It was 36 Weeks ... a Few Days Ago

Yes, I missed posting on the real 36 weeks mark, which was Saturday.  All I have to offer are lame excuses.  The last week of my life has mostly been divided among three activities:  1) Frantically nesting while sweat pours down my face and my feet ache and I feel like passing out, but I MUST CLEAN AND ORGANIZE BECAUSE WORLD WILL END IF I DO NOT; 2) Taking a break at the end of a nesting period (which usually lasts about 6 hours) with my feet up on a pillow and crying uncontrollably; and 3) Sleeping (but still not at night -- this also ties in nicely to the crying times).


On Saturday I hosted a girls night at my house, and a few high school friends came over.  So Friday and Saturday were all about the cleaning and shopping and no time for the resting, crying, or sleeping, but it was well worth it, because it was a really fun night.  Like, no one left until 4:00 AM fun.  It's great to get to talk to them and eat for huge stretches like that.


ANYWAY, I was supposed to have the 36 week post already written and then have Jeremy take a picture of me on Saturday before the girls arrived, but I was running behind schedule and sweating profusely and did not want a picture of me sweating and without make-up, so I skipped it.  I thought I could get one on Sunday, but after my full day, my feet were once again looked like hams on toothpicks, so when I finally woke up on Sunday, I ignored all the other things that REALLY needed to be done and sat on the couch with my feet propped up all day (and as of right now, the right one is still pretty puffy.  gross.).  So when Jeremy got home, I shrieked "NO PICTURE!" and scared him out of the room.  And here we are on Monday.  I am feeling miserable and have NO intention of getting dressed or putting on make-up, and I have 30 papers to grade before tomorrow night at 4 PM, and here I am complaining about life, with no belly picture.


SO ... if you made it through all of that, here is what is going on this week with my little baybay: Once again, I will not give you an estimates for length or weight, because she shot right past the book. We will still just assume "large."  The baby still has a soft skull, bones, and cartilidge so she can get out easier, but almost all of the rest of her systems are good to go.  The only system that is not fully developed is her digestive system, but that won't begin to mature until she is outside and breastfeeding, since she has only been practicing by swallowing amniotic fluid.


37 weeks is considered the "for-sure-full-term" week according to the books, but my doctors say this little biscuit is being considered full-term at 36 weeks (as of a few days ago), so if I were to go into labor now, they would not try to stop it until 37 weeks rolls around next Saturday.  This is exciting but also not ... I was hoping that would be the magic words baby needed to hear and she would make her debut, but she seems to like it in there -- even though she is really throwing her weight around in there a lot, as if to say "What happened to my spacious accomodations, woman?!?!"  Of course, she is on her own timeline, so we will just have to wait and see.


I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions all week, and while that could be a good sign, I also know that some people have them for months.  I sure hope that's not the case -- I am NOT enjoying them.  I am much more uncomfortable and in a lot more pain this week, but I know it will just continue to get worse and worse, AND it is almost over.  But all her clothes are washed and Jeremy and I went on big trips to Target and Babies R Us to get a bunch of stuff we still needed, so can't she come NOW??? :)

Odds and Ends #5

1.  Since I didn't get a belly shot on Saturday or Sunday, I thought some of the pictures my cousin Kristina posted on Facebook from our shopping trip might do the trick.


Here is a lovely shot of "Mount Dimick":

And here is a front view:

Yes, I waddled all the way across Target just to show my mom and Aunt Julie the Twilight dolls.  Totally worth it.  They both said Jacob has better abs in real life.

2.  I also found THIS at Target for the baby:

I bought a 9-month size, because at this rate, she might come out big enough to fit into 9-month baby clothes!

3.  I also found a replacement fake wedding ring on our shopping trip to fill my empty ring finger.  I even got it a little loose on a day when my fingers were extra swollen, so I should have room to grow!

It's nice to have a ring on that finger again (for the low-low price of $7.95!), although it is nowhere near as beautiful as my real ring.  

It will be nice when I can wear it again.

4.  The other day I took our cat MoJo to the vet, and, as usual, many strangers had comments and questions about the baby.  HOWEVER, a MIRACLE happened, and it was not a horrible experience.  First, a vet tech asked me when I was due, and when I told her I had six weeks left, she said, "Oh!  You are that close?  I would have never guessed you were that far along!" and THEN a vet came up smiling and said, "Only a few months to go, huh?" and I said, "6 weeks."  He looked surprised, and said, "You don't look big enough!"  It was such a nice change of pace ... and I was so happy I almost cried. :)

5.  Pregnancy hormones are so much more strange than I could have predicted.  I have a nice new layer of fuzz on my stomach, but the hair on my legs has practically stopped growing altogether!  The hair on my legs used to start regrowing approximately 5 minutes after shaving and would be unacceptably prickly in like two hours, and now it is very fine and I shave once a week, but there is hardly anything there.  So strange.

6.  I got the sweetest handmade gift in the mail a little while ago.  My friend from high school, Hayley, who has a sweet little daughter of her own who is about 6 months old, sent me this adorable headband:

I LOVE it!!  And isn't she talented?  If you are in the market for something similar, let me know and I will contact her for you.


7.  Jeremy's co-worker also sent home a gift yesterday.  Get ready to squeal:

I cannot WAIT to dress her up in these!

8.  I used to show the film Super Size Me to my classes all the time when I started teaching, and I decided to use it again this quarter for a paper.  I have probably seen the movie about thirty times now, what with prep and showing it to all of my classes, and every single time it totally disgusts me and makes me never want to eat fast food again. However, watching it this time for prep and then showing it to two classes ... nothing.  I was actually thinking a nice big order of fries would really hit the spot.  There should be a warning on the box:  "Not effective on pregnant women."

9.  Jeremy has been working on fixing up a dresser I bought about five years ago (for ten bucks!!!) to use in the baby's room for a dresser/changing table.  

He has been working really hard on it; it is all sanded down, the drawers are almost completely fixed (he re-fitted and glued them then added a bunch of nails to make them nice and sturdy) and ready for staining.  The top looks beautiful -- the wood grain looks amazing after stripping and sanding it.  Then we just need some hardware and we are good to go!

30 Weeks

Today the baby is probably about 16 inches long and weighs a little over over three pounds (and she’ll be packing on the weight at a rate of half a pound per week for the next seven weeks!).  Also growing daily is her brain, which is actually starting to look like the real thing with the characteristic grooves and wrinkles.  And now that she can regulate her own body temperature, she'll begin shedding her lanugo (the downy body hair that's been keeping her warm up until now).  Her eyes are also continuing to develop, even though she keeps them closed most of the day.  When she does open her eyes, her vision is 20/400, meaning she can only see a few inches in front of her face, but she will respond to changes in light.


I have been feeling okay -- just the normal "uncomfortableness" of being huge and waddle-y.  I have had some nausea return and am also having a little bit of heartburn off and on, but nothing too drastic.  The swelling in my ankles and feet have been MUCH better over the last few weeks, and I even found a new pillow arrangement that allows me three hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time before I have to wake up and roll over to my other side to give the current hip a break.  Before, I was waking up EVERY twenty minutes to flip over.  Not ideal.  I did have to steal one of Jeremy's pillows to create this new arrangement, but he seemed more than happy to have the constant flip-flopping stop!


And I just got home from my shower and got a belly picture, but I am much too exhausted to say anything about it.  That will have to be a post for tomorrow.  

Foot Experiment Completed

I was getting a bit sick of the swollen feet and ankles at the end of work days, so I decided to conduct a little experiment.  I generally wear the same pair of black shoes to work every day because they are fancy enough to go with my suits AND make a clicky sound, but they have a low baby wedge heel that is really nothing and they are almost flats, so they are comfortable enough to walk around in all day.


This week, I wore a cute pair of flats on Monday that are not QUITE as dressy and don't match most of my work clothes, but are insanely comfortable.  When I got home from work at 6:30 -- NO SWELLING.


On Tuesday, I wore another pair of super-comfortable flats that could PROBABLY be worn with most of my work clothes without people raising eyebrows, but they are a little outdated because they have a rounded toe.  When I got home from work at 6:30 -- NO SWELLING.


On Wednesday, I wore my go-to cute black shoes.  When I checked my feet before my 4:00 class started -- OUTRAGEOUS SWELLING.  When I got home -- EVEN WORSE SWELLING.  


Now, I am no scientist, but I think I have got myself a little formula here:  Don't wear the black shoes that are beautiful and match all my work clothes.  Sad.  But YAY to maybe less swelling and grossness in the future!  


And some people were telling my I wasn't eating healthy enough and that was the reason for my swelling punishment.  Take that!