Bag of tacks

Today and yesterday were eventful days for Peanut progress.

Yesterday, Tim and I took a tour of the hospital in which we hope to welcome our little Peanut. We are members of Kaiser and they have a hospital in South Sacramento that is home to a very nice maternity ward ... well as nice as a hospital ward can be. Tim is normally the one that is freaked out by hospitals; however yesterday, I was the one who was shaking in my shoes. Mostly, the tour made the impending birth of our Peanut a reality. Although the big belly and preger ailments are reality enough, the tour made the proximity of our reality an absolute truth! I am hopeful there is room to check in to the South Sacramento hospital we toured as we are "assigned" to another hospital that is closer to our house. If South Sacramento is full, we will then be asked to go to Kaiser off of Morse Avenue, which is an older facility and does not have the same accouterments that Kaiser South hosts.

Today marked my 36 week prenatal appointment. I saw the doctor and was able to have some of my most recent questions answered. I had some concerns as some of my body parts have begun to function differently and are not feeling so great (i.e., shooting nerve pain in my butt, nosebleeds, cervix discomfort, increased hernia swelling, and pooper trouble -I'll just leave it at that). Most of the changes I have experienced in the last week are due to the fact that our little Peanut has dropped into the chute! The increased pressure in my pelvis area has caused my intestines to be totally squished (explains the pooper trouble and increased hernia swelling), my nerves are affected (shooting butt pain), and his head is grazing my cervix (cervix discomfort) ....my salvation is that I am in the home stretch and hypothetically have only three more weeks to experience these symptoms.

After the doc answered my questions, she started the physical exam where she swabbed me for strep (in the hind parts, not in the mouth), and checked to see if I was dilated. Ogh mama mia!!!..... that process was about as comfortable as sitting on a bag of tacks!! I nearly rolled off the table when she performed that process! To all you moms out there ... God bless you for going through that discomfort!! It will be nice when I am in the hospital with the epidural and won't be able to feel that happen on a semi-regular basis. For those of you who don't know, the doctor jams her hand up the hoo-hoo and measures with her finger to see if the cervix (at the tippy top of the vaginal canal) has opened at all. The good news is that everything is sealed up and no dilation has occurred. I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if he came early because of the discomfort, but he still has some time to bake just yet.


On an other note, I have included some sporadic pictures of the nursery. It is still being worked on, but the pictures will at least give you all an indication of what it looks like for now. The picture to the right is of an aboriginal tapestry that serves as the inspiration for the nursery. The tapestry was given to me by Jarv, my surrogate brother from Australia who is very dear to my heart.
Well, I am off to watch a movie and resume my position on the couch!

Until the saga continues...

Signing off,
The Mother Ship