week 33

Friday was our OB appointment and we asked about "The Plan" given "The Lake" and we got a sort-of-plan. We'll do an ultrasound at the specialist's office the 36th week. Then, based on the outcome, we'll decide what to do next.

IF the lake is still in place, then we can choose to do this or that:

We can go for an amnio week 37, check for lung maturity and do a C-section forthwith (or soon after steroid injections) (the specialist's choice)

OR

We can just simply wait, no amnio, for a planned C-section week 39 (the OB office's choice).

A lot depends on how much of a threat it feels to wait (and how much stress we feel like dealing with along the way with that much uncertainty)-- things we want to avoid: me bleeding badly, and an unnecessary premature birth.

In the meantime, if early labor, if too early, they may stave it off, if not that early, they'd do an "emergency" c-section.

IF the lake is resolved, then we go back to what, plan D? Wait for natural labor to begin?

All I know is that we feel kind of exhausted by the rollercoaster of ever changing complications and ever changing plans, so we're just going to get to the next things: I'll make an appointment for the ultrasound at the specialist's office for week 36 and meanwhile, we'll have our usual OB appointment in 2 weeks.

I do know this:

In spite of the cleaved pelvis feeling from hell

I love being pregnant. And while I am eager to meet this little person, and I am *so curious*, I am also willing to wait.

Today I bought a few more things that will fit me longer, since I imagine I might be pregnant for a while.

***

Ok about the photo: My dear friend (and ex) Justin is a professional photographer, and in the time we dated, he never took any photos of me- ok, one, that I hated, but never, you know, Photos.

So here we are, years later, and me, I'm hugely pregnant with a baby with another guy.

Awkward in many ways, yes.

And he had offered to take photos as I'd grown and grown, and I'd declined, knowing the weirdness might be too much for me. Might be too much for Doug. Might, in fact, just be too much.

But then I was a whole lot bigger, my body more foreign, and time (it feels) is running out, and suddenly the question came up again. I asked my darlin' if I could and he said yes, and before I could chicken out, we met on friday afternoon for a really fun shoot, resulting in photos entirely unlike classic pregnancy portraits. I brought balloons for no good reason and we got this awesome shot.

So while Justin does not read this blog, I wanted to share his magic. Neither his website nor his flickr site do his people-work justice (but look for the pregnant Elissa shots on his flickr site-- we should all be so lucky to look like that, but hey, she's a model). He is really, really good at what he does. and this photo? FUN.

Here's another: