37 Weeks, Preparing for Parenthood class, and Atlanta

I had my 37 week check-up today. My blood pressure was normal, and the doctor said Michael's heartbeat was "perfect." Last week, I was tested for Strep B, which is a bacteria that mothers can pass to their babies during delivery. I tested positive, which means I will be given penicillin through an IV 4 hours prior to delivery and that will keep Michael safe. Strep B is not harmful to the mother, but it can cause infections in newborn infants. The doctor said that there is no rhyme or reason as to why I am a carrier...I just am. That's all the news from my appointment today. I'll go back in another week.

37 Weeks:My super-swollen feet and right ankle:

The pink crocs have become my best friends because they are the only shoes I own that my feet will currently fit into other than my slippers. I could wear flip flops if I bought them in a size 8 or 9, but then there is an extra inch of shoe behind my heel!

Tonight was the first of four of Preparing for Parenthood classes at the hospital where we are going to deliver, St. Vincent's. There were 15 other married couples besides Kenneth and myself, and tonight I was there solo. I think most of the other couples felt pretty sorry for me. I'm curious as to what a lot of them were thinking of me before I was able to explain why I was flying solo tonight. I'm unable to wear my rings due to swollen knuckles, and I didn't have my "baby daddy" with me! They were probably thinking, "That poor girl got knocked up and then the %$#hole who did it to her left!" Which I guess is kind of what has happened the last couple weeks, but Kenneth will be home by Saturday...yay! Anyway, the class was good. Tonight we learned all about the stages of labor and even were able to watch two different women give birth to boys. Kenneth was very upset he missed that. I'm thinking the women who consented to being video taped and then allowed for those video tapes to be watched by thousands of parents-to-be had to be paid A LOT of money. There is no way I'm letting a video camera anywhere near the vicinity of the room, much less am I going to then let complete strangers watch it! Kenneth and I are a little late taking the class since we've been gone all summer. I won the prize for having the soonest due date. The last class in the series is on August 25th, which is my due date, so we'll see if we make it to that one. That's the class I want to go to the most because the nurse brings strap-on bellies that way 25-35 pounds for all the husbands to wear and "empathize" with their wives for two and half hours. Can't you just picture Kenneth being prego?! Hysterical! The next class is in a week on Monday night again, and Kenneth will be there for that one. We'll be learning all about epidurals...praise the Lord for epidurals! At least that is what all of my friends who have had babies say!

I went to Atlanta over the weekend to help Jenn and Craig do some unpacking and organizing at their new house. For those of you who didn't know, they moved back over Memorial Day and have been living with Jenn's parents until their house was ready. I didn't do too much since I am 37 weeks pregnant. I did some cleaning, I organized their movie collection (which doesn't sound like a big task...I'll take a picture of the collection next time I'm there and post it so you all can see how daunting it actually was), and I did a lot of unwrapping kitchen glassware while sitting and handing it to Mom or Jenn. I didn't take any pictures of the house because it wasn't completely put together before I left on Sunday morning. I will get some photos when Kenneth and I take Michael to visit this Fall.

While in Atlanta, I met some old high school friends for lunch on Saturday. Phillip, Jennifer and Lizzie met me at a Mellow Mushroom, and we enjoyed a nice, long lunch. Thanks for coming to see me guys!

Here we all are: