37.5 weeks...Full Term!

I am soooooo excited to be full term! He could safely come at any time, though I feel as though he's going to stay cozied up in my belly for a good week post-due-date. I just have that feeling... But still it is amazing to think how little time I have to wait to meet my little guy and it's making it hard to think about absolutely anything else at all.

Two weeks ago my doctor was out of town and I saw another doctor for my check-up. Baby measured 2 weeks behind (25th percentile) so he did an ultrasound to check on him. I wasn't too nervous, but it's never your favorite thing to hear that they need to check on things. The ultrasound looked great, though. He was moving around, which is always what they want to see. He was even practicing breathing, which was too sweet for words. I have a "perfect placenta" (I think I'm going to make a t-shirt for that one) and plenty of amniotic fluid. And they saw what they wanted to see, that his head wasn't abnormally larger than his abdomen, which would mean he wasn't getting enough nutrients. So, the way the doctors explain it, he's just a little guy! That doesn't affect my due date or reflect what his size will be as he grows up. My doctor says that from a selfish standpoint, I should be relieved because he will be less painful to pop out. :)

I am having intense Braxton Hicks contractions more frequently now, which they say isn't supposed to hurt. :/ They may be nothing like labor contractions, but they don't feel like a massage either! I just take it as a sign that things are progressing. I thought for sure I had dropped last week. I was feeling relief from the heartburn and feeling lighter in general. And I work with lots of nurses who confirmed that I looked like I had dropped. But over the last couple of days I have felt those old uncomfortable feelings again so I don't know.

I get a lot of questions about my birth plan. Through this process I am also learning a lot about the opinions of my friends and family that I didn't know before. My "birth plan" is to go with the flow and be easy on myself. This isn't about morals and idealistic expectations for me. This is real life, and I will be surrounded by professionals who will give me their best advice. I have a few things I know are important to me now, but am going to allow for change at the time because I know how unpredictable this whole process is.

As far as the rest of my family, Devin still can't be bothered to discuss anything baby related. And Chad deals with his anticipation in his own way. Let's just say that when I announced my pregnancy, Chad completely gutted and remodeled our basement. And last week-end as I became full term, he completely gutted and is-in-the-process-of rebuilding our yard/driveway/patio. A profound sociological study could surely be done at our house. It is always a source of amusement to me how differently males and females process life events, both mundane and major. Let me say this...I am not afraid of labor. I AM afraid of being so outnumbered by boys in my own house.

Here's hoping my little man comes soon. Today would be nice. :)

35 weeks! The countdown begins....

These last few weeks have flown by! I can't believe how quickly Monday's come, and that is just fine with me. Two weeks ago I had both my baby showers and both were super fun. My Blue Cross co-workers threw the first one, a Dr. Suess themed party, and Cynthia Steinberg threw me a big huge book-themed shower the following day. Pre-baby and especially pre-third trimester it was hard for me to understand why pregnant ladies a)hid out b)couldn't talk about anything but their pregnancy and c)were so boring. Now I get it. You hide out because doing much else aside from sitting on your couch at just the right angle with just the right pillow is just not as comfortable. You talk about your pregnancy so much because it is a completely unique state both physically and mentally, and it's hard to think about much else. And you are boring because of point A and point B combined. You can't do much and what's the point of talking about the weather when there is a fetus rolling around in your tummy? Anyway, the point of this is to say that the showers were a welcome celebration of this life that's growing, and it felt like a huge week-end long hug. While I feel more and more detached from my old life and from life outside my body these days, the showers were exactly what I needed. Friends, food, and games. I love games!

Baby is pretty much huge now. He is the size of a melon, over 5 lbs. and 18 inches long. His organs are developed and his main job now is just to get fat. He gets hiccups at least once a day and to say that he is a gymnast is an understatement. At my last appointment he measured one week behind, so he was at 32 weeks while I was at 33. But all that means, says my doctor, is that he is smaller and will be easier to push out. Yesssssssssssss! I was 7 something lbs., 21 inches and Chad was 7 something lbs., 22 inches, so we were both relatively small babies. Here's hoping Junior follows in our footsteps. He will be full term next week, but really he could come any time and be totally fine. (hint, hint) I have this feeling that he's going to come late, but let's pretend that I don't have that feeling.

His nursery is almost done and I love it so much I sit in it sometimes and just look around at all the stuff, wrapped and unwrapped with love, from all his friends and relatives who are so excited to meet him. Reason number 3530 why I can't think about much else these days. I am about to meet my SON! There is nothing more exciting than that!