Week 38

Hope everybody out there had a happy holiday! Ours was swell and was spent up in Uxbridge with Jon's family.
A few developments of note:
1) I officially started my maternity leave on December 21st. So far, I just feel like I'm on vacation.
2) Two friends of mine recently revealed to me that they've become pregnant!
3) The baby reached full term status a week ago, which means he can make his appearance any day now and won't be considered a preemie.
4) According to the midwife, the baby's head is "fixed" (i.e. more or less in birthing position). You're supposed to be able to see a change in the belly when this happens -- it'll look like it's pointing down. I don't know if I can really tell. Check out belly shots from week 36 (wearing dark dress) and today -- week 38 (wearing white sweater). Maybe there is a bit of a dip....

This has nothing to do with the baby

But there's not much going on right now. I did read Rebecca Eckler's Wiped, but it's nothing to write home about, so instead, I offer you this photo of a young man doing a great job of channeling Bob Dylan. I'm super-impressed.

Belly Week 36

Tears in check this time

Liz threw me a shower on Sunday for close friends and family. Initially preoccupied with details like whether the house was clean enough or the food plentiful enough, I quickly fell into the fun of the event and ended up having a great time. It's always a little hard for me to be the centre of attention, but everyone was very relaxed and mixed with one another seamlessly.
The boys arrived around dinner time and, along with their missus', stayed on a couple more hours. It felt like the perfect way to be spending a cold December Sunday.
Many thanks to Liz who coordinated the whole thing while tending to a four-and-a-half month baby.

Shower of tears

They threw me a shower at work, at which I cried and cried. It was overwhelming being the centre of attention with all those kindly faces watching me closely. When I got up to give a speech, I could barely get the words out. Somehow, hardly any of the photographs show how choked up I felt. In the attached picture, I look like I'm feeling very blithe indeed!
Boyota's the first ND baby in 11 years, and everyone seems very pumped. It will be fun to take him to the branch in the spring. He will be fawned over.

I Wonder If Anything Is Happening?

I'm experiencing the following:

1. Fatigue. I totally crashed for most of today.
2. Sore throat.
3. Twinges of pain in the lower back. Different from the soreness or stiffness that I'm used to.
4. Feeling as if something is shifting in the groin.
5. Lots of sudden, big movements from Boyota.
6. Anxiety about work. I have two more weeks left and I'm worried I won't be able to cross everything off my to-do list. Impressively, they've posted my job already. They never do that!
7. Tapering off of the "nesting" urge.

Bye Bye to the YMSC

As excited as I am to be moving onto a new chapter, I will be sad to leave a few things behind. One of them is the YMSC or the Youth Materials Selection Committee. We've only been around since spring but have gotten close quickly and have a great time together. I will hopefully be rejoining them when I return to work in a year, but for the time being, it's farewell.

Here are some pics of our lunch out last Thursday.