Shokufeh is... home

The update behind the belly

Visit with the obstetrician this morning.
Besides finding out that she really likes my yellow jade necklace my mom sent from China last year, I found out that:

I'm slightly anemic and will need need to take iron pills. This is on top of the iron in my prenatal vitamin. Do you know what iron does to your system? That problem I had early on in pregnancy? It's been back for a few weeks now. Yeah, me and my intestines are super excited about the extra iron. Or, I wish my intestines were excited. About anything.

I weigh more than I've ever weighed before. I have gained approximately 30 pounds since the start of my pregnancy. I think I probably gained about this much the first year I lived in China, but I started out lighter. Then again, my intestines were cooperating with me back then (sometimes too much). Maybe once my intestines get excited about something, I'll discover that my pregnancy weight gain is actually a lot less. Whatever. To be honest, it doesn't stress me too much. Just my joints.

We have now entered the phase of visits every two weeks, instead of every month. Crazy, folks! I am so close to bringing a child into the world that I visit a doctor every 336 hours. Anxiety is building.

One more thing I forgot to write about:
Peeing in a cup has become a lot more difficult since my last visit. I've been thinking about what the experience was like, and what came to mind is that scene from Garden State where Sam and Large go visit Large's rich friend, Jesse. Jesse has the idea of shooting a flaming arrow in the air. The three of them then stagger back and forth, trying to determine where the arrow will come down, so they can avoid it. My pee was the arrow. My hand with the cup in it was Sam, Large, and Jesse. The difference was that I was hoping to bring them together, and I think it was harder than trying to avoid a flaming arrow. At least Sam, Large, and Jesse could see the arrow.