38w0d... or the 39th week. Wowzas!
38w0d - the start of the 39th week! I am super excited to know that I'll get to see Leah any day now (and, at most, three weeks from now!) I decided the other day that I really DON'T need a Braun Thermoscan ear thermometer for her- we have, like, three "regular" thermometers lying around... and if anything, and the need for one arises, the closest pharmacy is just under a ten minute WALK away, so we can always pop out and get one. So, aside from the thermometer, my long exhaustive list of things that needed to be purchased for her arrival is down to just one thing- decorative wall hangings! Marcin and I seem to disagree on this issue- I want something to hang over her crib/changing table and he doesn't think it's safe. I did see some nice cloth (read: light, unlikely to cause damage at all on anything- especially baby- if it fell down...which is already unlikely) decorative pieces (of ladybugs! and dragon flies! in pink -and- green!) at a store in Thornhill (where we bought our UppaBaby stroller a couple months back) but it IS a little bit out of the way so I don't know if we'll be able to get them in time for her birth, or not. I've also been looking at eBay, on occasion, because sometimes there are some really nice things on there- but so far nothing can compare to the ones at DearBorn Baby (the Thornhill store.) We'll see what happens. Soon enough, it'll be the LAST thing on my mind... ...but until she gets here, my mind wanders and I obsess about every. little. thing. that I want FOR her. I highly doubt she'll care whether there's something on the wall over her crib or not, but I really want her to look back at her "nursery...corner" (in our room) and think 'my mom and dad (& co.) got me all these things because they were SO excited for my arrival.' I'm being a crazy pregnant woman, aren't I?
Anyways, last night was fun. Marcin and I got invited to my friend Lauren's place (by her mother, Denise) for dinner and a board game night. He decided to attend even though it was going to seriously cut into his sleep time (he worked until 11 yesterday, and then went straight to the mechanic with his dad for their noon appointment- got home around 1:30-2:00) Anywho, for background info- I met Lauren through her mother who was a teacher at my high school. Her older brother, David, I met at my high school as he was one year my senior. Her other/middle brother, Graham, was in my grade and transferred to our school in the 12th grade- I ended up dating him for a very rollercoaster-y and dramatic 6 months in our OAC *grade 13 in Canada before it was taken out a few years back/university prep* year.
Of course, ALL of these characters were in attendance at one point or another over the course of the evening. I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't awkward at all, because I definitely could have done without his (Graham's) presence there (for a more relaxed evening, anyways) but, at the same time, it wasn't the horrible nightmare that it could have been in the past. I really think pregnancy- not to mention Marcin who is incomparable to anyone in my past- puts a new perspective on everything, and I think I took it all in stride. I DO think it's strange that despite the personal issues that their family has with him (sometimes this means that they RARELY see him, from what I hear) he is ALWAYS present at these get-togethers at their house (when I'm there!) Early on following the break-up between he and I (his choice), I *know* that they did this on purpose (especially his mom!) to see if she could just put us back in the same room together...sorta thing. That can't possibly be her intentions these days, I don't think! I mean, I'm pregnant... due ANY DAY NOW... and I'm bringing along my partner of almost 5 years (whom they all seem to really like- hard not to like him, really.) Perhaps this time it was just a coincidence...
In any case, the evening was fun. She made some really tasty asian food- she was, after all, my culinary/culinary management teacher and AMAZING at all things culinary- which I could have easily had seconds and thirds of, we watched 'Tropic Thunder' which isn't really my style but everyone else seemed to enjoy and I know that Marcin had been looking forward to seeing, and then we played Scattergories. I love that game! For some reason, I was suffering from a serious case of brain-dead-ness and didn't do nearly as well as I would have liked. My creative juices were/are running low, and I'm easily distracted (so when I'm about to think of something I *know* will be really good, and then someone speaks out and says something aloud, the thought is as good as gone.) After the game, Lauren drove Marcin to work (he started at midnight) and her friend Vanessa (the only other non-McMullan/Gallacher in attendance) and I home. In any case, I'm glad I went. Denise (I call her "McMullan" or McMum, normally- so it's very weird even writing down her first name) is *quite* the character and she's always fun to see, and I'm honoured that she'd even do this for us since normally she doesn't like to organize such things!
Anyways, I'm not sure what's on the agenda for today. There's a bunch of options. My friend/ex boss Debby invited me out for dinner as she is working at the Toronto store today. I haven't gotten back to her. Tania called and left a message wondering if she could stop by with the kids- Dominic and Alexia- today as she'll be in Toronto. I haven't gotten back to her. Susana said she may drop by with Arwen depending on whether Mark was driving down here from Ajax today, or not, and if so- we could all go catch a movie- and I'm still waiting to hear from her on this. And I'd also be quite content (if Sus, Arwen don't come down) to just head over to the movies with Marcin (and my mom?) since I haven't gone in a while, LOVE going, and have some gift certificates that I probably won't get a chance to use for a long, long time after Leah gets here. I want to check in with Marcin and see how his night was, first, and see what/if anything he's up to. If he wants to just stay in and hang out around here, I think I'd be okay with that, too. These days, even just putting on "regular" clothes is tiring!
So we'll see.
This will be a *slow* week, I think. With my mom and Marcin back on their regular, non-holiday Mon-Fri schedules, I'm home alone from about 7 or 7:30 AM until 5:00ish every day. And then, in the evening, it's just the three of us as Nuno is in Cuba for the week. Hopefully I'll hear back from Mary Ann or Ryan (from my last job) so that I can take care of all the outstanding documents for the mat. leave application that I filled out a short while back. Better yet, hopefully I'll get the Record of Employment I require in the mail! It's so frustrating knowing that I have a limited amount of 'free' (read: before baby) time left and these people have taken their SWEET time getting these things done. In any case, I've downloaded the application to OFFICIALLY request the ROE through government means and will have that sent out by the end of the week if they haven't sent me a paper copy by then. I also need to sort out all of the hours worked mess- that is just a headache waiting to happen but we'll see how it goes...
Oh yeah, I also have an appointment at Dr. Melchior's tomorrow. I don't know what to expect at this appointment since I forgot to ask last time but I'm sure it'll be a lot more of the my blood pressure and hb / weight gain / urine for sugar and protein / fundal height / baby's position / baby's heartbeat... pretty standard stuff. I don't know if she does cervical checks at all before you're due- I'm a bit curious and, again, forgot to ask... but I'm not entirely sure whether I'd WANT a check or not, so I'll just go with the flow and do whatever is her standard practice. Speaking of, somehow I didn't finish packing my bag OR write a birth plan before New Year's. Whoops. The bag I'll try to do today (although, I'm going to be honest and say that it's half-packed and the other half can be done relatively quickly in the case of labour starting....and it might actually serve as a good distraction! ...so I'm not *too* worried if I don't get to it) and the birth plan- well, I'm going to ask my doctor if she thinks they get looked at, what-have-you, and just bring notes to this appointment about questions I may have about hospital policies that will affect entries in my birth plan... and then decide from there whether to write one or not. In any case, I've been pretty clear (I think) with Marcin about what I want / don't want / prefer when it comes to labour and delivery and I'm confident that he can be my advocate when I'm in a lot of pain and not thinking straight.
So that's that. Last minute, unimportant things that I still need (or want, I should say) to do-- sterilize pacifiers / bottle teets ...just in case they become necessary in a *real* emergency (although our house will be formula free!) and I also want to start looking at the best place to get birth announcements (with photos) done so that it's one less thing to worry about once Leah's get here!
Ooh, Susana- my sister in law- just called and confirmed that she and Arwen *are* going to spend the day with us, afterall- and they'll be here in about an hour's time so I should get ready! Perhaps we'll convince them to go to the movies afterall (to watch "The Tale of Despereaux") or maybe just hang around here... we'll see. In any case, I need to go! Sorry for all the rambling- I'm sure anyone on my friend's list is already used to this sort of thing, from me, but still- sometimes the rambling goes overboard...