Why I'm Not a Doctor

We went in for our sonogram on Wednesday morning. I settled on the table as the technician got everything ready. "I couldn't find our CD anywhere in our house, so I'll need to go ahead and purchase a new one." I tell her. They'll record the sonogram on a CD and give it to me to keep for a small $3 fee.

"Well, at this late stage of the pregnancy, the babies are usually head down, face down, so there's not much to see, but I can go ahead and burn it on a CD for you." She reached for the gel to slather some on my stomach.

"Oh, I don't know that he's turned yet." I point to the huge lump sticking out my right side. "I think that's his butt and his head is over here. I think he's laying sideways."

She placed the sensor on my lower stomach, right above my pelvic bone. "Yup, there's his head. Head down, face down."

I called my mom on the way out to fill her in on the news. "He turned, Mom! I don't know when, but he's head down, face down and in position. He hasn't dropped yet, though. That big lump on my right side is his shoulders, and the smaller lump on my left is his feet. He weights 6 pounds 3 ounces so far."

"That's great! Have you packed your bag yet?"

"No, but I still have two weeks before I'm due and I'm not dilated yet at all. She said that if I go over a week, then we'll look at inducing. I think I'll end up being right on time." I pause a moment while I think about that. "But, then, what do I know? I thought my kid was laying sideways. I'll pack my bag this weekend."

Baby Update

We're now meeting with the doctor once a week. We met with her yesterday and she advised that we'll have a sonogram on our next visit next week. As some of you who have seen me are aware, Kiddo is laying sideways, or transverse. His butt is prominently displayed on my right side and his head is poking out my left side, instead of the head down position that he's supposed to be in.

So, Doc is giving us a sonogram to check him out and see exactly how he's laying. From what I've read on the internet, most babies turn head down by the 36 weeks mark, which I passed last Friday. This little guy, though, hasn't budged an inch. He still may spontaneously turn, but if he's stubborn at all like his mom and dad, then I don't see that happening.

I'll let everyone know how the sonogram goes next week and see if I can post some picture of him!

From Beau

This is the life. Dad snapped this photo when he didn't think I was looking. I had an eye on him, though, and was watching him out of the corner of my eye while he snuck up on me. Jumped up and chased him out of the room! He was laughing like a lunatic while I was on his heels.

Dad's a funny one. Every time I turn around he wants to snuggle with me. Pulls me up onto the couch, rubs my belly, and we sit and watch TV together. Tells me not to tell mom cause she doesn't want me on the furniture. Something about what she calls "Beau stank," whatever that is. Caught Dad with his feet in some kind of foot spa this afternoon while Mom was napping. Bubbles kept coming up from the water while he sat there and watched sports highlights. He wouldn't let me chase the bubbles that overflowed and spilled onto the towel he had underneath. I like chasing bubbles. I'll get him back though when he falls asleep and leaves the chip dip on the couch. Yum.

Mom's gotten really funny looking lately. Smells different too. Actually the whole house smells different. Mom and Dad moved a bunch of stuff around and have all this new furniture in the front room. With toys they put out of my reach. I know I'll get my teeth on that stuffed dog sooner or later, though. It's only a matter of time.

Yup, I got the two of them eating out of my paw. Nothing's gonna change for me. No, sirree.

Showers

Check out me and a couple of my college friends at my shower.

Baby showers. Not my thing. Matter of fact, I've always hated baby showers. Thought they were boring, a waste of time, and couldn't wait until the time was up before making my escape. And the games that were played? They didn't even involve alcohol, for crying out loud. What kind of party was that? And then some women always wanted to turn the party to be about them by bringing their children, usually new babies or toddlers, who would then take over the party. They'd follow their children around to ensure the kids didn't stick their fingers in the cake to taste the icing or would guilt the pregnant mom into letting said kids "help" open all of her gifts.

Yes, baby showers were never my thing. Until, that is, it was my turn.

My dear friend, Miss Arkansas, offered to throw me a shower. Right in the middle of her moving out of state, buying a new house, and moving into the new house. Do I have great friends or what? She spent a small fortune, even flying into town with all of the decorations that she'd bought, and seemed so genuinely excited to be throwing me this shower.

I'm very lucky and grateful for the friends that I have. More than twenty people showed up for my shower, all to celebrate me and the new life growing inside me and about to make his appearance in less than four weeks. They flew into town, drove more than ten hours, drove from the next neighborhood over, all bearing gifts like the three wise men. Some of my closest friends weren't able to make it. One had lost her dear husband less than a couple of weeks prior. And a couple of others simply lived too far away to join in the celebration but sent their love.

The game was fun (especially when I was on the winning team!), the kids were awesome and eager to let me open my own gifts by passing them to me and watching as I opened each one, and those who love alcohol were smart enough to gift me some for me to bring to the hospital after the baby is born and celebrate in true style.

Those who were eager to leave said their goodbyes shortly after the time allotted on the invitations. And then there were those who always turn my house into Party Central (God bless them because we love to entertain!) and stayed until close to midnight.

Yes, I have a whole new appreciation for baby showers.

And for my friends. I love you guys!

Shadows

Some people have a harder time letting go of the past than others. Matter of fact, they dwell on it, obsess about it, and totally lose focus of the things that matter that are right in front of them. They wallow in that dark place, losing sight of their loved ones, in the shadows so deep that they can't see a way out. At this point, they usually make a bad decision, and if they're lucky, live to talk about it later.

I was at work one day when I got the call from my father that my brother had tried to kill himself. At this point, my brother lived in an apartment, had custody of his son with his girlfriend, and was so high on different kinds of drugs that he had lost sight of the important things. Like his own life. Or his own son.

Did you know that when someone tries to kill themselves that they're arrested? The police stand by the hospital bed and no family members are allowed in the room. At all. You rush to the hospital wanting to check on your loved one, and you're not allowed to see them. Not for days. The victim (should I even call them a victim when they do it to themselves?) is then taken to the psychiatric ward, allowed no visitors, no phone calls, while the DA decides if they want to press charges against the victim. Trying to kill yourself is against the law.

And if the victim has children? CPS is called and the child is taken into custody and put in a foster home while the parents are evaluated.

My nephew now lives with my father.

My brother? Alive. Sober. And homeless.

Random Thoughts about Pregnancy

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My breasts laying (yes, people, LAYING) on the top of my stomach! Why the hell didn't anyone ever tell me that happens?

My ankles and calves becoming cankles. And oddly enough, not hurting even though they're humongous!

Nipples the size of small dinner plates. No, I'm not kidding. And did I mention that apparently they change to a dark brown color? WTF?

Leaking breasts. Oh, this is a fun one. Especially when you have no idea that this can happen and you're on a business trip, walking around another office, with a giant milk stain on your shirt. Way to make a great impression on the team!

My man suffering from all of my symptoms, or the symptoms that I'm supposed to have, but he's stolen from me. You know what I'm talking about, girls! Ask any nine month pregnant chick if she wants sex, and what's she going to tell you? The same thing Hottie has been telling me. Freaking sucks.

Beau being fascinated by the smell of all the diapers that are now being stored in the baby's room closet. Poor thing has no idea what's about to happen.
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Comments about My Pregnancy

"How did this happen?" - Hottie's daughter

"Are you guys going to get married?" - multiple people

"You're not showing hardly at all." - multiple people early in the pregnancy

"Kim ran out there like she was going to help, all fat and all. You know, pregnant." - Hottie

"You know, you're about to get huge! That last month, you just won't believe how huge you're going to get." - a colleague

"Have you started cleaning the baseboards yet? That's going to happen, you know, right there at the end." - same colleague

"Can you drink that? I didn't think you were supposed to drink any caffeine when you're pregnant." - a colleague

"Are you supposed to eat that?"

"Oh, I knew someone with that name once. He was such a little shit."

"It's a boy." - everyone

"Wow. You're six months? You're really big. I wasn't showing at all when I was six months." - a hostess at a restaurant

"Wow. You're hardly showing at all. I was so much bigger than you when I was that far along." - a colleague

"Send me a picture of you pregnant!" - multiple people

"I want some pictures of you all swelled up." - my dad