Donger update

Okay, I'm going to try to keep this short (short? me?) because I have to leave in 15 minutes to take Pearl and Riley to the vet. But I wanted to give everyone an update, since I haven't talked about the Donger in a long time.
I had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and I saw a doctor who I hadn't seen before because the practice wants us to see all the doctors (three of them), just in case my regular one isn't on call when I actually go into labor. She was 30, at the most, which was a little weird. I mean, she was nice and informative and all that, but it's a strange feeling to take advice from someone you suspect might be younger than you ... actually, I guess she couldn't really be younger than me and be all set up in a practice, but it seemed like it.
Anyway, she said that I'm not dilated or effaced at all, so that makes labor at this point classified as "remote," as opposed to, say, "imminent." But, the Donger has dropped, and he's head down, which is good — —he was breech before. So, since he's dropped, I can breathe again, and I'm not as nauseous as I was, because my lungs and stomach aren't as squished as they were. But, it's getting harder and harder to walk. I get these shooting pains in my pelvis that sometimes make me double over. They're not horrible pain, just sudden and uncomfortable, and happen mostly when I'm walking the dogs, which makes it hard to stop and let them pass. This is totally normal, and it's his head pressing on my pubic bone. Fun.
So, the baby dropping is also called lightening, and my chest feels lighter, but lower down feels way heavier. I feel more like I'm going to tip over now than I have this whole pregnancy. Whenever I get out of bed at night to go to the bathroom (which is, to say the least, frequently), I feel like I have to hold my belly up or else it's going to fall down to my knees. It hasn't happened yet, but at 2 o'clock in the morning, that seems a very real possibility.
According to my calculations, I'm almost 36 weeks. Here's Sam at 35 weeks. (Remember him?) The doctor I saw on Monday estimates that the Donger's about 5 1/2 to 6 pounds, which would make him about average size. This is a far cry from measuring two weeks ahead two months ago, so I don't know what to make of it. And, the doc estimated this just based on feeling my belly — given her age, I wonder how many babies she's actually felt (there I go, being ageist again). Plus, that means he's only gained about a pound in the last two months. But then again, I've only gained a pound in the last two months, so I guess that makes sense.
And one last tidbit before I leave: If I go into labor in, say, 10 minutes, that's it, they're not going to stop me. So, it could happen any time (even though it's technically remote, remember).