So our air conditioner took a crap yesterday. We're still in the midst of a heat wave. Today's current temperature is a relatively balmy 93, expected to go up to 95, and Sunday it's supposed to peak at 99 for our zip code. The rest of the days range between 94 and 97.

Dammit.

Bryan's called around and the soonest we can get someone out to take a look at it will be next Friday (yes, a week from now), so we've got that scheduled for Friday afternoon, since I'm still working mornings.

It's a real joy to be 36 weeks pregnant and have temps in the 90s with no a/c. Bailey and I are discussing the merits of setting up camp in air conditioned splendor at the La Quinta Inn in nearby Rancho Penasquitos, particularly on Sunday when Bryan will have duty...at the base, which is on the coast and will be a good 10-12 degrees cooler than here. The jury's still out on that one. I'm also debating the merits of hitting Wal-Mart up to buy a pool and spending the weekend in a wading pool. I have some two piece swimsuits that would accommodate my enormous gut, but I don't think any of them would restrain my bodacious ta-tas at this point, so that's a less realistic option, as I refuse to buy a maternity swimsuit that I would be able to use for three weeks at most.

Stupid air conditioning. Stupid Labor Day weekend. I'm going to go sit in front of the fan, soak up the hot breeze and pout. While I continue to gestate my sun, I mean son.

So I found out last week that my OB/Gyn is considered to be one of the top 10 in the nation. I think the guy's terrific, but who knew?

In other news, the heat is back, and the a/c went back on today at home. I'm down to working half days now, which is a relief. I really don't have a lot to complain about, this has been a very uneventful pregnancy (knock on wood) so far, but the minor aches and pains and swelling are adding up, making an 8 hour day a lot to get through with a smile. Two weeks of half time, and then my belly and I will be hanging out on the couch eating bon bons and watching daytime tv until the baby arrives.

Less than a month until Wild training camp starts - yay! Just over a month until hockey season!!!

Got this from my mom this morning. I try to avoid sending out forwards, but I thought this was funny enough to post on the blog:

You have just received the Amish virus. But because we have neither
electricity nor computers, you are on the honor system. Please delete all
your files.

Thank thee.

Thank goodness, the heat has finally broken, after more than a week on constant air conditioning. I've got windows open, fresh air and a nice cooling breeze.

I've got a routine doctor's appointment tomorrow - we're at the stage where I get to go in weekly and he does an ultrasound to check on the baby's progress. Last week, he was growing nicely, a little bigger than average. In about a month, he'll be able to stretch out his legs to his heart's content, instead of pushing a foot out my right side the way he does now!

I'll be delivering at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women, which welcomes more than 8,000 babies a year into the world. So they know a thing or two about having babies there. There's a tunnel to nearby Children's Hospital, so if there are any problems, the babies can be transported over there immediately (which actually happened to friends of ours). They've got anesthesiologists, OB/Gyns, neonatologists and maternal-fetal medicine (high risk pregnancy) specialists on site 24 hours a day. Labor and delivery occurs in the same room, and then a few hours after delivery, patients are moved to a private or semi-private (luck of the draw, depending on how many beds they have open) room for the remainder of your stay. There's a NICU, and well babies room in with their moms. Being able to deliver at Mary Birch did play a role in our decision to have a baby at this point - better now, with a staff of experts than sometime down the line when we might be in BFE or have to deal with a military hospital. Friends of ours recently had a baby at the Naval Hospital here, and after she spent something like five hours in the ER/triage, they finally got her into a room... with no chair for her husband.

So, me being me, I've got a hospital bag packed for me and the baby, and we need to line up emergency care for Bailey if something comes up at an odd hour. Luckily we have great neighbors who are more than willing to lend a hand, and have offered repeatedly.

I'm going to go out back and throw the ball for Bailey and bask in the blissful 70-something degree evening.

San Diego is known for its lovely, temperate climate. It's generally in the 70s-80s year round, with a few summer days making it up into the 90s. We live inland, a little northeast of downtown San Diego, which means it's usually a few degrees warmer at my house.

The past week has been mid-90s and incredibly humid, which is not exactly ideal weather, particularly not while you're eight months pregnant. I've had the air conditioning on since Tuesday, and based on three out of the four local weather forecasts, things won't be changing for at least another week or so.

Do you think the baby will be understanding about the fact that we had to squander his college money on paying the electric bill?

I blame my dad, who gleefully pointed out several times earlier in the year that I would be maximally pregnant during the hottest part of summer. Thanks for the sympathy, dad!

Even at work, where the a/c is turned up to a temperature that usually borders on chilly, I've been roasting. There's nothing better than a health care professional who can't catch their breath (thanks to a little baby butt parked in their diaphragm) and is "glowing" (read: sweaty) with pregnancy. Sometimes it feels more like I'm gestating a sun than a son.

Bailey, who loves to go out and bake in the sun for the better part of the day, to the point where she comes in almost uncomfortably hot to the touch, is only going out for about 10-15 minutes. Lots of water for everybody, and I sincerely hope that the humidity and the heat break soon.

So I could make up a hundred excuses as to why I haven't been blogging (or even returning emails in a timely manner) lately, but it boils down to this:

Exhaustion.

Anyone out there who's been pregnant is probably nodding their head, because they get it. Anyone who hasn't been pregnant, I really don't have words to describe the complete and utter wiped-outedness that goes with the territory.

I've been extremely lucky thus far, no major complaints other than being really, really tired. No real morning sickness, only minor aches and pains. Sleep is a dicey proposition because it takes forever to find a comfortable position (or if I'm comfortable, the baby's not, and has no qualms about making sure I know) and when I finally do, then I have to pee.

Six more weeks (or less). I'm planning to work for four more weeks, although when I see my doctor this week, I'm doing to chat with him about cutting the last two weeks to half time. California is a great state to be pregnant in, because you can go out on family leave and receive disability benefits (about half your salary) for four weeks before the baby and six weeks after (ten weeks if you have a C-section).

In far more interesting news, the Wild signed Derek Boogaard to a three year contract (wahoo!), and it sounds like he was being pursued by the Oilers and Flyers, leading the Wild to make him only the fourth player who would have been taken to arbitration. Clearly they wanted to hang on to him, and they managed to negotiate a deal before the arbitration date. So a big congrats to him. There were some articles in the Minnesota papers about the fight camp put on by two of the Boogaard brothers, and it sounds like there'll be a feature coming out on Derek during training camp, in which columnist Michael Russo promises to tell some of the hilarious stories told to him by Boogaard brother Ryan and their Mom (the "Boogeymom"). So I'm looking forward to that. And thankfully, even if they have to induce, it'll be during preseason (and the game on the 24th wouldn't have been on Center Ice, so I couldn't watch it anyway) and I should have time to get home before the season really starts.

A big thank you to all of the friends and family who have helped us outfit the nursery and get all the stuff we need for a new baby - boy do they need a lot of stuff! I really appreciate all of you, and it was great to see everyone who made it to the shower (and I'm sorry I couldn't hang out with those of you who couldn't make it)!

Okay, I'm really tired now, so I'm going to go back to couch surfing and watching the first season of "Entourage" (thank you Netflix). I'm going to try to be better about blogging more often, but I can't promise there won't be short (or slightly whiny) entries in there!