Still here, so time to catch up!

Sorry for the silence, I'm still here! In all my 39 week glory! I was going to do the little survey thing, but over the past few weeks nothing has really changed, except the size of my belly!

For your viewing pleasure:

37  weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks

Jaysus...I look tired in that last shot! I promise that I'm actually not as exhausted as I look, even if I am up 4-5 times at night to pee and switch sides. And you may notice that I finally cleaned the mirror! It's a miracle! Today I even decided to take a picture of my bare belly. That will NOT be on the blog, even though I don't think it looks too bad. The last time a picture was taken of my bare abdomen was when I was three years old and rocking the halter tops.
As of Monday I hadn't progressed any more from 35 weeks. Well, instead of being 'a fingertip' I was 'a tight one'. This baby seems to be in it to win it! I told it last night it if it came out it would have a lot more room to flail around, but no luck. My Braxton Hicks had seemed to peter off, but now they're back, so even if my body isn't going to do the real thing for awhile I appreciate that it's practicing!We've finished our classes and somehow I still feel totally unprepared. Today was my last official day of work. Hour long afternoon naps seem to be on the agenda every day. I'm not complaining about that! I've done some cleaning that was way over due. I don't really consider it nesting, more like procrastinating.
I've been very, very blessed with an easy pregnancy. I truly don't mind being pregnant, there are actually a lot of things I enjoy about it, but I'm starting to get to the point where I'll be happy to have my own body back - in whatever postpartum form that may be. And of course we're anxious to meet the baby!

36 weeks! Oops!

Ack! I didn't realize it's been 3 weeks since I last blogged! I have two excuses, even if they're not very good. 1.) I was tired. Seriously. The last thing I would want to do when I got home from work was get off the couch. and 2.) I was sick of trying to get a good picture with the camera. It was very frustrating. Good news - we got our new camera this weekend! Yahoo! It's basically the upgraded version of the one I bought before I moved to the UK in 2006 (and then dropped at the 2010 Dublin marathon). So, I'm familiar with the settings and it's pretty much just awesome. I took the picture this week on the auto setting. With the old camera, this would have been impossible to achieve.

• How far along? 36 weeks and feeling every bit of it.
• Total weight gain: About 23 lbs. I'm going to the doctor every week now. Last week I had no gain, so things are slowing down in that department. 
• Maternity clothes? Yes, although I can still wear some non-maternity tops, yoga pants, pajamas, and dresses. 
• Stretch marks? Just below my belly button and a couple on my each hip. Nothing too major though. 
• Sleep: Not great. I'm sick of waking up so I can flip over. 
• Best moment this week: I hung some pictures up in the nursery and pretty much everything is washed and put away. The only major thing left to do is install the car seat and pack the bag. 
• Miss Anything? Wearing non-maternity clothes.
• Movement: All the time. I've noticed a difference though, just from the end of last week. The movements are there, but not as roly poly. It's definitely running out of room. 
• Food cravings: Still craving cold, orange things. Oh, and not sure if it's considered a craving, but I'm thirsty all the time.
• Food aversions: Nothing really and in fact, some of the earlier things I wasn't interested in eating (like sausage), I'm starting to become interested in again!
• Gender: No idea. 
• Labor Signs: Nothing obvious. I told Wes that today I felt the way I would feel about a week before my period would start. Kind of crampy, but nothing too painful (i.e. if it were my period I could go without taking ibuprofen) or localized. Regardless, it's a sensation I haven't felt in 9 months! He asked what that meant. I said I have no idea, but probably nothing at this point.
• Symptoms: My stupid swollen feet and legs. The other night my legs were crossed down by my ankles and when I uncrossed them there was a huge divot. Wes said it looked like I had a shark bite. Awesome.
• Belly Button in or out? Well, you'll see in the picture that the top of the belly button will occasionally pop out. It's weird. 
• Wedding rings on or off? Off. :-( 
• Looking forward to: Being full term on Friday!

I'm going to the doctor every week now. At my 35 week appointment she said I was a fingertip dilated and 50% effaced. That pretty much equals 0. I think she was trying to make me feel better, but at 35 weeks (and with Wes away for business until that evening), I wasn't interested in delivering the baby anytime soon. If I get the same results at 39 weeks, well, that will be a different story! Last week she didn't check me internally, but all was well.I had a breastfeeding class the other week. It was interesting, but it's not really something you can learn until you're actually doing it. We started our childbirth classes last week. I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest person in there and we're definitely the first ones due in the class. The next closest couple is 10 September. One couple isn't due until the end of October! This week we'll take the tour of the unit, which we're both looking forward to. 
Right-o...it's 9:45, so I'm off to bed. Maybe overnight my nesting instinct will kick in?? The vacuum has been brought down and now I need the motivation to use it. Oh! I just remembered. My shower was a couple of weeks ago! It was a really nice day, hosted by my sister and mom. We got lots of excellent stuff. I didn't have a camera, but my sister took some pictures and once she sends them to me, I'll post them!