34 Wks - Peri Update, Contractions, Party Conversations, and Maternity Photos?

We went yesterday for a re-measurement on the baby and the amniotic fluid. Things are looking better in the fluid department. YAY! Also, the blood work that was done came back within normal ranges, so they didn't put me on insulin - yet. I go again Thursday for another NST, then wash - rinse - repeat until delivery.

So, I'm feeling less stressed about the baby, for sure - except for one thing... The baby is now breech again! Maybe this is like one of those puzzles where you have to manipulate pieces to get the ball from one side of the board to the other, but you can never seem to get all the pieces in the right order at one time to make it work out... Flip lever A - blood sugar is up, baby is down. Flip lever B - baby is down, fluid is up. Flip lever C - no, no wait, never flip lever C, no one knows what it does. :) LOL

Oh, you want to know about the contractions? Yeah, seems to have been a red-letter day for them today. I was out shopping and had about 2 per hour. They weren't really painful (other than the pulling sensation around the cervix area), and they didn't get into a pattern, but I certainly was uncomfortable. They quit after I got home and rested. I never was worried, just thought it was kinda neat and scary all at once.

Also, my bag is now officially packed! I'm so impressed with myself. I had figured I would procrastinate, but Peri's dire predictions last week made me realize I would have no time to pack if there was a real PROM emergency. Also, we do NOT want hubby to pack for us - a big no no. :) The only things I'm missing are a coming home outfit for me and for the baby. Since we don't know the baby's sex, Nana (my Mom) and I are going next weekend to go shop for a beautiful unisex outfit or one of each blue/pink.

If all goes well I'll be having maternity photos done tomorrow at a local studio - Bo is going to join me. I'm really looking forward to it! Bo does professional photography as a side thing, and I could so hear his hand hit his head when I asked about joining me. He was so frustrated that he hadn't thought of doing them himself... I wasn't upset though - we all know the cobbler's children need shoes, right?

We started talking over the studio appointment, etc and Bo realized how scarily close the Dr's prediction of delivery is. I could so totally here the blood drain from his face. LOL If we delivered at the beginning of 37 wks we've only got 2 1/2 wks to go!! OMG!

Between now and then we have a LOT of things planned, so we decided we'd go with the photo appt tomorrow to be SURE we don't miss the bump. Then Bo may try to take some pro "artsy" photos next weekend. YAY! Happiness prevails!

On to the "Party Conversation" part of this evening's entertainment... Saturday night I went to a birthday party for a friend. Bo couldn't attend, so I sauntered off, out on my own! People were highly impressed that huge pregnant lady was out by herself... I thought that was funny - I'm just pregnant! :)

I met this woman, we'll call her K - she is also pregnant, with her 2nd child. She's due in May. As you can imagine, we got talking about pregnancy, delivery (hers), and so on. She was NOT a happy pregnant lady - no glowing going on. She is feeling fine, she just simply hates being pregnant this time. I believe her exact words were, "Trust me, with the second one you simply can't have 9 months go by fast enough. I can't wait for May to get here. I've already picked the date for the C-section." She went on to explain that Drs don't want you to do VBAC anymore (um, not going to argue with unhappy lady, just shaking my head yes). Then she starts explaining VBAC... I told her I was familiar with it, and she looked confused.

I, for some unknown reason, started explaining that I knew a lot about the various complications and options for birth because of my "support group", a.k.a you guys! I didn't specify that we were blogging the support, but I didn't figure it was her business. I told her short snippets about several of the twins that have been born recently and some of the singletons. She stopped me mid-sentence and said, "...were they natural?" To which I thought she meant the births, and NO she meant the TWINS!

I will tell you, it took a few seconds for me to recover. I've heard people talk about the perception that IVF/fertility children aren't "natural", but I'd never encountered it in the flesh! I immediately put my "she's a moron and isn't worth it" filters on, and explained that EVERYONE in our group has fertility issues - that's how we found each other. I kid you NOT, she rolled her eyes at me! OMG!!! I wanted to slap her - she was too far away though, damned counter was too wide.

Oh, then it dawned on her that I was "part of the group", and she actually said, "turkey baster or IVF?" pointing at my stomach. I decided that she wasn't going to get me to play this game, so I explained that after 3 yrs and 4 miscarriages we found out that I had a blood clotting disorder, which made it impossible for me to have a child without a fertility specialist. I went on to explain that EVERY woman in my group has some type of fertility challenge, as fertility treatments are not something you would do unless you HAD TO. People were very litteraly moving away from us at that point... I think they thought I was upset. LOL No, not at all folks, just educating a dumass...

Then, I complained that the baby was on my bladder, grabbed my drink and found another person to talk to. Best of all, I realized that I was not angry with her, I just felt sorry for her. It must suck to go through life being unhappy and judgemental. I realized that the deeply drawn lines around her mouth were from making her frowny face too often. So sad...

BTW - I told Bo the story of this lady... He just shook his head and said, "How sad...". LOL We seem to have grown up a bit as a result of IF. We didn't damn her, hate her, or berate her, we simply feel sorry for her lack of awareness and compassion.

Well, it was a long post, but it feels good to get the thoughts out of my head.