Week 37 - A little piglet

3 weeks until Friday 9 March 2007

My body:
* To say that my tummy is big is an understatement, that's all I can say about it (Scott said: "and you thought you were pregnant three months ago, didn't you?")
* Braxton hicks are getting stronger, though very irregularly. I assume this is what it's going to feel (but stronger) when the real contractions kick in..
* My brain must have shrunk as a size of my bladder as well. Having trouble remembering things, not very good in holding conversation anymore and I feel so Dumb with capital D most of the time. Scott said there must be a good reason for it, maybe to reduce the tension or stress level but it is making me stressed thinking about how stupid I have become!

My baby:
* At 37 weeks gestation, the baby is now considered to be “full term” and if born now it is unlikely that he would would have any major complications. This week, he is busy shedding his downy coating of fine hair (called lanugo) and his coat of vernix caseosa, the cheesy substance that protects his developing skin. He swallows both of these secretions, which stay in the bowels until birth (eeks..).Then he will excrete a blackish waste called meconium that becomes his first bowel movement (eeks...).
* Lots and lots of hiccups, and when he does have hiccups it can go forever (or feels like it) and my tummy would move along the rhythm of his hiccups.


Scott started his Indonesian class this week. It's my birthday present for him so he can understand when the boy speak bahasa with me and his grandparents & family from my side.
Anyhow, Scott got home from his first lesson and started practicing all night, asking my name, where I came from, what time it was, etc etc. He's been practicing numbers by saying them out loud when he saw numbers on the street (plate numbers, speed signs, house numbers and I've been saying difficult numbers for him to translate either to bahasa or to english). We have also started sticking up post it notes on things in the house with the Indonesian words for them - soon our house will be all yellow from the notes!

We went to Mornington Peninsula on the 13th - wish I could say it's to celebrate our last Valentine's day as a couple but in reality I spent the whole time on my own. He was invited for a golf day and I just tagged along. He played golf all day and had dinner with work in the evening - and I pretty much had Valentine's day by myself. Better than staying home alone though, I got to see the peninsula with little bayside town and the beaches.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year fell on the 18th February this year (not that we are celebrating, although we are making this an excuse to go to a good Chinese restaurant with Sharon, Warren and the twins in Chinatown, which was packed with people, markets and the dragon show/barongsai). I just found out that this year is going to be a year of a pig and I went "oh no, my poor boy is a pig" until Rianti pointed out that Chinese women are racing to get pregnant this year - lucky pig brings fortune to the family. My father say it's a year of super fire pig - turn out he meant a golden pig year. The year of the pig is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity. But this time it is a golden pig year, which happens once in six decades. Yay!! My boy is going to be a rich man and I don't mind having a piglet anymore.

Doctor's visit is every week from now on. This Friday he said the baby is not engaged yet (settling into the pelvic - usually baby is engaged two or three weeks before the labour) so he say chances that he'll be seeing me in labour next week is probably around 10 percent only (and increasing 10% every week). Although he also said there is nothing you can do to stimulate the labour when it's not time yet - all things about raspberry leaf tea and including taking long walks etc are just old wives tales. Makes me feel better because I really honestly can't be bothered to go and about anymore nowadays.