35 weeks and a whole lot of random thoughts

Well, we made it to the end of the week.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Exactly two weeks from now, if this baby is like his / her brother, he / she will be born. Right now I'm torn between the "getoutgetoutgetout" feelings and the "staystaystaystaystaystay" feelings. Not surprising, I suppose. Part of me just wants this part over with; part of me knows it's better for the babe to stay. Maybe I just need to fast forward the next two weeks and it'll all be fine.

And I figure that once I hit 36 weeks next Friday I can start up my usual activity, since the baby won't come instantaneously, and I'm fine with a 37 weeker. So that's really only one more week.

(Incidentally, at the hospital yesterday I got another good idea of just how tiny I am in this pregnancy ... lots of ladies MUCH bigger than me. The nurse who was doing the NST had worked in labour / delivery / maternity care for 25 years, sized me up and said she'd guess I'd have a 6 or 7 pounder. Which startled me, since The Boy was almost 8, The Man was 9.5 and I was 9 at birth; I'm expecting a big one. But at the same time, this baby does feel TINY to me given the size I am compared to last time. "It'll be a nice little girl," she said confidently. I smiled politely, and didn't mention that I knew a lady who had a 10 lb 3oz baby girl. Apparently even 25 years in maternity nursing doesn't make you immune to the old wives' tales of size and gender being correlated.)

We have a lovely group of friends here, friends who have offered help and playdates and reassuring stories of babies born at 34 / 36 / 37 weeks who are all FINE and WONDERFUL and had NO PROBLEMS (well, the 34-weeker spent 13 days in the NICU, which obviously isn't ideal, but still. My nephew spent eight weeks there. Let's consider the options and realize our boat ain't so bad here.) Right now, Good Friday, The Man and The Boy are near the ocean watching astronauts learn how to pilot submarines. No kidding. One of our friends has a very cool job. (No, he's not as astronaut, he's the engineer involved. Still.) He invited them to go and join him and his kids to watch. Never mind it's not exactly a great thing -- it's pouring rain, cold, and windy, and the kids are Not Happy, but still. It was a nice offer, and would have been great if the weather were better.

And we have playdates for tomorrow and Monday so The Man can get a little time off, already.

So it's good. It's all good. It's all going to be fine.

Now if I could just convince myself of that.