Surprised to Hear From Us Again?

I know, this is like some kind of blogging record for us lately. But, I do have a lot more time on my hands now. First of all, we had a VERY exciting Friday last week. I have been wildly studying for the second portion of my licensing exam, hoping to be able to take the test before the baby came. I did schedule it a few times, only to chicken out and reschedule it because I thought I wasn't quite ready yet. (Although one of those cancellations was a blessing in disguise, because I ended up having an emergency root canal right when my test had been scheduled--but that is a story for another blog!)


So, I decided that Friday the 3rd of October was going to be the REAL test date, as I didn't want to test so close to my due date that I risked going into labor during the test (although I swear, I would have tested right through any contractions!) But, I didn't want to tell anyone I was testing, for fear that I should fail and have to face my own shame and their pity.


However, this plan was slightly complicated by the fact that my in-laws were staying with us for the weekend (compliments of a Neil Diamond concert we attended with them on Thursday night - it was "so good, so good, so good!!")









As a side note, I must admit it was an AWESOME concert. Not only does his music span quite a generation gap (young people such as myself to some very gray-haired individuals in walkers) but I also found myself strangely attracted to him. I mean seriously, do you blame me??





Being the sneaky daughter-in-law that I am, I let Byron's parents think I was headed off to work on Friday morning and I went and took my test - WHICH I PASSED!! This is such a relief, as I can now fully focus on our baby coming (and everything else I've been putting off in order to study.) I first started getting ready for licensure in October 2005, so passing this test and becoming officially licensed is the end of a long road, yeah for me! However, because I am so secretive, I really had no one to celebrate with afterwards (except Byroni!)




Luckily, a couple of my friends just happened to want to go to the spa that evening, and my lovely husband agreed that it would be a wonderful way to celebrate the end of my licensure ordeal. So, I enjoyed a milk bath, a pregnancy massage, and a pedicure (Thanks for my baby shower gift Jessica!!) and had a great time relaxing with Jessica and Kami. Boy, they really do love pregnant people over at that spa. In between these treatments I enjoyed a number of naps, time in the solarium, an artistic plate of cut fruit and about 3 seconds in the steam room (way too hot!!) However, there is a downside to all of this leisure - tying a robe is just NOT attractive on a fully pregnant woman - you either tie it below the protrusion and look like a pot-bellied man, tie it in the middle and look like an extremely rotund person, or tie it above the belly - which is attractive, but you do worry about the passing gusts of wind blowing that sucker right open.

My massage was almost identical to the one above, however I was on my side (darn this big stomach) and I did not have a male masseur. I left that to Kami and Jessica, who were VERY pleased with the masseurs they were assigned!!

Long story short - I arrived home fully relaxed and extremely happy. Only to find a husband who for some reason feels that SEVEN HOURS at the spa is a bit extreme. Oops!


And to save the best part for last, we had finally reached 36 weeks. Byron's weekly pregnancy update informed us that our baby was the size of a Crenshaw melon. Hmmm.

And, we managed to fit in our 36-week appointment in between my passing the test and spa-ing it up. They gave us our last ultrasound, which we were very excited for. However, imagine our disappointment when we learned that the baby is now so big, you can't really see "him" in an ultrasound. You can just see one large body part at a time, "there's the abdomen!" and his head was so far down, you couldn't even see it!! The baby was estimated to be 6 lbs 10 oz (with four more weeks to go, WAY bigger than a Crenshaw melon) so I've adjusted my plans from wanting a 6.5 pound baby, to hoping and praying that he doesn't break the 9 lb mark!!

But, they say that we are right on schedule and could deliver any day-which was frightening, but exciting. And the news sent me on a shopping spree that lasted a week, as I was certain my water would break at any time following that appointment. More on that later, as Byron is still recovering.