36/37 weeks: trapezoidal tummy

For about the past two weeks, the little guy has taken a liking to morning stretches, usually commencing at 7 a.m. However, this is not so fun for mommy because her tummy ends up being (painfully) stretched into a trapezoid, often a parallelogram.



Note that I'm taking the photo straight down. I have a big bump above my left hip and below my belly button, and usually a smaller bump above the belly button below my right ribcage. At first I thought the big bump was his head and the little bump was his butt, but at my last checkup the doctor told me his head is already in my pelvis so now I'm not sure - perhaps the big bump is his back and the little bump are his feet?

I take heart in the fact that this must mean the little guy is getting bigger and trying to get more comfortable, even though it certainly isn't comfortable to be woken up from a deep sleep when someone decides to rest his foot in between your ribs!

Do you see a difference between Week 36 (on the left) and Week 37 (on the right)?
 
My weight basically hasn't changed in the past 4-5 weeks. Since the little guy has been getting bigger, logic says that mommy has been losing weight.

Recap of the past couple of weeks: I caught a cold (just a cold! not the H1N1 flu virus) and even though my sniffles and sneezing were gone in 3 days, it wasn't until this past Sunday that I woke up feeling normal, instead of slightly-tired-slightly-congested-in-the-head. That definitely affected progress on my to-do list, since all I wanted to do was nap.

However, I was really grateful to have a long weekend filled with visiting friends, making presentations, attending an arts event to benefit the victims of Typhoon Morakot, and taking a class on breastfeeding and newborn care. I even got to visit the weekend flea market/fair in Tienmu!

Here's Sophie next to her painting, which ended up selling for NT$30,000 (yay! all proceeds to Morakot relief). They say that the sounds a baby hears while in the womb is what they find comforting as newborns, and as much as I enjoyed listening to this band, I really hope the little guy doesn't come out with a preference for Macedonian drinking songs as his lullabies.
 

I'm really lucky to have so many girlfriends with children, and that have had their babies this past year. In a one week period, I got to see a 6 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old, a 3 month old, and a 6 week old in person. It really does give perspective on what's to be expected in child development. Plus, of course, advice and support from moms who've already been there!