37 Weeks

Pregnancy Update November 5, 2012

How far along: 37 weeks! FULL TERM, BABY! 21 days left, hopefully less... 

Size of baby: 19.25 inches, 6.3 lbs. - A "Stalk of Swiss Chard"

What developed this past week: Since baby is now considered full term, it means all of his organs should be developed and ready for the outside world! Now is just more time for his hair to grow and his cheeks to get chubbier!

Weight Gain: 34 lbs. I actually lost a TINY bit this week - I lost the food obsession as quickly as I found it, AND I started getting on the treadmill during my lunch hour for 20 minutes or so! Only got 2 days in this week, but will be doing it every week day now that I am full term!  Gotta work Mr. Bryson down and out! :) 

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: HE'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"
(Bryson means "smart", Nicholas means "winner" or "victory of the people")

Movement: Moving all the time - mostly on my right side still. Only 4 or so days of the last couple months have I felt him kicking out on my left side. Maybe this explains why my right ribs ALWAYS hurt and my right leg is the one that goes to sleep or gets nerves pinched when I walk a lot!

Sleep: Still sleeping OK. Sometimes I wake up with pain in my upper back or my abs. I usually can adjust and go back to sleep. If I seem to be laying awake for more than a couple minutes, I'll usually get up and go to the bathroom. The changing of positions and standing usually helps relieve whatever pains I have, so when I lay back down I can fall asleep fairly easily.

I'm having more crazy dreams recently... Not sure where they even come from sometimes! Apparently, my mind is a lot more creative than I think it is! lol

What I miss: As much as I won't miss the burning in my abs/ribs, I'm trying my hardest to focus more on fully enjoying the last few days/weeks I have with Bryson kicking and punching me (from the inside... won't be so cute on the outside! lol)!

I definitely missed my niece, Joscelin's, 1st birthday party! I heard it was wonderful! I was so sad to not get to be there, but being in a car for 16 hours, and being 8 hours from home while full term wasn't advisable :( Though it did cross my mind to "risk" it... there are hospitals along the way, right?? If only I could make it through the car ride without wanting to cut out my half of my rib cage...

Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. Still like all the usual things - cereal, sparkling cider, coke & dr. pepper... Still wouldn't consider any of them cravings, but I can always go for a bowl or glass if I'm hungry or thirsty!

Best moment this week: This week, Caleb and I got to spend a couple evenings together, both shopping/getting stuff done and relaxing. As much as we love the alone time, we keep telling Bryson we're ready for him to join us! Caleb is especially ready, since I've been able to "hold" B every second of the day for the past 9 months and he hasn't! I'm a baby hog... what can I say? :)

Another thing Caleb and I did together this week was take a CPR class. We are now fully trained and certified in adult, child & infant CPR! Caleb said he already knew what to do before taking the class, so I doubt he'd admit to feeling more prepared to care for Bryson, but I certainly feel more comfortable with my skill level now!

Thursday evening, my SIL, Laurie, and niece, Emilie, came over one more time to help get the last things put away and organized in the nursery! I know I've said this a hundred times, but since certain finishing touches keep getting pushed off, we are still SO close to having the nursery done! It WILL be done this week, if it's the last thing I (and Caleb) do! :) Thank you girls, again, for your help! I was certainly at a point of not caring/not knowing what to do and just wanted it done for me! You saved me from just throwing everything in a drawer or the closet! :)

One more time before Bryson's arrival, I did another session of Freezer Cooking! I made 5 recipes that I found on Joyful Mommas Kitchen and I am very excited to eat them! Three of them are topped with shredded cheese and baked... can't go wrong with all that cheesiness! :) The potato soup seemed interesting... I wasn't too sure about it... but since making it, I randomly found the same recipe posted on another blog I read where she claimed it is delicious! :) All 5 recipes I made alone and they only took about 2.5 hours! I was very impressed! I guess it helped that not much needed chopped - only one onion. Everything else was a cook or mix kind of thing. I now have at least 15 meals in my freezer just waiting for the day I don't feel like cooking! :) Unfortunately, I'm forcing myself to wait until after Bryson is here... because most days I don't feel like cooking even now! lol

Random info:
-I have had some swelling in my ankles/calves a few times. It is seriously quite the site to see your calves mushroom over the top of your tight socks... I have switched to wearing Caleb's looser/lower cut athletic socks and haven't had any problems since I made the change!

What I am looking forward to:  - Going to my doctor appointment on Thursday and hopefully finding out if I'm dilating/progressing at all! So strange to actually want to be dilating! For the longest time, childbirth seemed far too terrifying to ever want to get to. Now I think we're about ready to meet this little miracle.
- One of my friends went above and beyond for my birthday this year and got me a 1 hour pedicure at Bella's! I had literally just told my sister that I was going to schedule a pedicure somewhere so my toes look nice when I have to stare at them during labor! lol What a wonderful gift! Thank you, Nicole!!!
- My mom coming over a couple nights this week to get my spare room and office organized. We pretty much just dumped a bunch of stuff in those rooms when we cleaned out the nursery, and effectively moved the mess from one place to another. Mom is going to help me get it put away, once and for all :). She also is going to prove her unconditional mother's love by scrubbing my bathtub! I feel bad asking anyone to do this nasty chore, but she is always willing to do anything for me. Bending over to scrub and using harsh chemicals does not sound like a good idea for me to do, but I want the tub clean so I can soak in it during labor if I feel like it. Thanks, Momma!!
Unfortunately, our contractor guy wasn't able to come this past weekend to finish our bathroom and the other small projects. We're hoping he can come next weekend now... not sure if that will work out. Depends on the timing of the baby's arrival! Still very much looking forward to him completing so many projects in our house!