Crenshaw Melon

Today is 36 weeks, which means that we are under the 1-month-to-go mark, theoretically approaching that "could be any day now" point. At my appointment today (which I now will have every week until Barack makes his appearance) everything looked good. Blood pressure is holding steady, baby heartbeat is strong and solid. In the past two weeks, I gained just half a pound, bringing my total 36-week weight gain to 22 pounds. I'm really happy with that total, since that puts me right on target to stay around the 25 lb mark I was hoping for. But 1/2 lb in two weeks this late in the game? How did that happen?

Today's appointment also included my first cervical check -- not my favorite way to pass the time. Dr. M poked at Barack's head a bit, which was really uncomfortable, but I feel weird complaining about it, because if that hurt, I'm in for a world of trouble in actual labor. Anyway, Barack is head-down, but his head is not yet "engaged" in my pelvis, but rather is still freely bopping up and down in there. (Explains the thumping that my bladder takes when I walk around.) I'm also not at all dilated, so we may be here for the long haul.

We asked Dr. M several going-into-labor questions, all of which he dismissed rather easily. For the first time ever, he also seemed almost annoyed that we were asking such silly questions. He came around, though, when we had this exchange:

Me: I did have several contractions after finding out that the Packers had traded Brett Favre....

Dr. M: I don't think it's anything to worry about, because the Aaron Rodgers [the Packers new QB] looked pretty good in last night's preseason game.

Me: True. I'm nervous, though, because their first regular season game is the day before my due date.

Dr. M: Again, it's really nothing to worry about. The hospital maternity wing has giant flat screen TVs in the rooms. ESPN is on channel 30. But at least now you're asking important questions!

My kind of doctor.