The Final Countdown...

Wasn't that the chorus of a crazy 80's song?  Well, we have reached that milestone: 36+ weeks.  I could deliver and have the baby be fine at any point from here on out.  I am actually exactly 3 weeks from my due date.  I had my 36 week appointment on Wednesday, which is where they do all of the delivery prep work.  I got blood drawn to check my iron (I HATE NEEDLES!), was swabbed to check for strep bacteria (did I mention I work at a school?), had an exam (she is still high and I'm completely closed), and then the usual litany of checkup measurements, blood pressure, belly tape measurement, fetal heartbeat, and the dreaded scale.  I have to say that I was mortified but I actually broke down in tears in my doctor's office as he was yelling at me (again) about gaining too much weight.  When he first made the comment at 6 months, I said ok and attempted to change my eating habits.  But to hear it again and again without any concrete advice on what to do is totally demoralizing.  You simply don't tell a woman who is 3 weeks from delivery that she is overweight, and start throwing around words like toxemia.  What the hell, I ask you, am I supposed to do about it now?  Instead of just telling me, you're too heavy, you gained too much weight again and again, hand me a sheet that says here's what you should eat, or here's how many calories you should aim for.  Everything else I'm reading says don't diet while you're pregnant and make sure she gets x amount of protein and x servings of fruit & veg, and x amount of calcium or you'll get osteoporosis!  I don't feel like I'm going out and gorging myself.  I'm trying to eat healthy and get all of those things they say she needs.  I even talked myself out of a trip to Dairy Queen yesterday!  Not an easy feat ladies & gents, considering it is literally next door to my nail salon where I was getting a foot rub, I mean perdicure...Not to mention the fact that I am now back at school and much more mobile again.  Arrrrrgh!  It is very disheartening to hear that what you've tried to do has not worked, but not to get any advice beyond that.  So I have adopted the attitude of Opus, the round-bottomed little penguin who used to be a staple in the Sunday morning comics...to my doctor I say Thhhhhhhbbbbbt! (read as a loud tongue-out raspberry).  Everything else is good, my blood pressure is normal, her fetal heart rate is good, I'm the right size in terms of centimeters.  There is no indication so far (knock on wood) that she is going to show up early or have a problem. So all-in-all a good check-up and baby is fine!