The 36 week mark means the end of my monthly OB appointments. (After this, we move to two weeks, and then every week for the last couple.) Since Tim is off work on Fridays, I usually try to schedule my appointments for then so that he can be home with the other kids. Life is much easier if I don't have to take them into the OB's office with me. :)
Before this appointment, I took Noah and Phoebe over to the museum across the street with us to spend the morning with some friends from church. We were there for the better part of the morning, and then we had a picnic lunch at the park. Usually, we take either the wagon or the stroller and walk on over to the museum. If I were ever to time it out, I am sure that it would take longer to get everyone loaded in the van, strapped in, drive over to the museum, unbuckled from carseats, and then situated in the stroller than it does to just walk on over. Well, for the first time in 5 years, I actually contemplated driving to the museum. As I pulled the wagon full of Noah and Phoebe and a blanket and our lunches and water bottles to the end of the driveway, I found myself questioning if I could even make it across the street!!!
Somehow, I managed to survive the day on my feet. We made it home just in time for me to gulp a glass of water (in preparation for my regular pee test) and head out the door for my appointment. The best part of this appointment was a super speedy ultrasound to make sure this baby girl is headed down and out. They had told me at my last appointment that they would also do an exam this time to see what was happening. The sonogram revealed that our little girl has "assumed the position" and is just where she needs to be. But since I said that I hadn't had any contractions that had me "excited," they would skip the exam at this point. Which was fine with me, since it's all relative anyway. She'll come whenever she's ready, no matter how ready my body may or may not be at this point.
Funny thing is, after the nurse practitioner left the room at the end of the appointment, I had my first contraction that stopped me in my tracks. I had to pause for a minute and let it pass before I could gather my things and head out of the exam room. And actually, then once I got home for the night, I sat down on the couch and realized I was having regular contractions throughout the evening.
Now, as much as I thought I was ready to have a baby and be done being pregnant, this freaked me out. I wasn't "ready" like I wanted to be. I still had stuff to get done. Nothing major, but things like washing the carseat and getting it ready. Dealing with all the baby stuff in bits and pieces that were scattered throughout the house at this point. Deciding on a name for this little girl. Washing some clothes for her to wear. Making sure I had at least a few diapers on hand so that we wouldn't have to go to the store unless we wanted to.
So the next day dawned, and I found myself in a flurry of activity to take care of all those little loose ends so that I could actually be "ready". And sure enough, at the end of the day, with the carseat assembled and ready, the clothes washed, diapers in hand, I felt so much better. And "ready."
Now, if only we could agree on a name...
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