Sunday I hit 36 weeks (on Mother's Day! Though I really don't feel like any kind of Mom yet) and Monday I had my 36 week check-up at the doctor's.  I will go weekly now so they can keep a closer eye on Baby and I.  All went well again; I saw Dr. Ray this time, whom I currently think is the most charming man in the world (Dave excluded, of course).  Why am I having such thoughts, you ask?  Well, when Dr. Ray went to check my belly, he started laughing (yeah, we're not at the good part yet), and started marvelling over how differently women carry their pregnancies.  He told me he'd just come from an appointment next door, where a woman who was 38 weeks along was lamenting about the terrible stretch marks all over her belly.  He took one look at me, and said "You don't have any stretch marks at all!  If fact, it doesn't look like you're even close to getting one!  You're carrying very well-you must have wonderful genetics."  (THAT's the good part, **sigh**)  Isn't that just the nicest thing ever??  'Course, now I guess I just need to hope that that wasn't just "famous last words"...  I did thank my mother for the good genetics when I spoke to her later on the phone though.

All went well with mom-to-be and Baby H.  My pulse was back down to the 70s where I like it, blood pressure was great.  Ankles were gigantic and swollen - par for the course at this point, and all the pelvic pressure/ligament pain I've been feeling is completely normal, per Dr. Ray.  Baby is doing well too, heart rate at 138-142 bpm, measuring right on again at 36 cm.  Oh, and we know from our US that Baby is head down still - Yay! 

I also had my Group B Strep test, and while Dr. Ray was in the area, he checked to see if I was dilated or anything.  I'm happy to report that I am still fully closed for business!  This is fabulous, because I have big meetings all the way up to May 28th (yes, I am starting to get on board with the fact that I may indeed be a workaholic) and I'm really hoping Baby waits 'til June to make his/her grand appearance. 

I am starting to pare down at work though...Tuesday I took a half day off and Dave and I went to go get massages and then to a movie.  I had a prenatal massage which was just heaven on Earth, excluding the fact that I could barely walk the next day (muscles SO sore!) since I think she was able to relieve so much tension from me.  At least Dave was in much the same boat.  And Thursday was my last day working in the schools, so I will have half days on Tuesdays and Thursdays from here on out.  Hooray!

If anyone is keeping up, you'll know by now about our not-so eventful 3D ultrasound we got at about 33 weeks.  Remember, the guy who could barely find the baby in my belly?  Well.  It turns out his instructor felt bad about our mediocre experience, and volunteered to give us a do-over.  Hooray!  So, last week Dave and I trooped into the local community college to give it another good ol' college try.  And we had much more success!  Now, it turns out that near 36 weeks the baby-to-fluid ratio is less than optimal to get really good pictures, but we were definitely able to see more body parts than just the heart and spine.

Baby Horne decided to take a little nap during our US, so we didn't get any good action shots.  But, turns out Baby strikes quite the angelic pose while sleeping - hands clasped together and tucked right under then chin, as if to say "See what a good baby I am?"  It was really pretty cute, and happily we were able to get a few 3D pictures of it, one of which I posted in the photo album.  We did get a few fuzzy glimpses of baby's profile as well as face-on, which resulted in making us all the more eager to meet baby when he/she comes into the world.  There were also some pictures of the feet and toes, which were actually tucked pretty close to baby's hands, and we were happy to see thst all baby parts seem intact.  Hooray!  And, much to our satisfaction, the instructor didn't even scan below the belt, so Baby's gender is still a mystery to one and all.  Just a few more weeks now until the mystery is solved. I've been fielding guesses from one and all, and right now the consensus seems to be leaning ever-so-slightly towards boy.  We'll see!

You may have seen the pictures I already posted of our "Babymoon", and now here's the story. 

Awhile back, I came across an article about the increase in couples taking "Babymoons", a.k.a. a relaxing trip for mom- and dad-to-be, to unwind and reconnect before all heck breaks loose when the much anticipated bundle of joy arrives.  I thought this was a fabulous idea, as did Dave, though he much preferred to call it our "Weekend Getaway", and we committed to finding a weekend to make it work.  Now of course, article advised to take at least a week for a nice long rest, preferably at some cute little romantic B&B in Charleston or Savannah or the like.  I think this is actually becoming somewhat of a phenomenon in the travel industry.  Well, I don't know anyone who is able to take a whole week off so soon before maternity leave, and that was obviously out of the question for us.  But, we did take the first weekend in May, made it a long weekend, and went to the White Mountains in Arizona.

And it was FABulous.  SO completely worth it, especially with all life's craziness and stress we had leading up to it.  I, for once, was able to take things completely leisurely.  We started with a nice scenic drive through eastern Arizona, through a small town called Globe - very typical small town America, down to the local diner frequented for lunch.  It even had a little local festival to celebrate Cinqo de Mayo, which was on the following Monday. 

We eventually made our way to Pinetop-Lakeside, which is basically just a tourist town for fishermen in the summer and skiers in the winter. We stayed in a little log cabin which was cozy and quaint, and the weather was mercifully cool, even cold! (Yes - the impossible has happened...I am now overheated virtually all the time, thanks to my little furnace on board).  In any case, we spent the weekend basically putzing around, popping into little shops here and there, taking small hikes, and generally relaxing.  I never wanted to come back, and I don't think Dave did either.  Hence why we look so happy in our little self-created photo shoot. 

The following Monday, which I took off from work, we relaxed a little more, and then went shopping!  I've decided I want diamond stud earrings, and I figured what better occasion to ask for some than both turning 30 (goodness, a whole new decade) and popping out a kid, all within a few weeks (hopefully!) of each other.  That's pretty good timing, don't you think?  So, I got a good idea of what I would like, and now it's up to Dave to work his magic.  This is going to be a good month, I can just tell.

We completed our childbirth prep classes, finally!  I have to say, they weren't quite as interesting as I'd expected, though the last couple of classes were useful.  We did go on a tour of the Women and Infant Services department, and got to see all sorts of fun things in the labor and delivery rooms.  Peanut-shaped bouncy balls, plasma TVs, baby warmers - there are all sorts of things to use/stare at while waiting for Baby to come.  The way Banner Estrella works is that you have your baby in a L&D room, then move shortly afterwards to a regular hospital room.  Baby bunks in with Mom and Dad to get as much family time as possible from the start.  In fact, the only time babies leave parents is for shots and such.  They do say that parents are also allowed to go with, but that it's really pretty traumatic for newbie parents to see their kids cry from getting poked, so they really don't recommend it.

During our last class we saw a video of a live birth.  It was pretty neat - much more fascinating this time around than when I first watched "The Miracle of Life" video in Mr. Klopp's AP Bio class in high school.  I suppose that's inevitable, seeing as how I now have much more stock in seeing how it all goes down.  Dave did not find the video to be so neat.  In fact, he thought it was a tad on the gory side, and has reiterated that he may well be passed out on the floor by that point when our own time comes.  I do suppose it is a little strange to be looking into someone else's hoo-hah watching a baby that is not yours being born.  Nevertheless, he will certainly not be taking advantage of any mirrors or the like available during the delivery to monitor my progress.  He has vowed to stay right up by my head and be as supportive as possible from that vantage point.  Fair enough.

We also took a breastfeeding class, which was in fact vastly interesting.  Dave was happy to see that one other Dad came along for the ride, so he wasn't the only testosterone in the building.  I think the other guy was also quite relieved.  Overall the class was quite informative, though seeing as how I knew nothing about breastfeeding to begin with, there was no place to go but up.  It's incredible to me how beneficial breastfeeding really is, and we both left the class determined to do our best to give it the old college try.  And, happily, there are plenty of lactation consultants in the hospital to help us get on our way. 

So, education-wise, we're about as prepared as we're gonna be.  I suppose I should go practice some more hee-hee-hoos though; like a good Girl Scout, it never hurts to Be Prepared.