thirty-three weeks

Yes, we are at 33 weeks now and these photos were taken yesterday. I haven't kept up with my writing, though, so the following are some "highlights" of the past week:

Tuesday morning Mr. C woke up from a night of poor sleep, since the chest pain he had been experiencing off and on for a few days had plagued him during the night. He'd had his vitals taken both by one of our nurses and Mothership over the weekend and everything looked fine. But still, something was obviously not right. We both suspected that a call to his doctor might force him to go to the E.R. but what neither of us were expecting was that not only would that be the case, but so would admission to the hospital for 18 hours of "routine" observation. Ugh. Hospitals suck. However, he is (thank God) fine and his heart, blood pressure, cardiac enzymes, etc. all passed all of their tests with flying colors. He has a follow-up appointment with his doctor tomorrow. After he got home from the hospital he decided it might be a good idea to remove the memory foam topper from our bed, and reports that he has slept better since then and has no chest pain. Hmmmm...
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My sweet, dear friend flew over from the other side of the state for a visit this weekend. It had been a long time since we'd had a visit, but she is one of those friends who you see after a long time and it feels like you were just together the day before. It was wonderful to spend time with her and I am so thankful for her :)
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We started our childbirth class on Monday and it went well. There are four couples total, as another couple joined the class, so that feels like a good number of people. My impression after the first class is that two of the women are fairly naive about the whole thing. One of them kept talking about the movie "The busine$$ *f being b*rn." The teacher seems to have a very balanced perspective, though, and does a good job of redirecting the conversation as needed. She knows about my history and has encouraged me to share as much as Mr. C and I feel comfortable sharing. My feeling is that I will talk about things if they become relevant. After the class Mr. C did vent a bit to me about how he was feeling in response to some of the things that were said by the two women in class. Overall his sentiment was that the most important thing, the thing that will make this a "successful birthing experience," is to bring home a live/healthy baby. That's it. Sure, we may have to deal with some things that are annoying or a bother--a nurse may say something rude or insensitive (perhaps, but this hasn't been our experience in the past--quite the opposite, actually) or someone might push the epidural pretty hard (and we, gasp, might even say yes) or we may even get to a point where a c-section is advised (and yes, we trust our doctor and our advocates enough that if this is advised then we will trust that it is warranted) but when all is said and done what really matters is that this Little Guy will be on the outside, safe and sound. Maybe something along these lines will be shared at some point in class. Perhaps, but hopefully only if it can be said in a gentle, honest way that will actually be heard. We have our second class tonight.
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Mothership sat next to my OB at one of her doctors/practitioners meetings at the hospital last week and they got a chance to talk. We had planned to discuss the hospital situation with him at my appointment tomorrow, but she brought it up with him then. Turns out that unless I go into labor before 37 weeks I will have to deliver at the hospital that is close to my house, where he delivers all but the preemies (the other hospital, the one I'd prefer, has the NICU). I have no desire to jump ship and find a new OB at this point, so I will deliver here. It will be OK. I'm glad that I have a few weeks to wrap my brain around it, though.
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As I believe is evident in the photo above, the Little Guy is continuing to grow--and I, subsequently, am getting huge. I had to break down yesterday and buy several new maternity tops, since the tops I'd thought would last through the pregnancy just aren't covering the belly anymore. Fortunately, although when I look at my legs and my behind I find it hard to believe, my pants are still fitting me.
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I believe that I may be experiencing what they call nesting. It may just be a response to being on modified activity for so long, and now being able to be more active, but I have been working on projects all over the house. It feels nice.