have to update about now. Here's where I am at 36 weeks:

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.