Pregnancy Week Wrap Up: 37 Weeks

1.       How far along am I?  37 weeks and officially full term!

2.       How much weight have I gained?  I still weight 206 from my 36 week check up so I haven’t gained anything.

3.       What changes have I notice in my body?  I’m assuming that Ashten has “dropped” because I know have use of my lungs again and don’t get out of breathe as much.  Everyone is commenting on how cute I look pregnant because they say that from the back you can’t tell that I’m pregnant because I’m

all baby.  I notice that I’m getting little moles on my face, but they are all tiny and run in the family so the doctor says they are nothing to worry about. 

4.    
  
Advice my doctor is giving me? Got a new doc this week and I love her.  She just had a baby, hers in 8 weeks so she is full of good mommy advice.  The main thing she’s stressing is that I watch for signs of labor.  My Lamaze instructor told me to do early labor at home as much as I could, drink plenty of water, and walk around as much as I could and not to come to the hospital until I was sure it was show time.  She said that if I get there too early, I will be miserable because they will immediately get me in bed and won’t allow me to get up and move around.  I was also told to continue doing my Kegel exercises, mini squats, and to practice my breathing.

5.       How am I sleeping?  I can get comfortable, still on the couch, but my sleeping pattern is still off.  I might fall asleep around 9 or 9:30, but wake up around 12 or 1 in the morning and be up until 3.  (I’m writing this post at 2:30am)  This sucks because school has started and I have to be back up at 6 to make sure Al gets to school.  It’s a good thing that he is riding the bus this year because I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage dropping him off and picking him up.  I still grab a quick nap here and there and it makes me feel a little better.

6.       Best moments of the week?  Ashten’s dad is still convinced that we are having a girl (I’ll save that story because it is not blog friendly) so he bought a car seat with pink flowers…ican’t!!!  Poor man, I have really put him through some changes these last few months so I let him slide and just exchanged it for a boy friendly color.  This is what I get for insisting that he go pick one out when he’s the type of guy to just give you the money and let you do what you need to do.  I knew he’d try to teach me a lesson, so I’m going to let it slide.  Now if the crib mattress comes with pink flowers, he won’t get a pass!

7.       What food(s) am I craving?  I think I’ve shunned all healthy foods and took full advantage of my condition by stuffing my face with the good stuff week.  I discovered a new soul food restaurant and I’ve been enjoying catfish, homemade mac and cheese, candied yams, smothered pork chops and cabbage.  Oh, and my love of orange juice is back!

8.       What food(s) I can’t stand?  Again, I’m not turning down anything this week.   If it comes close too close, it’s as good as eaten.  I have noticed that I haven’t wanting anything sweet lately.  I love almond snickers but I’ve had one in the refrigerator for a week and haven’t touched it yet.

9.       What am I looking forward to this week?  I would really like to go in labor early.  I’m just so ready for Ashten to be here.  Al is too excited and can’t wait for little brother to stop making me so tired.  I do get a lot of hugs from Al because he sees how tired and achy I am so I soaking up all the mommy love. 

10.   What have I accomplished on my “To Do Before Baby Gets Here List”?  Got car seat and baby bag is on the way.  I order a baby backpack from Wal-Mart that has ubber space for everything.  I just had I did site to store instead of shipping it to the house.  I called myself trying to save on sales taxes but it just makes the shipping process 3x slower.  I also started a medical notebook for Al and Ashton.  I got this idea from a flyer I received at the baby expo this past spring.  I’ve put all of their personal and medical info in a three ring binder with those clear page protectors so that I can have copies of insurance cards, birth certificates, shot records, docs numbers, emergency contacts, medication they take, and other stuff ready in case there’s an emergency and we need to get up and out quickly and I don’t have to spend time hunting things down.  Everything is right there in the book.

11.   What I still need to accomplish on my “To Do Before Baby Gets Here List”?  I need to update my baby scrapbook.  I don’t think I’ve done anything to it since before my baby shower-that was back in June.  I also need to write my birth plan so I make sure that everyone is on the same page.  I also have pix of me as my belly has gotten bigger that I need to send out to be developed so I can add them to the scrapbook.  I need to find some soothing music to play while at the hospital.  I need to make a list of people to call who will want to visit Ashten when he gets here.  I also need to find a baby carrier of comfortable sling so that I can wear him hands free.

12.   Pregnancy thoughts for the week?  I have recently realized that I am not Superwoman and I can’t get up and go like I use to, I’m simply too big.  I actually need to stop driving, but I probably won’t, I’m so hard head, I’ll probably try to drive myself to the hospital!!  But I have realized that even although I want to walk around as much as possible to try to make the baby come earlier, I really need to kick back and relax a little.  My house is a mess and I’m a mess, but in three weeks, I’ll be a bigger mess so I might as well get used to it.