The better half and little one think it's cute when I get stuck in various positions, such as on the couch, in bed, trying to get out of the car, trying to get off of the floor...I tell the little one that he better help his mommy up, and I tell the better half that it's his fault that I'm like this.

I've told the little-one-to-be that he's staying in tomorrow whether he wants to or not, and that he can come out anytime after Monday.  Hopefully he'll listen.

Baby watch officially begins

Low census + no admissions = called off of work today.  I'm not complaining:  at least I found out early, before I dug out my scrubs and started the warpaint.  Fortunately, we planned financially for my not working during the next few months, so while making some money today would have been nice, it wasn't critical.

Come hell or high water, this would have been my last day at work anyway.  They knew I wasn't going to work once February came, and that I won't be back until at least June.   So...four months of officially not working.  I don't know what I'm going to do with myself...oh yes, I do:  take care of the little-one-to-be.  But until he arrives, it's going to be a long February.

I should get cracking on the addictions CEUs while I'm off...and dig out the Spanish lesson CDs for the computer.

Turned work down for today, so tomorrow will be my last day of working before baby watch begins.

My dad got out of the hospital today...a couple of days ago, he had tripped and fallen on some drawers that he was working on.  No broken bones, no stitches needed...but lots of pain, blood and a the development of a 12-inch hematoma courtesy of 30+ years of being on warfarin (Coumadin).  So off he went for a two-day stay full of Vitamin K and painkillers.

While inpatient, he got a complete MRI.  My mother said she was worried about it and so read it to me over the phone.  Word for word.  All 6 pages.  Lots of interesting tidbits but nothing that struck me as being horribly abnormal...though I'm no MRI expert.

I was getting exhausted from listening and translating stuff, so by the time she got to the kidneys, I asked her if any of the physicians at the hospital told her that they found any problems.

"No," she said.

"Then don't stress.  If there was a serious problem, I'm sure they would have told you--they wouldn't court a lawsuit by not mentioning anything.  But take it to your regular doctor so he can review it too."

*sigh*

In other news...I noticed something.  Over the last couple of weeks, I have been incredibly thirsty.  Insanely thirsty.  Not the typical "I've had too much salt" thirst, but a painful thirsty feeling.  Thirsty enough that the word "polydypsia" came to mind today.  Then once that word entered, I realized that the appetite has increased considerably over the last couple of weeks too.  And the edema started around that time too.

For the record, polyuria never crossed my mind as the little-one-to-be is securely parked on my bladder...and has been for several months.  So constant urination is nothing new to me right now.  And no weight loss (ha!)...for the record, I'm now at a 39 lb gain.

Appetite increase, polyuria and edema:  I could put all of these down to the pregnancy.  But the insane thirst has me a little concerned.  I passed my glucose tolerance test in week 28, and have never had a problem with diabetes or blood sugar before then.  So while I'm not getting worked up into a "I've turned gestational diabetic!!!" frenzy, I'm going to call my OB and/or regular PCP tomorrow just to be safe.

Of course, I couldn't notice this before my last OB appointment so I could bring it up.

*sigh* x 2

So far so good.  Little-one-to-be is in the correct position, his heart rate is good, and he is estimated at 6 lbs.  I'm not dilated at all, my blood pressure is good, my weight up up but my feet are well and truly swollen and apparently I've got a lot of amniotic fluid in there...my abdomen was described as being "very squishy."  The midwife was able to bounce the little-one-to-be around in there.

I also got a DTaP shot.  The nurse was rather tickled to find out I'm a psych nurse, and we spent about 15 minutes comparing notes on IM techniques.

Next appointment in two weeks.

Work wants me to work Thursday as well as Friday.  Every time I try to get away they pull me back in :)  I'm thinking about it.

If it wasn't enough to hear it at work, my sister declared that I am huge.  The better half is predicting that the little-one-to-be is going to be gigantic.  The little one introduces me as "my mommy with the basketball in her belly."  Seriously, my abdomen has doubled in size overnight.

So have my feet and ankles.  I couldn't get on most of my compression stockings...I had to wear the lightest-strength ones that I owned (only 8 mmHg) and even then, my feet and legs looked like a claymation accident when I took them off last night.

*sigh*

Doctor's appointment tomorrow.  We'll see where things stand.

I am glad I am off work since last night I could not get comfortable to save my life, so I didn't sleep much.  Watching Lon Chaney silent films didn't help me get tired, but I figured that if I wasn't comfortable I may as well be enjoying myself with good cinema.  So I'm planning to go back to bed later this morning.

I did do my daily spot of nesting.  My bathroom is clean.  I also cleaned this past weekend since we had company (sister and her kids) over.  Half of the house, including the soon-to-be-nursery, still looks like Hiroshima after the bomb though.

Only one more day of work this week.  Given the sudden stomach expansion, I may have to go in wearing civilian clothing.  That's another benefit to working in psych:  in a lot of facilities, scrubs are optional attire.  While I prefer wearing scrubs due to a.  the comfort and b.  there's no mistaking that I'm a nurse (as though the ID badge with the big "RN" tag didn't help with that too)...I also need to be comfortable for this last day.

They're making bets...

The consensus of my coworkers is that the belly has gotten so large, that few think I will make it until the end of February.  Half predict I'll go into labor on Super Bowl Sunday, which is exactly at 37 weeks.

"No," I said.  "The Ravens made it, and I want to watch the game without having to stop and push!"

I thought this week was going to be my last week at work, but I got talked into doing one more day next week.  I told them that had to be it because once I was at term--which is either Super Bowl Sunday or the following week, I'm not good at the definition as OB's not my specialty--I wasn't working anymore...at least, not until the little-one-to-be is 3 months old.   Then I'll be back in some way, shape or form.

In the meanwhile, I'm finally having a bona-fide craving that is lasting more than a couple of days.  

It's whole wheat toast with real butter...specifically, very well-toasted Dave's Killer Bread and salted butter, though if desperate I'll use unsalted.  Seriously.  I'm putting down a few slices each day.  I even made some at 2200 last night and had it with a glass of chocolate milk.  I suppose this is a better craving than ice cream, sugar or cheese...the last in the list being a major craving last pregnancy and which resulted in 50+ lbs going on the body.

Speaking of weight gain, I'm up near 33.  So much for keeping it around 25...still, it's better than last time.  I'm aiming to keep it under 40 but at this point, any weight gained is mostly kid, breasts and peripheral edema, so I'm trying not to let the scale get me stressed out.

I did start getting the MyFitnessPal account ready though.  As much as this pregnancy has been good to me--seriously, it's been miles better than the first one--I'm ready to start having most of my body back.  The breasts, I'll have to continue to lease out to the little-one-to-be for at least a year, but the rest of me can start to be reclaimed after birth.

I started cleaning out the office, which will become the little one-to-be's nursery.  This is not meant to be a one-day process:  I figured I'd work on a it a bit each day.  Of course, little one-to-be won't be living in it for several months, but given that I'm a pack-rat by nature, I need to get an early start on the process.

I culled the nursing school textbook herd quite a bit and I still have almost bookshelf full.  Same with the knitting books.  Unfortunately, there's too many to combine into one bookshelf, so I'll have to think of something.

I also found a few unfinished knitting and crochet projects that I should tackle once I stop working and go on baby-watch.  I found a blanket for my bed, two wool shawls, two pairs of socks, a burp cloth and a charity blanket.  I also found a baby blanket in gender neutral colors that I have no idea who I was making it for, but it's almost finished.  So I'm going to finish it off and set it aside for the little one-to-be.

I also cleaned the stove.  That's today's adventure in nesting.

I was going to see my nephews tonight to let my sister have an evening off.  I made plans for the better half and little one to go to a monster truck show while I babysat.  I actually like monster trucks (and my Grave Digger is going to be there) but figured that being at a monster truck show at 35 weeks' pregnant is probably not the best idea.  The boys better bring me back lots of pictures and if possible, a Grave Digger souvenir.

But then I found out that my sister and one nephew have strep, and the other nephew has a cold.  So no babysitting for me.  I need to get strep while pregnant even less than I need to be at a monster truck show while pregnant.

I now have an evening to myself:  definitely a Chinese food night.  I wonder what sort of movie/television marathon I should have...and I should pull out that baby blanket in progress and work on it while I'm watching.