32 Weeks

We completed most of our remaining prenatal classes this past week. On Wednesday night, we attended a late pregnancy/postpartum class at the Antioch Kaiser campus.

I stayed home from work on Friday. I woke up in the middle of the night and had some bad indigestion/ gas pain, which kept me up until morning. Then I attempted to get ready for work, but was still feeling yucky, so I decided to just stay home for the day. I slept in the morning and then started to feel better around lunch time, so I tried to get a few things done. I managed to finish the rest of my thank you notes from my baby shower and did a few loads of laundry.

On Friday night, we went to a class called “Preparing for Childbirth” at Shadelands in Walnut Creek. The class was taught by the same instructor that we had on Wednesday night’s class- she has had seven children of her own and is a great teacher, unlike some of the other educational staff at Kaiser we’ve taken courses with.

The class continued Saturday, during which we learned more about the stages of labor, practiced breathing techniques, and assumed labor positions. During our lunch break, we drove a few blocks down the street to Heather Farms Park and had lunch at the gazebo where we were married. We sat and reminiscied about the day we were married- nearly 4 years ago now- and how lovely it was.

After the class ended, we walked around downtown and met up with JoEllen and Patrick for dinner. We ate at the Alehouse and then had gelato at Gelateria Naia. That night really reminded me of just how much I love Walnut Creek and how much I’ve come to miss it. I feel like I took it for granted while we lived there- and if we should be so lucky to return someday- I will never make that mistake again.

I was really discouraged yesterday- since we haven’t heard anything from any the families who came to tour our house for rent. I think I was getting my hopes up that we’d be moving soon- and potentially back to Walnut Creek- which is all I want right now. I really want to settle in somewhere and be happy again, unlike at the house in Brentwood. It’s a lovely house, but the distance from our families and workplaces just doesn’t make up for it. Every time I come back to that house after a long day, I regret our decision to buy it more and more. We’re still looking into landscaping the yard, because we think it might help attract more people, but I’m still hesitant to make such a big investment right now.

Baby Natalie still has bouts of the hiccups regularly! But other than that, I’m sensing that her quarters are becoming much tighter these days. Her movements have evolved from what feel like summersaults to mostly strong jabs here and there.

Elaine and Andrew stopped by the house last night, since they were in the area for their nephew’s birthday party. They just returned from an anniversary trip to Half Moon Bay- and they brought us a cute little picture book of sea animals for Natalie.