Email 4
EMAIL TO: [All in Address Book]
SUBJECT: Pregnancy Update #4
Hello again friends and family!
Week 26. Sorry I'm running a bit behind. Quite honestly I didn't think anyone would notice. In fact, I thought you'd be relieved that I'm being lazy, but that has not been the case at all. I've had quite a few requests for the next one, particularly from a few of the male recipients wanting to hear more about my breasts. Unfortunately, lads, they're pretty much the same, but I'll see if I can fit something in ...
Before we hear from the experts, I'll just quickly say that I finally had my ultrasound a few weeks ago, and everything is hunky dory. And yes, we did find out about the sex, but I won't say as I've found some people are a bit funny about that. Many of you already know through other email correspondence, but for those who don't and would like to know, just reply to this email and put "So, what is it???" in the subject line. But I'm still not telling you the name we've picked - most of our family now nad htat's quite enough. We need to have something exciting for the final Update. For the sake of consistency, I'll still refer to the baby as 'he' in these Updates.
One thing I've noticed about ultrasounds since I had our first child is that they go for a LOT longer! Or perhaps that was just me - you tend to perceive things differently when you have a full bladder. Also, they take pictures full frontal, rather than the old profile, so the kid looks a bit like a skeleton and, quite frankly, not very attractive. Still amazing nonetheless. We did get a video, in which our unborn child flips us the bird, and yawns, so he's picked up some of my better (?) qualities already.
Also discovered that I'm actually due about a week sooner than expected. But then, you can't put too much faith in that, as they tend to pop out when they feel like it.
Okay, onto the experts. Apparently weeks 25 and 26 are non events as far as they are concerned, so we'll see what they said about week 24.
Maureen the Maestro is telling me that I'll start to get very big from now on (oh really?!), and that I should check my shoes. I'm assuming this is to make sure they're big enough for my swelling ankles, which fortunately I've not had to suffer through as yet, or perhaps she's wanting us to be wary of spider bites. Either way, practical advice. Then she tells me that I'll be sweating like a horse, and that I'll be very flushed. And THEN she says that this the best part of the pregnancy. Contradictory? You be the judge.
Super Susan lets me know that the top of my uterus now reaches my navel (funny, I thought it was up to my chest!), and that I may get cramps every now and again, and may also need to wee lots. MAY? Who is this woman trying to kid? Might as well just write "Live in the toilet". As far as what the unborn is up to, he's about 33 cm long and is now going to start getting plump, which means I'll get even MORE plump, I suspect. Apparently they can now hear, hiccup and think. Who knows that he's thinking of. "I feel like chocolate" is probably the extent of it.
I did start antenatal yoga about a month ago, but haven't been going because of the flu, which seems to last twice as long when you're pregnant because you can't take anything for it. As if feeling like a cow (leaking), whale (huge) and a duck (waddling) aren't enough to put up with, the powers that be have decided that I shall not be allowed to have so much as cough medicine, for the sake of my baby (who is probably also sick, and desperately wants drugs as well). I hate them all.
Anyway, yoga was quite interesting. There was lots of 'bonding with your unborn baby' type stuff, which I thought I was already doing when I was telling him off about sticking his legs into my side. Not so, apparently. Bonding requires me to listen to him - but all he said was "Let's go get a Big Mac". I couldn't have agreed more, as being in a room full of very large women rolling their hips about in a puff of lavender scented candles was a bit freaky to say the least. Plus not being able to eat anything before classes already makes you feel a bit out of it, so having the giggles when these women remind you of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Junior', then wanting just to lie down and go to sleep, makes a bizarre way to spend a Tuesday night.
I feel 'noticeably pregnant' now, in that I feel very LARGE and dreading how much bigger I will get over the next three months. I also notice the inability to do 'normal' things, like have a beer during the football, which has been a tradition over the last few years. Also not being able to get up and dance at the Tom Jones concert (if I wanted to dance, I would have had to have bought standing room tickets, which means I would have to stand ALL NIGHT) annoyed me, and made me feel a bit disabled and ... well ... old.
I booked in at the hospital last week which was interesting. I had an 'interview' with the main midwife who basically asked me about my last birth, hoping this one would follow suit. Transcript of conversation:
Midwife: How long was your last labour?
Me: Seven hours.
Midwife: And how long did the really painful bit last for?
Me: Seven hours.
Dumb question! She probably thought it was a dumb answer, but really! What did she expect me to say? "Oh, the last forty five minutes I found I needed a couple of asprin and a good lie down, but the rest was fine." Yeah sure! In seven hours of labour, you don't even get the luxury of having half an hour between contractions.
Until next time!
© Cynthia M. Piromalli 2002
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
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