Happy Valentine's Day

We had a pretty good Valentine's Day despite me not being able to leave the house. Had our first local chinese for dinner. I wasn't super impressed by the food, but the value was excellent and the egg drop soup was great. Mark got me India Arie's new cd - I wanted the actual physical cd for this one - and some really cute flowers. I hadn't expected much, so it was all a pleasant surprise.

I felt a little stomach-achy all day, so I was a bit sluggish and laid back a bit. I'd contemplated us sneaking out to a movie at a strategically picked theatre without much traffic or stairs, but after waking up feeling so-so, I just kept with the program.

Today's Sunday. I've gained 30-35 pounds so far. Only slightly jiggly thighs to show for it - the bulk of it is in the belly, where it should be. I had to go to the bathroom about 6 times last night which is at least 2 more than usual and had a sore stomach all night and into the morning. The last time I had a stomach ache, it was when my cervix shrunk at Xmas, so I'm watching it. However, it shrunk over the course of 5 or 6 days. I'm already only 3 days away from 35 weeks. And even if my cervix goes to 0 in length, that doesn't guarantee that it'll start to dilate. So we can probably make it to 36 weeks with no problems. After that, it's all fair game.

It's hard to tell because I seem to not be able to differentiate Braxton-Hicks from just stomach pain. My tolerance for pain is such that I don't get contractions that feel like contractions, it's just some generic discomfort that I can't pinpoint. But the boy is unfazed. He's moving and rolling around in there as per normal.

As long as I am normal in the steps of going into labor, I haven't experienced the normal signs that labor's coming, including:

• weight stabilization - once your weight stops changing, you're w/in 2 weeks of delivery
• baby dropping - when the baby drops further into the birth canal, he moves less because he is solidly wedged into one place
• lightening - baby moves out from the ribs and makes you feel lighter

So far, I'm just achy and heavy today. I'm feeling better this evening than I was this morning, so maybe it's passed, whatever it is. It's just hard to brand something normal when the norm shifts every 2 to 3 days. I'm gaining at least a pound a week now, so I haven't gotten used to the quick and constant stretching of my belly to accomodate it.

Mark has started sanding down the old dresser so that we can paint it white. Okay, so that HE can paint it white. I can't do any of it - I'm still in denial about not being able to participate. But as the days grow closer and we realize that we're realistically going to have a baby in about a month, we're catching up with our decorating tasks.

I promise new pictures soon. It's just hard to find pants to wear so that I can get a rated-PG belly shot.