Eight MONTHS!

36 weeks completed today - that's eight months! (Counting from the end point.) This could conceivably be called the "home stretch" but there's no way of knowing how long it will really last. Several (like, eleven) of my "due in March" colleagues have already had their babies, and we are not yet into March. Granted, many of those were early inductions for medical problems, but not all of them. And one of my birthing classmates was 12 days overdue as of this past weekend, with no baby in sight.

My nephew Evan, born in 2008, was born at 36 weeks and 2 days according to his parents' blog, so it's a reassuring data point to know that yes, babies born at this point can do perfectly well. I'm still hoping not to go early, but you never know. I'm also hoping that my apparently very mild case of insulin resistance is not having a negative effect on Fish's size or lung development. (Bring on the mommy guilt already!) I've had to weigh the health benefits of constantly adhering to a strict rationed-carbs diet with the mental health benefits of actually EATING when I want to even when it includes carbs that are maybe not the best but are also not overly spiking my blood sugar, as far as I can tell. I've definitely been much happier these last couple of weeks compared to when I was on the strict regime from mid-Jan to mid-Feb. (Martin asked an absolutely BRILLIANT and wonderful question of the midwife two weeks ago: something along the lines of "if Beth is hungry, should she eat something, even if it's carbs?" And she said yes!)

I see the midwife again tomorrow evening. Then this Thursday we've got a breastfeeding class at the hospital. Hopefully I'm not expected to get my top off. I am supposed to wear comfy clothes and bring a pillow, if I remember correctly. The midwife appointments are weekly from now on, and next week we are also taking a tour of the hospital (just in case, so I know what to expect if I do have to go there), but that's the last non-midwife baby-related excursion that I have scheduled.

We've still got some baby stuff to buy, but we have nearly all the basics now - though I should probably pick up a breast pump sometime in the next month. Theresa got me a Boppy breastfeeding pillow and cover off of our Amazon registry - thank you Theresa! - and Aunt Mary also sent us the baby bathtub that we had picked out. Martin is going to blog about that one once the baby is here to put in it; he's already got the post title in mind. I've been holding off buying a lot of the stuff on our registry because there is a rumour of a baby shower here at work, but I've no idea if it's actually going to happen or not as the idea was floated by someone outside my department and technically I'm not supposed to know about it. (I'm glad it was leaked to me, though, as I am not always great with complete surprises and want to make sure I look reasonably respectable if it does happen!)