My FMLA has been approved.  I'm looking forward to my 12 week "vacation" (as everyone calls it).  I think my body is already starting to train me for my lack of sleep since I've had to get up at least once every night to pee...so I don't really sleep more than 3-4 hours staight anymore.

At our last child birth class, guess who was there?  YUP.  That MD couple (well just the wife).  I guess she switched into our class. We were like OH NO.  And she was again obnoxious.  We get all these hand outs every week about whatever the topic of the week is.  So she comments really loudly, "what are the handouts about?  Because I just cleaned the house and I am NOT about to fill it up with extra things that I already know about."  UGH.  seriously?  I spent the entire class just glaring at her.

And THEN, I guess she was saving the seat next to her for her husband who was still at work.  Our class is pretty full so there are just enough chairs for everyone.  So one preggo woman walks in a little late and tries to sit in that chair.  And the MD's wife tells her no, I'm waiting for my husband.  So she wouldn't let her sit in that chair.  Finally, another woman's husband goes and gets the preggo lady a chair.  And guess what...the MD husband NEVER SHOWED UP (he stopped by to tell her that he couldn't make it out of work in time).  So that chair was empty the entire time.   Biotch.

On a more traumatic note...my worst driving nightmare almost came true.  I was driving home with PB after the class (he makes me drive to practice ).  It was dark by then.  And I take the local route home since I'm still not 100% comfy driving highway (the merging part freaks me out since I can't really turn all the way around in my preggo state, so I can't completely see out the back...and to get home, I have to merge into the left lane).  Anyway, I'm driving along and out of nowhere, this girl just casually jogs right in front of the car.  She's wearing all black and talking on her cell phone.  She didn't look left or right and I barely saw her since she was in all black.  There aren't too many street lights in that area, so it's kind of really  really dark.  I only really saw her because I saw the light from her cell phone on her face.  PB didn't see her at all until I slammed on the brakes.  And even then, she didn't even look at me, she just kept jogging across as if she wasn't going across a busy street or anything.  It wasn't like she was running to beat me out, because at the pace she was going, she would have gotten hit.  She just didn't look and didn't care.  Idiot.

I think I'm developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, along with the ohter 30% of pregnant women.  It started a few weeks ago, when I started feeling a little numbness in my hands.  I didn't think anything of it...I thought it was due to the AC being turned on full blast at work (sadly, I wear sweaters to work in the summers because it's freezing).  A few days ago, I noticed that I felt some tenderness when I bent my hands down forward towards my forearm.  And if I tried to do that while making a fist, I could barely bend it at all without feeling some tenderness.  But it definitely feels stiff all the time.  I'm sure sitting at the computer typing/clicking all day doesn't help.  I haven't really even had much swelling in my hands, so I thought I wouldn't get the Carpals.  Sigh.  At least it's not painful yet...and I don't feel it unless I do those specific movements.

Three weeks until full term!  Baby Bear is measuring right on time and is estimated 5 pounds 5 oz (either that or she said 5.5 pounds, I can't remember...but either way, not a big difference).  He looks awfully squished in there right now.  He's still head down (woo hoo).  The ultrasound tech started commenting on what a nice, quiet baby he is and how I'm going to be lucky to have a quiet baby.  I just laughed because I know Baby Bear is a late day baby...so he normally doesn't start really moving til noon...and stays up til after midnight.  But as soon as she said that, he started wiggling all around...I guess he knew she was talking smack about him.

But he turned his head towards the ultrasound, so we were able to see his face (sort of).   They said it's hard to get a good shot of the face/head at this stage since the baby is all squished in there.  At one point, we saw him open and close his mouth and then he gave a big yawn. so cute. 

Here's the best profile shot she could get.  His hands are all jammed up against his face (that's what that big, round blob is).  But, you can still see the big forehead and the pouty lips hahaha.  Those are from me (which I got from my dad).  PB thinks Baby Bear is going to come out looking exactly like me.  PB was most interested in the arm and leg measurements to see if Baby Bear inherited his long wingspan.  So far, doesn't look like it. hahahaha.  I guess PB's dream of Baby Bear being a big basketball star will have to be squashed. (Although after the Olympics, PB now like volleyball and practices air spikes in the apt all the time hahahaha).

Here's a shot of Baby Bear's face.  It's really hard to make out, so I labeled some of the parts.  I don't know what that dark spot on the right is, but it's covering his right eye.  The ultrasound pic is kind of freaky looking.  It looked better live, I promise!

The nesting continues...this week, we're washing all of Baby Bear's stuff.  I think it's been 4 loads of laundry so far.  Thank goodness we have our own washer/dryer in the apt.  We started packing the hospital bag.  Sort of.  We just packed our toothbrushes and hygiene stuff so far.  We suck.  I never pack this early for anything...I'm one of those night before packers.  I see other people with their going home outfits for themselves and the baby all ready.  We're just going to throw whatever fits in a bag and that's it.  The baby's going to be covered up anyway since it may be chilly by then, so it doesn't matter what he wears.

Our next appt is in two weeks and I'll be getting my first internal exam to see if I'm dilated or effaced at all.  eeeek.  Not really looking forward to that exam at all.  I asked how often afterwards I would be getting the internal.  They said they don't really do the every week thing that some doctor's offices do since most women walk around for weeks at the same stage.  She said she'll probably check again around the end at 39-40 weeks.  I was like oh....I thought maybe the baby would be out by then hahaha.

We originally registered for a portable high chair that you could just clip on to the side of the table.  I didn't realize until I tried it out that it didn't quite fit our table.  Our table has a leaf that is stored underneath and the part of the chair that clips underneath hits the leaf, preventing the chair from being pushed in all the way.  So it's only held on by the very tips.  It wasn't exactly a comforting thought.  But we still loved the portability and will keep it for trips home since the tables at home don't have obstructions underneath.

PB and I had the day off today, so we off we went to Target to buy a high chair.  After extensive research, we decided on the Graco Contempo because it got great rating and because it folds up really really slim, which is really important since we don't have that much space.  The other great thing is that the seat height is adjustable and can go all the way down to the floor.  PB and I sometimes like to eat dinner on our couch, so we can just set the height really low and Baby Bear can sit right next to us.  OH, and it comes fully assembled...you just slide it out of the box and unfold it and it's ready to use!

The Contempo comes in a zillion different patterns, but our Target only carried one...luckily I thought it was pretty cute, so that was fine.  (The plastic pouch hanging on the bottom is a second seat cover that comes with it). 

We had another child birth class yesterday and our guest speaker was the attending obstetric anesthesiologist ovre at HUP.  There are normally two different series of classes...one that meets mostly on the weekends and another that meets during the week.  I guess for this one class, they combined the two groups.  Two of the members of the saturday class were these two doctors (I'm not sure if the female is practicing or not, but she mentioned being in med school).  The husband is an obstetrician at HUP.  Anyway, they were so obnoxious.  Before the guest speaker came in, they started telling everyone how he was an MD at HUP and talking about how much they knew about child birth at the top of the lungs.

For example, she would be like, "Oh honey, so how would you know when is the right time to go to the hospital?"  ANd he'd answer, "oh, easy....you would go to the hospital when .... (blah blah blah, lists every single circumstance).  And they would have this cheesy fake conversation with each other very loudly so that everyone could hear.  I mean, really.  seriously?  So they did this for like 20 minutes until the guest speaker came.  ANd of course the guest speaker knew them, so they instantly started kissing his ass and telling him what a wonderful MD he is. 

PB was like, well, if they know everything, why are they here?  I felt like punching them.

Week 33 and I think we just entered our nesting phase.  All our summer obligations are over and we don't plan for anymore 2-3 hour one way trips back home (it was so exhausting!) until after the baby is born.  We're a little bit uneasy leaving the area with the due date looming so close.    We still have 4 weeks until I'm officially full term...it sounds like a lot, but we know it's going to fly by. 

So, we're finally starting to get everything ready for Baby Bear.  I came home today to find that PB had put together the two dressers we got for Baby Bear (yes, he needs two) and arranged them nicely in the room.  He cleaned out the closet a little to make room for all the stuff that we had no room  for previously.  We still have to wash all the baby's things.  And I have yet to pack my hospital bag, which was our homework from two weeks ago.  oops.

Anyway, yesterday, we went to one of PB's good friend's house for an impromptu BBQ.  The friend has this adorable boxer who I've seen grow up from a puppy.  This was him when he was younger:  soooo cute!

(he actually wasn't allowed up on the furniture, but I didn't know tee hee).  I saw him again yesterday a few years later and he's HUGE.  I don't have a picture, but he was massive.  I felt like he was breaking my toes everytime he stepped on them.  The best part was when PB was holding a hot dog and was carrying it over to the grill to cook...there was a part of the hot dog hanging down from his fingers.  And the dog just ran over and snatched it from his hand in one bite.  And PB was left standing there with his hand in the same position, sans hot dog, wondering what the heck happened to it.  aaaaaaaw.  I soooooooo want a dog!  That is the first thing we're going to get when we move into a house.

*see protected*

This week, Baby bear is 32 weeks...AKA 8 months.  That's right...8 months!  5 weeks until he's full term and ready to come out (although it could take well up to 8 more weeks....or even more).  Most MD's will have the baby go to about 41 or 42 weeks before inducing.  That's 10.5 months....so for people who think pregnancy is 9 month...don't be deceived!!!  At the beginning of the 9 month mark, the baby's not even full term yet (although some places differ on the exact week.  My hospital goes by 37+ weeks as full term).

We went to our 32 week appt today.  Everything looks good.  Baby is still head down.  The MD said at this point, it's fairly unlikely that the baby will flip to breech position since it's pretty cramped in there now.  But you never know.  But Baby Bear's been good...he's been upside down since the second trimester.

I returned to my normal weight gain pattern...Maybe for those two weeks last time, I just retained a lot of water or something.  The MD wants me to gain a total of 35 pounds since I was little to start out with...so I'm right on track right now. yay!

It's also getting very difficult to pee in a cup because I can't see anything past my belly.  I peed on my hand today instead. It was gross. I almost screamed. 

What is up with the weather?  Good thing I went out yesterday because it's been thunderstorming all day today.  Like full out thunderstorms with lightning and thunderous claps.  We got a rainbow for a few minutes (while it was still storming), but now it's back to just storming.  I was just telling PB that I don't remember ever having so many thunderstorms before in earlier years.  I feel like every time it rains now, it's BAD BAD storms with lightning and thunder.  It's so frequent now.

So far I'm enjoying the Olympics, althought I hate the commentary.  I especially hate it when they call a country's traditional garb "costumes".  Anything that doesn't look "western" is automatically labeled a costume. 

*see protected*

Since PB had to work today, I had the day to myself.  So I went down to Rittenhouse Sq. to get my haircut.  I still haven't found a stylist I like here in Philly.  Ok, so i only tried one...but it was one of the top rated salons and the girl did not do a good job.  As soon as I felt her fingers uncertainly grasping my slippery strands, I knew I was in trouble.  I had asked for a graduated bob last time, short in the back, longer in the front.  What I got was short in the back, long in the front...like tiers.  I could tell at the end, she was desperately trying to make it happen by freehanding with the scissors.  I was like oh boy.  And until it grew out, I had to force my hair under with a blowdrying and round comb, otherwise the tiers would appear.  

I scoured the internet for a place that can cut asian hair. And finally, I stumbled across the website of Deluxe Hair Salon...and in the description of the stylists, one of them said she loves to cut asian hair.  So I was like okay, she must know what she's doing since no one loves to cut asian hair unless they know how to handle it.

So I gave her a shot.  I asked for the graduated bob again.  She felt my hair, evaluated my current shag and annouced that the front should hit just under my chin and she'd cut upwards from there.  Exactly what I wanted.  Anyway, she grabbed my hair and one of those razor things and went to work.  No uncertainty whatsoever.  The cut is near perfect.  It's a little more graduated than I wanted, but I didn't specify, so it's not her fault (it's kind of an edgier type place, so I guess they went a little edgier.  She told me after I have the baby to come back and she'd put in highlights in funky colors hahaha.).  It kind of looks like the posh spice bob hahaha.   Because she only used the razor on the bottom, it's wispy looking, but the top part is still shiny and smooth.  AND...when she blowdried my hair at the end, she didn't even use a comb or a brush at all . She just finger styled and that's it.  Every lock fell into place. 

YAY!  I found a stylist!