35 Weeks, 30 Years Old and a Trip to the Pool

First, I want to wish my wonderful husband a very Happy 30th Birthday. He turned the big 3-0 yesterday and I'm so happy that he is finally joining me in the "old fart's club." It was a little lonely being the only club member in the household. We had a wonderful dinner at Rouge last night with Allyson, Eric, Eleana, Dan, Chrissy, Rob and Simon. The food was pretty good but the company, as always, was excellent. So nice to have such a good group of friends. Oh, and I'm never going to forgive Allyson for buying Joel a video game for a birthday gift! What were you thinking? I'm sure I'll find him couch-bound at 3am playing shoot-em-up against 10-year-olds. Good times.

We hit the 35 week mark on Friday and as of today, I have exactly 28 days to go until the big c-section (unless H2 decides to bless us with an early appearance, although we're not holding our breath). I'm feeling HUGE, none of my clothes are fitting me, sleep is pretty much non-existent and this heartburn crap really needs to end ASAP. I know that I'm in the home stretch and I'm thankful to see the end in sight, but I really wish the pregnancy gods would play nice and give me a day or two reprieve. I've forgotten what its like to be able to catch my breath and see my feet and even shaving my legs is a task (a task that I am still doing every day, thank you very much).

We've got a doctor's appointment with Dr. Pendyala and an ultrasound scheduled for Monday, January 18. This is the 36-weeker so they'll take some measurements of H2, look at the amniotic fluid and attempt to give us an idea of how much she'll weigh on the big day. I went back to look at Brice's measurements from this appointment and they were putting him at 8lbs, 3oz. This was pretty accurate as they say that babies gain about 5oz per week at this point and he was almost 9lbs at birth at 39 weeks. Please feel free to place bets this time around on how big or small you think little girlie is.

Joel and I also took a major step this week and we joined the New Canaan YMCA. I figure, once this second baby is born, I really have no excuse to continue avoiding the gym as I've done for the past two years. They've got a great swimming facility and it will be nice to also take some spin and yoga classes again.

We decided we'd jump right in (literally) and we took Brice to the family swim hour on Saturday. Let me start by telling you that getting into our suits and into the pool was a workout unto itself. Joel decided to lift weights for a bit before going swimming, so I went with Brice into the women's locker room. I got him undressed and put on his swim diaper, at which point he burst into tears. I had a feeling he was getting hungry, so I pulled a bottle out of my bag and shoved it into his mouth. We sat on the floor while he ate... in his swim diaper...which is not absorbent at all. I prayed that he would not pee all over the floor. Finally I was able to get him in his bathing suit. Now it was my turn. For anyone who has spent time with me over the last few weeks knows that I move at a snails pace. Trying to get boots off, pants off, underwear off and bathing suit on while managing a 13-month-old was challenging. There was a moment when my foot became lodged in my underwear at the exact moment that Brice decided to peek under one of the changing room curtains. I'm not sure if Brice's face or my half-naked pregnant body scared this poor little old lady more as I grabbed him just as he was about to pull back the curtain.

We made our way out to the pool. I sat Brice on the side and hopped in. Joel was right. Feeling weightless was WONDERFUL. I brought Brice into the pool and we bopped around for a few minutes when once again, he started to cry. I was determined to get him to spend some time swimming, so we sat on the side for a bit while he calmed down. One of the nice lifeguards brought over some rubber duckies for Brice to play with and I'm not sure what the connection was, but all of a sudden, he was all smiles. We played with the duckies, dunked our heads under, he jumped off my shoulders into the water and even held on to the kickboard. He was a real champ in the water and Joel and I were so proud of him for being fearless. My plan is to try to take him once a week going forward so that by the time we go down to Florida, he's a real swimming master. Yes, this is part of my master plan to breed a future Olympic swimmer.

So, we'll update more after our doctor's appointment next week. Let's hear it for big, healthy babies!