Week 35ish

It is very strange to see so much of our little one so frequently before his birth. We already have several images and videos of him beyond what I ever imagined. The last photo I won't post because from the angle it was taken, it looks as though he's eating the placenta (he wasn't) - gross! I know him so much already that one Sunday morning I felt him next to me snuggling on the pillow in our bed with my arm resting under his little head (I am a co-sleeping parent.) A very strange experience indeed and I wished right there everything was okay and it was all over and he was out. I have been ignoring the scheduling department the last week for yet another echocardiogram. The LAST one was suppose to be the last one. I mean, really, nothing has changed with Joachim and I can't help but think the office wants extra pocket money from the insurance company. He got a score of 8 out of 8 at the last visit. Fetal movements were great, fluids looks good, growth is average at 5 lb. 2 oz., etc. and all that good stuff. I want to be left alone at this point. BUT, I can't be. Recent research in the medical field has shown they can detect possible signs of potential stillbirth. I fall into a certain category to "qualify" for this testing, that being: age, multiple births, under and over weight babies at birth, defects of this baby and so on. So I agreed to NST testing for the last four weeks since it really has been somewhat of a rough 8 months. It is nothing invasive. Once a week, they simply hook me up to two monitors and they record baby movements and heartbeat. When I feel baby move, I click a button that marks my "click" on the paper to verify that his heartbeat rises accordingly to his movements. There are certain heart patterns they look for that would indicate the potentiality of stillbirth. I am actually quite fascinated by this. Although they cannot play God, I believe God gives us certain forms of technology to help us when he sees it fit in doing so and it certainly does not hurt anything in this instance to use those means.

I have been very limited in my activities this pregnancy due to ligament pains. Sometimes it can be immobilizing and I get very frustrated, because I am not even able to squat down to clean up little spills or messes on the floor that I have always done throughout the day for as long as I can remember. St. Therese's little way is not all that easy. ;-) I've also experienced three hours of labor last week and the Knight reminded me to drink water, something I am terrible at doing. I think he is getting as few hours of rest as I have been. Poor guy. Only he does not get to take naps like I have scheduled into the school year. He's had to pick up a lot of my slack. The days I feel better I work really hard and then the pain returns, I crash and am pretty much useless manually. Sometimes I think he thinks I am making it up, but he remains quiet and still helps out a lot. I am truly thankful in this regard.

So what do we do for fun these days? Make dessert (thank you, Francesca!)...

 ...and play outdoors!