19 Jan 2004 - 2:33pm - Another Milestone Achieved!

Just recently returned from my doctor's appointment, and all is going very well. I'm right on schedule, the baby is doing fine, and no major problems to report.

I've reached another milestone as well: We now move from bi-weekly appointments to weekly visits. Yup, the final stretch is definitely here! 5 weeks and 2 days (37 days) until D Day. And I don't mean war. ;)

Another pregnancy symptom has hit me these last couple of days, one I had hoped to avoid. Of course, I consider myself lucky that I got to nearly 35 weeks before having to deal with this at all, and (so far at least) it's not so bad as to be a pain, just a mild annoyance. My feet have swollen a little, just enough to notice when I walk on my tippy-toes (which I do frequently; it's a habit) or put my sneakers on. My hands have also swollen slightly too, enough to notice a very mild ache in my finger joints when I curl my fingers - and also to note that my rings are more than snug. Tight, in fact. As in, they really don't want to come off.

My doctor suggested I take them off, and wear them around my neck for the remainder of my pregnancy. I resisted the notion at first - it just seems sacrilegious to take my wedding and engagement rings off. But even John agreed they should come off when my doctor mentioned just how many times they've had to send women to the emergency room to have their rings cut off because they lost circulation to their fingers due to the swelling. She said that the edema is likely to get worse over the next few weeks, and to avoid having to cut my rings off if it does get worse, I should take them off.

Weeelll... we don't want them cut off, do we, my preciouses? Of course, they're so snug now that I can't easily take them off. Hopefully some water and soap will help... ;)