33 weeks

33 weeks and baby has finally graduated to a new fruit size....the honeydew! My belly is definitely growing by the day, but it still doesn't seem like something so big is actually in there! He should be around four pounds, but still seems to have plenty of room to continue his crazy movements. The last couple days it's also seemed like he's had the hiccups nonstop. Friday he had them at least four different times. Even though I've read that hiccups don't bother a baby, I can't help but feel bad for the little guy. Plus it can get a little annoying for me too!

The second day of our childbirth class was, well, long. We got there at 9am, and at 10am a worker came in to inform us that the electricity was about to be shut off in the entire building. You should have seen our jaws drop. First the carpet cleaning fiasco, then this?? Thankfully there were emergency lights so we could still see (and use the bathroom, thank goodness), because the electricity stayed out from 10am until around 3pm. It was a dreary, rainy day so we didn't have much sunlight. The combination of the dim light, being in the same room all day long, and general pregnancy tiredness made for some difficult moments. I'm sure my chin hit my chest a couple times, and Stewart didn't fare much better. I'm still glad we took the class...it was a good overview of a bunch of different topics relating to late pregnancy and delivery.

The main question it raised for me is whether or not to get an epidural. Up until now I've been absolutely planning to get one, but now I'm not as sure. We were shown so many different positions and strategies for getting through labor, but the majority of them won't even be possible if the lower half of my body is numb. I'm not a big fan of feeling numb (I've been known to get a cavity filled without Novocaine because I'd rather take a little pain over hours of a numb mouth.) And I like the idea of being able to move around for as long as I feel that I can, instead of being confined to the bed because my legs can't support me. On the other hand, I also like the idea of relief from excruciating pain. So I don't really know what to do now. I may try to go as long as I can without the epidural, just keep my options open, but absolutely will still get one if I want it. I'm just surprised that I'm even considering going without, because I honestly had thought I'd be walking in the hospital ready to call for the anesthesiologist right away. And that still may happen....I guess I just won't know until I'm in the situation.

So I have one more week of work before Christmas break, and then two glorious weeks off! After the break there are four weeks left of school before my due date. I'm meeting with my supervisors tomorrow morning about how they're planning to handle my absence. From what I understand, there haven't been any applicants to fill in for me while I'm gone, so I'm a bit nervous about what tomorrow's meeting is going to bring. Honestly, the work issue is one that I'm not really ready to go into right now. It really needs its own entire post. Suffice it to say, the question of returning to work is by far the biggest stress of this pregnancy (and one that left me trying to choke down my salad in tears at Chili's tonight.) I'd just ask for your prayers as we make some big decisions about how to handle the next six months or so.

So....I guess that's about it for now. Here's the belly picture. Sorry about my appearance, I was exhausted and not in the mood for make-up or a flat-iron.


PS I know you're wondering about our pregnant anchorwoman from the childbirth class. Well, she sat next to me on Day 2, and we're BFF's now. I'm fulling expecting a shout-out on the morning news tomorrow. :-)