37 Weeks

I had my 36 week appointment on Friday. I'm back to measuring right on, and my blood pressure is still low.  My total weight gain at this point is about 18 pounds. Although I managed to gain 5 pounds in 2 weeks so I'm thinking I should step up the workout routines and step down the chocolate eating but hey... whatever.  I also was swabbed for Group B Strep which is a fun thing that nobody really tells you about.  The doctor said she doesn't really start doing cervical exams until 37 weeks but she said she would do it if I was curious. Which obviously I was!! Another thing nobody really tells you... those exams hurt :(  But, good news!  As of Friday I'm already 75% effaced and 1cm dilated.  Which really means nothing... as I can stay that way for weeks... but it's exciting nonetheless.   This week's appointment is tomorrow, and they'll be on Wednesdays from now on (or at least until August 13th).  Not sure if I'll have any more progress to report but I've been feeling a little crampy so we will see.

Now that I've talked about all that awkward stuff that doesn't really mean anything unless you are pregnant or have been pregnant, I'll also mention that we had a fabulous baby shower thrown by our co-workers last week.  It was Lion King themed and we even played the candy bar-melted-in-the-diaper game.  It was hilarious watching my older/wiser supervisors smelling melted chocolate in a diaper!! We also got a ton of awesome gifts including many Disney outfits for baby's first Disney trip, a little rocking chair, two beautiful knitted quilts, and some plush Minnies to add to her collection.

My 30th birthday also came and went without much celebration. Except for Joey surprised me with some MAJOR bling to enhance my solitaire diamond.  So that was extremely exciting and unexpected.  The only bad thing about that is I'm not wearing my wedding rings (it finally happened) because my fingers feel a little swollen and I'm worried I wouldn't be able to get them off.  But hopefully this is temporary. (It better be!)

Finally, since every pregnant friend has been talking about this, I too ate the "potentially contaminated" fruit from the nationwide recall.  In my case, it was nectarines and I bought them at Walmart. Listeria is very scary when you are pregnant so I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed both for myself and for all of my pregnant friends (there seem to be more and more of them lately). Hopefully we are so close to D-day that baby girl won't be affected.

Moving along into your regularly scheduled update:

Date: July 22, 2014

How far along? 37 Weeks, 1 day. She's a winter melon.

How is Mama doing?  Same old.  Tired/sore, but we are in the home stretch!

Movement:  Right on cue, a little leg stretched into my rib cage.  Joey felt her move the other day after it had been a while, and he was very surprised at how strong she is now.  She's still head down and she's punching/kicking/butt-ing me all day every day.

Maternity Clothes? As I get bigger, I find I'm "growing out of" some of my clothes.  This is partially because they are a variety of sizes (hand-me-downs), as well as the fact that I'm just getting bigger.  I'm OK with getting bigger though because it means baby is getting nice and plump and ready for her big debut.

Pregnancy Fitness: I plugged in and did one strength workout last week. And... this is embarrassing... I was actually SORE.  The next day I was wondering why my quads were sore and then I realized... mini-squats. Also I find it amusing that every time I lay down on the yoga mat to do the floor exercises, Chloe takes this as a cue to come over and make herself comfortable next to me. Sigh...

Symptoms:   Same stuff. Hip pain. A little heart burn. New this week- a bit of a crampy feeling that could have been caused by the exam orrr means that my body is preparing for labor.  Fine with me either way!

Belly Button: Super stretched.  That little quadrant I mentioned a few weeks back is definitely poking out.

Nutrition/Cravings?  Not exactly cravings but I am the worst impulse buyer and definitely the person that advertisers are targeting with their strategic placement in grocery stores.  Case in point- walking through the store with Joey, he stops to get dog food and suddenly I appear with a little bear shaped tub full of animal crackers, because "it was cute and they looked tasty".

Sleep:  Same deal- pillows, Min Pins, bathroom trips, etc.

Looking Forward To:  I'm officially working from home starting next week.  I'm looking forward to NOT sitting in the car in terrible traffic with a baby on my bladder, wearing clothes/shoes that are comfortable, and happy that I'm able to work right up until it's time!

What I miss:  It's too bad I couldn't throw one last huge birthday bash this year for my 30th.  However we have timed this perfectly because I will be busy planning for my child's birthday every year around this time :) Children's parties tend to be cheaper because they don't involve spending $500 on booze to drink 'around the world', for example.

Doc/Chloe: Are going to the vet this week.  They are going to be thrilled.

37 Week Pic:
Definitely feeling huge now.