Full Term

Alright, I am a day behind. Sorry. I got busy at work all of a sudden and didn't have time to get on here and post an update. I thought maybe I'd write a poem with title: Pregnancy, how do I love thee . . . let me count the ways. And then I realized that the first line would probably be: Oh, I don't. So I scrapped that idea and thought I'd list my complaints. Don't get me wrong here. I would gladly live through the third trimester than go through the first all over again. Here you go - what I "love" about the third trimester:

1. Sore tailbone - apparently her head is pressing on it causing pain when I sit for too long, so now I have started carrying my Boppy in the car in case I need to sit on it at work. Which leads us to:

2. Painful heels/swollen feet - if I stand for too long my heels begin to hurt - so I can't sit or stand for extended periods of time without pain. Nice. And my feet are swollen so now the only shoes I can wear are slip on heels or flip-flops. It really limits what I can wear (which isn't much anymore because a lot of my clothes - including maternity tops - are getting too small). I am having to get very creative with my clothing choices every week.

3. Food is not really of interest to me - those of you who know me well, know how much I love to eat good food. Or just eat in general. I can be a food snob. But now nothing really sounds good and I'm not eating much because the baby is taking up so much room. But I think that I am probably still gaining weight. Whatever. Plus I think I'm getting a little bit of morning sickness again.

4. Not sleeping - I toss and turn all night. I can't get comfortable and then when I do I have to pee. I guess I should get used to not sleeping though.

5. Painful hands, specifically the knuckles - because of swelling at night when I wake up my fingers kill. They sometimes hurt to bend until I get up and get moving and the swelling goes down.

6. Swelling - I am down to just my wedding band on my left hand and no other jewelry on my fingers. I don't sleep with it on because I would not be able to get it off in the morning if I did. Plus, I am almost at the point where I have to put another link in my watch. I am desperately trying to avoid that.

7. Kicking - it can get downright painful when she decides she wants to really let loose on my insides. She likes to stretch her right leg out which then presses my left side out, and that does not feel good. Plus she enjoys using my bladder as a squeeze toy which is also lots of fun.

8. Going to the bathroom every 1/2 hour - actually it's not too bad considering she hasn't dropped onto my bladder yet. I guess I should be happy but when you go to the bathroom 3 times between when you get up and leave for work it can be a little time consuming. But also feeling like you REALLY REALLY have to go only to get to the bathroom and barely anything comes out.

9. I can't get up - I have a hard time getting up off the floor, off the couch, out of bed, etc. I can do it, it just takes a little longer than it used to.

10. Anxiety - about everything: the room not being totally done, labor (specifically tearing or episiotomies), what the hell I'm going to do with a child, all the normal stuff. Anxiety over this being over. Anxiety about my Dr.'s appointment this week because we start the internal checks and I'm scared that I am not going to be dilated at all or effaced at all. I will be 38 weeks and 1 day at the appointment. I don't want to feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever anymore.

11. Questions from people - I've been pretty relaxed about this, it hasn't bothered me much, and it still doesn't, but the constant questions from different people over and over can get tiring. There are only so many times I want to tell people when my last day of work is or how I'm feeling. Like I said, most of the time, not a big deal, but this week I have been irritated by everything.

12. Having my ass look as big as my stomach - Ok, I know I'm going to get crap for this but sometimes I look in the mirror and, depending on what I'm wearing, I feel like my butt is as big as the belly. I know it's not, but body image this far into pregnancy is not always the best. But what can you do - it's just the way life goes.

13. Itchy stomach - my skin is so stretched it itches pretty much all day long. And no, lotion/oils/whatever did not stop me from getting stretch marks.

14. Being completely and utterly uncomfortable - no matter what, no matter how you sit or lay down, no matter where you are.

Alright, that's about enough of that. Some good things: the baby moving, knowing that she'll be here soon, all the attention (I know I whined a little bit in one of the complaints above, but people are generally pretty nice to pregnant women), time off soon! The ultimate though is having a baby once this is all over. And I have to believe that everything that I've gone through (which I really shouldn't complain about because it really HAS NOT been that bad) will all be completely worth it when she finally makes her appearance in the world.

The pictures below are from last week, at 37 weeks. I am wearing some new nursing pajamas that I had just gotten. I had to order some more stuff because they didn't have my size, but I should have those soon. She is still really high.

My awesome co-workers threw me a surprise shower/party last week that I had absolutely no idea about. Almost all of them were convinced that I knew about it. I must have been pretty oblivious to what was going on around the office because they had been planning something for about a month! They had breakfast and lunch, decorations, the whole shebang. Their gift was awesome too and it really went a long way in allowing us to complete buying the remaining items on our Babies R Us registry. The only thing we're really waiting on now is our mattress because we had to order it since they didn't have it in stock. We should have it in a week or so.

On a completely different note, New Kids on the Block are coming to town in October. October 13 at Jobing.com Arena to be specific. Anyone who wants to come down and go with Erin and I are more than welcome to. Tickets go on sale June 9 so let us know. John is in charge of getting them because I am hoping to have a baby by then.

Alright, I have to make another bathroom run.