Week 36 Doctor's Appointment

Baby Butterball is on his way down the chute.  He has started to drop and is supposedly entering the pelvis area and my cervix is thinning.  This would explain the increased intensity when I need to urinate.  "Holding it" is not in my vocabulary anymore.  

The midwife at the doctor's office made me feel a little better when she said that Baby Butterball would not 

be making an appearance over the next week because David will be out of town.  But she said it is more than likely that he will arrive on or before the due date of November 19th.  During this doctor's appointment they gave me the week 36 handout - birth control.  It listed all the different types of birth control and I found it funny that they would hand it out at this point.  I guess if I was planning for the hospital last week then this week I have to start planning for after the baby.  

I have not experienced cramps for 8 months and it has been such a joy until last weekend.  Now that Baby Butterball is getting larger and shifting, I am experiencing minor cramps throughout the whole area everyday.  I have been told that labor contractions feel like intense cramps so I'm just waiting for the big ones.  I have found that when I do get the crampy feeling if I drink a lot of water and change position, they subside within minutes.  

Book and magazines suggest I should start packing for the hospital.  I tend to pack for trips right before I have to go, so this is going to be difficult for me.  Whenever I pack days in advance (if not weeks in advance) before a trip I always forget more things than if I just pack right before I'm leaving.  What do I have to pack?  It's not like I need an outfit for dinner.  If anything, I'll need less clothes at the time of delivery.  Do I pack all those good luck charms like the women at BINGO?  As long as the hospital room has a TV I'm good to go.