not so 'bah hum bug'

I had a dr. appointment today. I don't get the pleasure of seeing the same dr. every single time I go in, so more often than not I leave with only the knowledge that I was seen by a licensed professional who has obviously done his or her time as a dr. AND doesn't want to loose that license. Honestly...that's good enough for me.

Today, however, I had the honor of being seen by my OB/GYN that I had for Emily. I love her. She's so kind and takes her time with you. This also means that more often than not she is EXTREMELY late. Tardiness aside, she really is awesome. During my appointment, I learned a few very important things (that I kind of already knew)

 1) Contrary to what my chauvinistic last dr. I had seen said, I am perfectly riding the weight gain scale. As of today I have gained 25 pounds. Wait...SAY WHAT?! I know. Scary right. But here's the break down:

Baby: 6-8 lb.
Placenta:1-2 lbs.
Uterus:1-2 lbs.
Amniotic fluid: 2-3 lbs.
This last one made me giggle because I always joke about it, but I guess it's actually legit!
Boobs:1-2lbs.

As for me:
I produce 3-4 more pounds of blood!
My body should HEALTHILY have a fat storage of 8-10 pounds (in my THIGHS!)
I my fluids increase 3-4 lb.

Therefore at birth I can have gained 25-35 lbs. and be considered "healthy". That's insane to me!
With only 6 more weeks to go I can easily gain a pound a week for my little bean. (Just another excuse to eat as much fudge as I want at Christmas!!!)

2) As the dr. is massaging my belly and trying to get a mental picture of what position Baby Claire is in, she casually asks me, "So...exactly how big was your first baby? because....{long pause} you don't have a whole lot of room left in there" HA! to all of you who think I'm being a big baby. I am not the big baby here. Claire is! Which isn't really comforting either.

A little history: Emily was predicted by the very same dr. to be a big baby. They were not going to let me go more than 7 days over my due date without being induced because they were concerned for her bigness and my, well, narrowness. Precious Emily was born 6 days over due at a healthy and average 6lb 14oz. HOWEVER, she was nearly 21 inches long. Turns out baby bean Emily just had some seriously long legs rolled up in there.

After telling the dr. this today she smiles and says "congrats, it looks like you might have yourself another long legged girl" GREAT! Just what I need...when is there ever a good ending for a mom of a blonde haired, blue eyed, long legged girl? That's right, NEVER.

and 3) I have this one spot...right below my ribs where there is some appendage that rubs and rubs, all day long and bruises my insides. By the end of the day it hurts so bad that the only thing I can do is lay down on my side to relieve the pressure. I figured now would be the time to ask about it. "Oh it's probably a knee. perfectly normal" she says as she pulls up my shirt to feel again. "Oh!...actually, it feels like it's her bottom."

Awesome! because guess what? Claire's pointy little bottom is going to start getting spankings!

Really though. What is happening is that by the end of the day: my little Claire is tired of being in the fetal position (Emily was the same way...I couldn't swaddle her to save my life...she always got out of it and sprawled out) and is stretching her long ol legs out and putting pressure on both sides of my belly!

Want a mental picture? I will share mine with you. Remember when you were a kid and you used to walk up the door way? you know...put your back on one side and stretch your legs out to the other, then put so much pressure on the frame that you were able to defy gravity and actually scale the frame to the ceiling? Yep...that's exactly what she is doing TO MY INSIDES!

Okay, enough baby talk...

On a completely different note. I finally braved the craziness and went out Christmas shopping! I'm almost done. 3 more gifts. This is the first year that I actually feel like a parent doing Christmas shopping for a spoiled only child. Now I have to figure out where to hide all the presents. I'm feeling just a little less "Bah Hum Bug"