Week 33

I had yet another doctor's appointment this week. Even though they're every 2 weeks now, I swear it feels like I'm there all the time. I don't mind so much, except for the fact that it takes me a friggin' hour to get there. Plus this one was earlier in the day (13:00h), so my entire afternoon of work was a write-off. He wanted to see me earlier in the day this time because he wanted to see me right after lunch, which apparently is a time when babies get squirmy in the womb. PK is squirmy ALL THE TIME, so it probably wouldn't have mattered so much. Anyway, the reason why he wanted PK to be extra-squirmy is because he wanted to check out my placenta. Apparently squirminess and placenta-measuring go hand-in-hand? At any rate, all was well on the placenta front, and PK is still favorably-positioned!

We even made it out of there at a good time! The only sucky thing is that when we left the doctor's office, we were greeted with a nasty thunderstorm (thunder, lightning, and pouring rain), so we had to wait out the storm for an hour or so before we could walk down to the subway station. By the time we got home, it was 4:30pm, and while I was tempted to call it a day, I VPNed into work and got about 3 hours of work done to make up for the lost time in the afternoon. Not that I'm complaining. I enjoy my work enough to WANT to work those 3 hours from home, so no biggie.

In other pregnancy news, my non-sciatica butt pains seem to be at bay now (maybe all that squatting practice and Yoga stuff I'm doing is finally sticking!), but it has been replaced by foot swelling. Most of the time it doesn't bug me, because my shoes aren't all that tight, but sometimes I do feel it. My legs are a bit swollen as well, mostly on my calves. I notice it most when I get up from my desk to walk, as they feel pretty stiff. Fortunately, I've got a box under my desk that I prop my feet on, so I think that it could be worse. One other thing that helps is time spent in the pool - both at aqua-fitness and mooching off of my parents' pool on weekends. :D

I've noticed a bit of hand swelling as well, especially when the weather is warm or when I walk a lot. It's not so bad during the day because my hands are elevated. It has been significantly better now that the weather has cooled off somewhat (i.e. 25C vs. 35C + humidity), though I notice that my left pinky (where my iron ring resides) still seems to suffer a bit.

The breathlessness that I was complaining about last time is still prevalent, though at this point, I've just accepted it. I'm still winded is hell whenever I go up a flight of stairs, though walking isn't so bad. The fatigue is definitely hitting me most during meetings, where, if I'm not actively participating, I just find myself feeling lethargic and wanting to doze off. Unfortunately, I think it'll only get worse before it gets better. Fortunately, since I DO actively participate in most meetings, I never quite fall asleep when the topic shifts away from my area of expertise/interest.

On the kitchen front, we are at a bit of a lull right now. Although our carpenter told us that the counters would be arriving 2 weeks after templating, our project manager said that it would be more like 4 weeks from the time of templating. While the 4 weeks is in line with the estimate that we were originally given, I really really was hoping that the counters would come sooner. That puts our counter ETA at around July 16th, and if all goes well (*knock on wood*), then they have another weeks' worth of work (hopefully less) to do odds and ends like install sinks, the toilet, and appliances. And after that, the hubby and I have the lovely task of cleaning cabinets, moving things back from our basement to the kitchen, and getting the house in order from its current state of chaos. For now, however, we are sitting ducks. Waiting sucks. I just hope that PK doesn't arrive before the kitchen is done.

And now, for the topic that I've been dreading for the last few weeks - the perineal massage. I think I'm at the point where I have to just take the plunge and do it, but I really really don't want to. First off, I hear that it hurts. Secondly, I really really don't want my fingers to be anywhere down there, thank-you very much. At the same time, the prospect of tearing during labor or being given an episiotomy (though the latter doesn't happen as much) do not tickle my fancy, so I guess I need to suck it up and just do it. Bleh.