37 Weeks!

Here we are, well into the 37th week. We are set. I think. For the most part, anyway. If he were to be born tomorrow, we'd be ready. But selfishly, I want him to hang out inside of me as long as possible. Is it fear? Probably. I am scared, I'll admit it. But I am also excited, anxious, nervous, happy... you name it. Every single emotion you can think of.

I am finishing out the rest of this week at work, working next week, and then working from home until Little Man arrives so that I don't have to waste leave time on non-baby-related time off. I am crossing my fingers that I can make it through this week and next. After that, I would be fine with him coming at any point. Let's hope that's the case.

Here's my update:

Best Moment of the Week: Turning the corner and officially being "full term." Going to my first weekly appointment and finding out I am not effaced or dilated yet. Whew... thank goodness. Our next appointment is tomorrow (I feel like I am back with my RE, going to the doctor ALL THE TIME), and we'll see if anything has progressed.

Entertaining Question/Comment of the Week: Are you scared? Uh, what kind of question is that? Yes, I am very scared. For everything. Water breaking at work (my #1 fear), contractions hurting like hell, the entire labor process, caring for this new little baby. The fear is in the unknown, and I guess that's what this is all about. But I am also excited :)

Obsessions: Keeping him inside... as much as I can not wait to meet him, I want him to stay put so that I can get through everything I have planned in the next two weeks and he can continue to grow, develop, and put on weight... we want a healthy little guy!

What I am Most Looking Forward to This Week: 2nd Doctor Appointment... tomorrow at 4 p.m.

What I Miss the Most: Let's just say I will be having a glass of wine as SOON as I get out of the hospital. No lie.

Symptoms: Hard to sleep, Braxton Hicks contractions, a little foot/ankle swelling.

36 Weeks!

Worst blogger award in 2011 goes to....

Mrs. D.

It's cool. I own it. Have I just completely fallen off the face of the earth? Sometimes it feels that way. Life has been insane. Awesome, but insane. I reflect back on the last 12 months of my life, and can't believe so much has happened. By far the craziest, busiest, happiest, hardest, most challenging year of my life, and shame on me for not documenting it all. Someone once told me that one should not have more than one life change in a year (ie: new house, new child, death of a close family member/friend, divorce, etc.). Me? I can barely count how many Mr. D and I have been through since last July. The highlights include: redoing our house to place on the market, having the horrible IF procedure, selling our house, losing a TON of saved up cash to buy us out of a shitty mortgage, moving to a condo, having lap surgery to clear out my clogged fallopean tube, getting pregnant, saving up more money than I thought to be possible (seriously, living off Ramen noodles in the meantime to save $), buying our house, and getting dang close to bringing our little guy into the world. It's insane. But man, am I thankful... all of these things are wonderful, and although they've stretched Mr. D and me more than I ever thought, we are so much stronger for all of it. And our relationship has gotten even better.

... and holy cow, I am about to have a baby. After all these months (YEARS) of IF and wanting a baby so badly, I can't believe how unprepared I feel. In less than a month, we'll have a baby... incredible and at times, unbelievable. How did this happen to us? Where did the time go? And... am I really ready to have a baby? From an IF perspective, hell yeah, I'm ready. But the closer it comes, the more and more I realize that this is real and I can not prepare myself. I just need to do the best I can.

Obviously, history repeats itself, and I am behind in my blog posts. I am posting for last week's update and will post another this weekend with this week's update:

Best Moment of the Week: Noticing that little man prefers one way to be situated in my tummy. Head down (let's hope it stays that way), but up above my belly button, legs/feet toward my right side. It's funny that as my tummy grows, I no longer worry about if I can feel him or not... I worry more about getting kicked in the bladder or his butt moving across my stomach and taking my breath away.

Oh, and the four baby showers held for me. It was a wonderful week :)

Entertaining Question/Comment of the Week: Nothing I can really think of. EVERYONE, however, is interested in how I am doing in the heat. Minnesota has had a pretty hot and humid couple of weeks, and it hasn't been too bad for me. I also work (and live) in lovely air conditioning, so it's not like I am out in the 100 degree temps.

Obsessions: Getting everything ready... his room, birth announcements, hospital bag... you name it. Just thinking about all of it stresses me out.

What I am Most Looking Forward to This Week: 1st weekly doctor's appointment - wondering if I am starting to progress?

What I Miss the Most: Wine. Beer. Margaritas. Martinis. Enough said.

Symptoms: Hard to sleep, but not really impossible. Braxton Hicks contractions.

34 & 35 Weeks!

I totally missed last week's update! Darn. I've been keeping up on my bloggie friends' blogs, but haven't commented on their posts or written my own... so sorry. I just haven't had time to sit down and type... hence, two weeks of updates in one post. I'll start posting comments this weekend, I promise!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Minnesota? Mr. D and I live about 15-20 miles from both St. Paul and Minneapolis, and we just love it. The weather in June/July has been amazing - great sunshine, warm days in the 80s/90s, and overall, beautiful everything outside... grass, trees, everything. I am sure that when I re-read this post in February next year, I will curse my own self, because yes, it does get cold here in winter. But these 4-5 months of amazing weather always makes the painful winters worth it.

So, needless to say, we've been spending time outside. We have a huge backyard, so we've been spending time grilling, out on the patio table, walking around the neighborhood with our dog, and just enjoying life....

... and enjoying pregnancy. Seriously, I love being pregnant and think I am definitely going to suffer from the baby blues... I will definitely miss being pregnant. I love how I feel, love how I can feel him, love my huge tummy, love my body... it's just weird. I've never felt healthier in my life. I know not all women experience such a wonderful time, and I feel horrible for them. Nine months of not feeling great would flat-out suck. I think God was looking down on me when we finally got pregnant and said, "you know, they've been through enough trying to conceive this little guy... I think I'll give her a really easy pregnancy."

So, here's the summed up overview of my past two weeks:

Best Moments of the Weeks: My sister threw me a huge family baby shower, which was way fun. So great to see relatives I hadn't in years. People in general are so kind and generous when you're pregnant... I received wonderfully generous gifts. We got our stroller, carseat, and tons of things off our registry. We are so blessed. We spent last weekend at home over the 4th of July, and I washed all of his clothes... hadn't washed a thing yet. Three loads later (which, if you've ever laundered baby clothes before, you know that 3 loads is a LOT of items... everything is so tiny!), little man has a TON of washed clothes, ready for him to jump into once he's here.

Entertaining Questions/Comments of the Weeks: "What is UP with your belly button?" This one came from Mr. D. I didn't get the dark line down my stomach, or popped out belly button, but my belly button sure has stretched. It is the weirdest-looking thing... it's basically not a button anymore but a flat, weird surface. I think Mr. D hadn't looked at it in a few days, and all of a sudden realized that it looks completely different.

Obsessions: Lots of obsessions... more mental than anything. Here are a few: getting hospital bag all situated, thinking about how the heck I am going to get through labor, checking out my ever-growing boobs, wondering if breast feeding is going to work, stocking up on more and more diapers and wipes, and feeling him move. I had a Dr. appointment yesterday (they are scheduled weekly from here on out!), and his head is perfectly positioned down (he was in the same spot two weeks ago). His butt pokes up a lot - close to my belly button, and feet kick out close to my right hip bone. He's getting bigger!

What I am Most Looking Forward to This Week: FOUR baby showers! My sister-in-law (Mr. D's sister) is throwing me one tomorrow for Mr. D's side of our family, Mr. D has a work shower on Wednesday with co-workers, we have a couple's shower on Friday night (thrown by the wife of Mr. D's good friend), and another couple's shower on Saturday (thrown by one of my best friends). We are so fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives to celebrate with!

What I Miss the Most: Being able bend down easily - takes much more precision these days.

Symptoms: Sleeping continues to be a bit of a challenge... mostly because I need to re-adjust several times a night, and I get up to pee 3-4 times throughout the night. It's just more annoying than anything, I guess.