20 days

I've been horrible about writing, I know. I've just come off two of the most hectic weeks of my entire career, and that's mostly why. A big project I'm in charge of needed to be done so it could bill by the end of the fiscal year, and it got held up by a lot of things beyond my control. I finally did finish it on time, but not in time to prevent the two weeks from hell (which included a day where I raced into Demanding Scary Boss' office with a giant stack of proofs that prevented me from seeing my feet, stepped on her umbrella, and broke it).

Everything continues to go well with the Pad. I've had three or four nonstress tests so far - although she's passed all of them, it seemed like something was always going wrong. The first two times she moved so much that it took the nurses ten minutes each time to even get the heartbeat monitor on me. The third time, she barely moved at all at first and had to be awakened with a little buzzy wand kept for that purpose. Nonstress, my ass. (We did get through the most recent one with no problems.)

I'm up to weekly visits and weekly NSTs now. I was a little taken aback earlier this week when I was making my next appointment with the receptionist and she asked me why I needed so many NSTs. She didn't ask in a snotty way, but WTF? a) It's none of her business, b) There are at least two high-risk doctors in this practice; I'm certain I'm not the only one getting multiple NSTs. I answered without even thinking, very matter of factly, "I had a baby last year who died." I think that embarrassed her; she mumbled that she was sorry. I wasn't hugely offended by the whole thing, but really, what kind of question is that? I bet she learned not to ask anymore, though.

The Pad is healthy, but I don't feel so hot - I'm way bigger than last time and it's starting to wear me out. I'm much more tired and sore than I was with Joseph. I had planned to work right up until the end - I'd made my last day July 11, giving me one day off before the section - but yesterday I decided to change it and make Friday the 7th my last day, giving me 5 days free beforehand. I am going to need to catch up on sleep before she's born and I REALLY learn what sleep deprivation is. I need to run it by my boss, but I think she'll be OK with it - it's only 2 days' difference.

Hm, what else is new? Well, this may sound funny after all the ranting and crying I did when my niece was born, but I've fallen completely in love with her. We went to Long Island last weekend for Fathers' Day, and my SIL let me take her for long stretches (I think she was happy for the break). So I got to feed her, change her, and play with her for ages. I think it was good therapy.