36 + weeks

It's been another busy couple of weeks what with battling to get an appointment for fetal monitoring at the hospital and doing the last blood tests and salmonella tests required for both me and A (who is going to be present at the birth). We battled and we won. We've got it all done including the fetal monitoring which was one of the hardest tasks seeing as half of the expectant mothers in Rome are all trying to book them at this very hospital. I've got an appointment with my gynecologist Saturday where I'll be one day away from being 37 weeks and officially full-term!
It's all very exciting at the moment but at the same time the anxiety related to the actual birthing process is mounting up.. I'm quite nervous about labour and what to expect, everyone keeps on going on about how utterly agonising and painful it is: this really doesn't help! I can understand that it's going to be painful but all this emphasis on the pain is just making me terrified. I hadn't given labour a second thought until recently and all at once the anxiety of it all has set in. I'm going to do my breathing excercises that they taught us in my antenatal classes just to calm me down a bit!!!
So yesterday I had my first monitoring appointment. It was quite moving as it brought back a few memories of when I was in hospital and as I was going in to be scanned there they were, the 'full term pregnancy' women with their enviable big bellies going to be monitored whilst I was in a wheelchair with nothing but a tiny bit of swelling around my waist unable to move freely for fear of aborting. Now it was me the 'full time pregnancy' woman with a big belly confidantly walking over to the comfy bed and being attached to the monitoring machine and hearing a strong heart beat: that of my little baby, now as healthy as can be with no threats at all.
It was quite relaxing just led there on a reclinable chair in a big air conditioned room with four other women just enjoying the view of the hills from the wide windows at the other end of the room. Flavio probably wondered what was going on having those pads strapped tightly around him, he kept flipping around poor thing. The doctor then checked the printed off papers and said all was fine and to come back next week. No sign of contractions yet so apparently labour isn't imminent.
This week has been quite exciting as A and I are buying our family home. We've decided to stay where we are in the country just outside Rome. There are some beautiful villas here and being away from the chaos and pollution of Rome is priceless. We think we've decided on our future house. It's a new construction still being built. It has gardens and a terrace and I liked the fact it was very light inside. We haven't put in an offer yet but of all of the houses we've seen, this is our favourite and I'm already starting to dream about living there. Exciting times! A new house and a baby on the way...