How did we get here!? 38 WEEKS!

My apologies; I didn't snap a picture this week.  We did a lot of being lazy this weekend and I wasn't even thinking about belly pics.  You can just go back and look at my maternity pics again, and imagine me just a smidge bigger.  Or check out the pics I posted yesterday of Ash's nursery with the curtains up and the glider cushions covered.  It's really ready for him, and it's making me all the more eager for him to come.


Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along : 38 weeks.  This is the beginning of the on-call period with my doula and the beginning of my maternity leave... dates that have been set for months and somehow crept up on my unexpectedly! :-O  We're now in the month of "any day now", which is going to make me crazy!! :)

Size of Baby : averages say ~19-21" and 6-7 lbs.   

Total Weight Gain : ~30 lbs

Maternity Clothes :  Some of my maternity tops are getting too short to cover my whole belly.  This thing is getting out of control!! :)

Best Moment This Week : getting to see Dan & Michelle & kids was such a treat!  I wish we had more than an hour with them, but I'm looking forward to Michelle's visit in March.  Christmas with friends was also a blessing, since otherwise Josh and I would have spent a slightly depressing day at home alone :)  On a lesser note, crossing these off my to-do list felt pretty good too: getting the curtains up in Ash's room (thanks to my hubs), getting my birth plan printed out (to be discussed with my dr today), and getting the ingredients bought and organized for my make-and-freeze dinner-cooking-marathon this week.

Gender : boy

Movement : you know, I'll go a day where I don't feel him moving much and start to get a little concerned, and then the next day he's going nuts all day.  But in general, the movement is still generally predictable.  After breakfast and dinner are still his busiest times.  And during contractions, I can feel his movements more sharply.

Food Craving : Chocolate of course.  I have a couple C-mas chocolate goodies packed in my hospital bag to snack on after he's born.

What I Miss Most : the light, energetic feeling of not being pregnant.  I'm getting SO heavy and sore and tired.

Sleep : I've taken Tylenol a couple nights, which helps some.  A four day weekend threw off our sleep schedule a little bit, but I'm expecting to feel a little "thrown off" for the next few months, so I guess we just started early ;-D

What I Am Looking Forward To : I can't wait to meet this kid!  I'm not overwhelmingly grumpy about still being pregnant (I've still got two weeks till my due date... I'll probably get grumpy after that!), but I'm just so ready to SEE him and start the face-to-face bonding process. 

Those who don't have dogs might not get this, but I'm really excited to get the dogs groomed today.  I haven't cut their hair in a couple months (due to being too round to get through the task) and they haven't had a bath in a couple weeks and they've been romping in the snow that still hasn't melted in our backyard, so they are scruffy and stinky and dirty.  Today they go to get professionally groomed (I should be able to do them myself [aka FOR FREE] by the time they need it again), and they'll come home washed and cut and pedicured and slightly more lovable! :) 

I'm also excited about being off work so I can truck through my to-do list, I'm eager to discuss a few more details of my birth plan with my dr, and I'm also glad that Josh only works three days this week so I get another 4 day weekend with him soon. :)

Belly Button : you know, I've been saying out b/c it does show under my clothes, but I feel like I need to clarify that it's just a little tiny nub of my belly button that doesn't even stick out very far.  But for someone who's always had a neutral belly button, I'm still going with outtie.

Symptoms : reflux, general aches, fatigue...same old. 

The new symptom is what I guess I'd describe as pain in my groin area, especially when I'm trying to move my legs certain ways.  My educated guess is that relaxin is doing its job on my pelvis and it's just starting to get loose.  My hips (outer thigh) have already been hurting (esp at night), but now it's in my inner thigh area as well.  I'm not ~excited~ about it, per se, but I'm glad my body is doing its job. :)  But it's just one more thing to slow me down b/c I have to be really careful about how I move.

Also, the contractions are getting stronger.  They're not regular enough for me to start timing yet, and they're not ALL strong... but I have been having more that hurt, make me catch my breath and stop me in my tracks for a second, especially in the evenings.  I "like" the practice, or maybe I should say I find the practice oddly comforting b/c I feel more prepared for an event you can't possibly be prepared for ahead of time.  I'm learning to breathe through them and how to relax - by doing it with the big ones.  I've also found that massaging my belly afterward along with a few deep breaths helps me recover pretty quickly.  I'm still nervous about the real thing, but excited as they grow in intensity b/c it means that we're closer to d-day.  It increases the feeling that it could be any day, which is both a relief and a frustration.  Josh and I are such planners, this unpredictability is killing us! :-þ