The Month of the Watermelon

I was hoping for a more original fruit analogy, but watermelon it is. I think I haven't quite reached the extreme watermelon proportions (check these out!), but it's not too far off. Some days it feels like the watermelon is on end, pushing up my esophagus, and sometimes it feels like the watermelon is sticking straight out - my belly button hurts like crazy!!!

Anyway, we're in the final countdown - from week 37 until I deliver, our little green melon is 18.9 to 20.9 inches tall and 6.2 to 9.2 pounds. From the ultrasound I had last week, the doctor is estimating that she is already around 7 pounds. We'll see. My babies have gotten larger each time (Charlie was 10 pounds even), and David touts their birth weights as a matter of pride. I've told him he can't do that with a girl. It does feel like she's getting quite big, though...

The elevator in our apartment building wouldn't lift us the other day (it's a very sad elevator) and Henry told me confidently that it was because of me - "You're just too big, Mom."

Calvin was reading the placards at the zoo (every. single. placard. He is so our child...) and he cheerfully told me, "Mom! You're about the same size as a gorilla! I mean, they're in the 200s. That's not too much more than you." He knows too much. Dang kid.

At the first meeting with my doctor here in England, he said I looked like a healthy lass. I get a kick out of that. I felt like telling him that I was healthy and buxom. But that part is pretty obvious.

Besides my buxom, healthy, gorilla-like watermelon-ness and the usual "I'm done being pregnant now" feeling, I am actually really looking forward to the whole birth experience here. Part of the maternity care here is a staff of midwives, one of whom will be coaching me through labor the entire time. Since I'm delivering at a private hospital, the doctor will "catch" the baby, but I will have support for natural labor with a minimum of medical intervention (No mandatory IV! I can eat a little if I want! No constant itchy fetal monitoring belt! No staying in bed the whole time!) That is a beautiful, beautiful thing to me.

The nurse I happened to get when I delivered Calvin is who made all the difference to me and I seriously wanted to send her flowers or something because she helped me dig deep and use my own strength and not be afraid - no one besides David has done that for me since then. But I get an extra dose of it this time for sure!

And now the waiting game...David won't be back in town until a week before my due date, but I'm really hoping (against hope) that I will go into labor on or before my due date this time. This is a big girl, I'm a big girl, and it's just time...We'll hold out for David to get back to London, but after that...

She's on her way!