Great Expectations II: 37 weeks

How Far: 37 weeks

Officially full term as declared by my OB at this week's appointment. Wow that was QUICK!

Weight/ Clothes: I am maintaining my weight to the pound and I'm still under a pound of what I weighed in the end with Levi. The same thing happened with my weight gain with Levi ... it stalled out at the end, which I don't mind one bit. It took me a year to take it all off last time and I'm sure this time around won't be any different except that I'll be running after two kiddos, so maybe it'll come off faster. We'll see. No matter what it's worth it for the healthy, sweet baby that arrives when it's all said and done.

In terms of clothes...some of my borrowed shirts are now getting to the too small for the bump stage. Thankfully we don't have that much longer to go until the postpartum clothing stage.

Cravings: Fruit! Especially peaches...yum!

Movement: I think the baby is getting squished and running out of room because his movements aren't quite as all over the place just a jab here and there and especially into my ribs. I feel hiccups pretty regularly and even my mom felt them over the weekend.

Symptoms: I'm having LOTS of Braxton Hicks... in fact I had a non stress test at my docs appointment this week and my OB was funny... he said well you are definitely having contractions cause he could see them on the print out. Then he asked, "Are they getting stronger?" looking at me like I might go into full labor at any moment, but they aren't getting stronger and I'm only 1/2 cm dilated which doesn't really mean much, so onward to our due date.

My sciatic nerve is also driving me bonkers because certain chairs and seated positions cause me to literally get stuck and it hurts SO much to stand up and get moving. The same is true when I get up in the middle of the night to pee three and four times. It is SO hard to get out of bed, but this too shall pass at least I hope it's completely gone after the baby is born.

Speaking of sleep ... it's getting harder. I'm exhausted at bedtime but then have trouble falling asleep. Oh pregnancy insomnia ... thankfully I haven't been up all night on any given date since I have to function with Levi the next day and need some sleep to do so. My hips have also started to hurt depending on which side I am sleeping on ... gotta love everything getting all loosey goosey. I'm just not naturally a side sleeper, but right now that's my only option so between bathroom wake ups I switch sides until the next awakening. All this waking is good practice for those night feedings too right!?!

My face has started to break out a little bit, not sure what that's about! Oh hormones.

Mental State: I'm knocking things off my to do list left and right, so that feels really good. We've spent a lot of time at home lately since it's hard for me to take Levi out and keep up with him by myself and Adam has been working hard on his big paper that is due the first, so this has provided for plenty of time to complete nesting projects around the house.

I packed my hospital bag and the diaper bag for the new baby this week. I always meant to blog about the contents of my bags last time, but I never got around to it and boy did I wish I had because it would have been so nice to have that to refer back to. Oh well, maybe I'll make note of it in a post this time around.

I saw my mom and brother in law briefly this past weekend when they were up here getting the condo settled. I know it was a huge relief for everyone to know that it's well on its way to being beautifully situated! I wish the visit could have been longer, but some visit is better than no visit at all. The next time I see Mom will be when Jellybean is here or on his way!

I was relieved this week to find out a good friend of ours, Julia, isn't leaving town for Oregon until the 15th of September. Why is this such a relief you may ask since she's moving ... well we're really sad she's moving away, BUT hopefully she'll still be here long enough to meet this new little guy AND she offered to be on call once she's done with work on the 5th to come hang with Levi. I know Levi is super comfortable with her and she's got mad nanny skills, so I know he'll be in GREAT hands while we head to the hospital. We have lots of other friends who have offered to be on call as well, but in most cases it will depend on their work schedules and such, so this just seemed like an ideal fit. Fingers crossed Jellybean decides to come within that window now!

In other project news ... I've ordered the invitations for my sister's baby shower in October and hopefully I'll have them ready to go out before Jellybean gets here, so they can just be popped in the mail. I've also looked in to our plane tickets to Virginia in October for Cabin weekend and Thais and the boys look like they'll be joining us this year too!! It will be so exciting to introduce everyone to Jellybean in October, who will have his official name too! I get to take my sister and Chris's maternity pictures in the mountains, hang out with my best friends, throw Anna's baby shower the following weekend and do another friend's maternity session while I'm in town, so much to look forward to!  I've also figured out when we'll go down to Raleigh to meet my new niece in November since I know they'll only let my sister go as late as 39 weeks due to her diabetes, so we'll get to stay with our friends, the Albrights, who just moved down there and meet the newest addition to our growing family!! I can't wait!

I've also been trying to imagine what life with two is going to be like in terms of a schedule and getting out of the house. We shall see...there's definitely going to be a new normal coming our way!

Appointment Updates: I was negative again for Strep B, so that's good because I won't need antibiotics at the hospital.

The head is also engaged and I'm 1/2 cm dilated and having contractions, but nothing that I would consider true labor contractions yet. (Adam has a BIG paper due the 1st of September, so this little guy needs to wait until at least then, plus he'd be almost two weeks early even around that date. I'd be shocked if he comes that soon, but we're pretty much ready at this point.)

Best Moment of the Week: Levi started saying "Baby". He will pull out small bibs in the kitchen and say, "Baby" and he can point to where the baby is. He also started sleeping in his big boy bed at naps and has done so every day this week, so hopefully that transition will continue to go smoothly though we don't plan to make the nighttime transition for a while still. Fingers crossed!