Knocked up and all alone....

Well, it's official.  I'm knocked up.  I can't go out in public without getting "the look" from concerned citizens.  You see, after battling valiantly to continue wearing my wedding ring, the day has come where I must venture into public very pregnant and ringless.  Shocking!  This little scenario was made worse last week by the fact that my mom was still in town and running errands with me.  So I was the knocked up girl whose mom had to help her because the baby's daddy was out of the picture.  I'm just kidding.  I'm sure nobody even gave me a second look, but I do hope to get the rings back on asap.  

And now for the "all alone" portion of the title.  For the first time in 6 weeks, Brian and I are living at home alone (with the kitties, of course).  My mom left on Thursday morning so that she could have at least a few uninterrupted days at home in College Station.  Between me and Sarah, my mom has only been at home for about 2.5 weeks since mid-November.  We are so thankful for all that she has done!  And we're very thankful to my dad for loaning her to us for all this time (and for making multiple weekend trips between here and College Station to see her).  And we're thankful for my almost 80 year-old grandmother who has more energy than most people half her age and who took great care of me along with my mom.  And we're thankful for Brian's parents who rescheduled their lives at a moments notice to spend two weeks taking care of us.  Have I mentioned that when it comes to family, we are truly blessed?!

So far, Brian and I are surviving re-entry into the real world, but we do miss all of the help.  I've been trying to slowly increase my energy and endurance without overdoing it. As I've mentioned before, being on bed rest for awhile really saps your energy, muscle tone, etc.  I'm pretty sure that being 35 weeks pregnant does something to your energy level as well.... My mom and I ran a lot of errands before she left last week, and we worked on organizing the nursery.  I've found that after about two hours of activity, I'm done and need a two hour nap to recover.  I also went to Sunday School and our small group last week, and I've been engaging in some light housework.  Nobody panic!  I've done some dishes, made up the bed one day, worked a little more on putting stuff in the nursery away, etc.  Brian is definitely taking on the bulk of the household responsibilities.  He's a trooper!

This is a big week for us medically.  On Wednesday afternoon I go in for another sonogram and appointment with my doctor.  This is the appointment where they tell us if the cord is still around the baby's neck, if he is still breech (he is by the way...I do NOT need a sono to tell me that his head is still lodged under my ribcage), and if the doctor will be attempting to manually turn the baby.  If the cord is no longer around the neck, I believe they will attempt to turn the baby on Thursday.  If the cord is around the neck, I'm not sure what the next steps are.  I'm assuming we will look into scheduling a c-section, but I don't know what the timeline for that will be.  Bottom line...I have no idea when I'm having this baby.  I'd say in the next 5 weeks, or so :)

And, if anyone believes that animals can sense things about their people...over the last couple of days, my cat has gone from his normal behavior of being attached to me at the hip (sitting by me on the couch, napping on top of me, staying in bed right next to me until I get up, etc) to acting like I'm a stranger.  He turns his head when I try to pet him, he keeps trying to sniff me, and he slept on the other side of Brian as far away from me as he could get.  Maybe he's just now realizing I'm pregnant, or maybe he knows something..........