36 Weeks

How far along? 36 weeks and 2 days.
Total Weight Gain: Well, I don’t know what happened this week, and I’m seriously hoping that our scale has suddenly become defective because my weight is up 3.4 pounds since last week!  That makes my total weight gain a whopping 37.6 pounds now.  Yikes!  I really want to stay under 40 total pounds!  I’m not really sure what happened this past week since I didn’t even feel like I ate that much…
Maternity clothes? Yes of course.  I’ve also been stocking up on a few essential nursing tank tops and bras for when baby comes.  And I started packing my hospital bag too!
Stretch marks? Onto jar number 7 of the Palmer’s cocoa butter, and my belly is still smooth and stretch mark free!
Sleep: I still don’t have really restful sleep, and I get up at least three times a night to pee, but some nights are better than others.  This week has been pretty good, though I feel a bit tired during the day no matter how much sleep I get.  It’s very dark and dreary here today, and I would love to take a nice nap!
Best moment this week: This past week was pretty good.  Work was extremely busy, but my boss was out of town the whole week.  It was my father-in-law’s birthday this past weekend, and we went to Magnolia Pancake Haus here in town for Sunday breakfast and I had my favorite apple cinnamon pancakes with some extra crispy thick-cut bacon – yummy!  We also received a few more wonderful gifts in the mail from family and friends, and are so thankful for everyone’s kindness and thoughtfulness.  We had fun this week putting together and organizing all of our new stuff for baby!  The other day I was thinking that one of the main “essentials” we were seriously lacking was burp cloths, and sure enough, we got a package in the mail from my Mom yesterday and she sent us at least 15 handmade, colorful, perfect burp cloths!  See picture below.

So another one of my favorite things the past few weeks has been catching Justin reading the “What to Expect the First Year” book – I love that he wants to learn more about newborn care and is prepping for baby in his own way.  He’s going to be one great daddy for sure.
Miss anything? Yes, I miss being able to get out of bed without enormous effort, or being able to hoist myself out of a reclining position without a helping hand!  J
I still miss snow, and find myself feeling a little jealous when I hear about all this crazy winter weather across the country.  My mom even sent me pictures of it snowing in Nashville last week!
Movement: She still moves a lot, and it feels like she loves to head bang my bladder sometimes!  Her movements and twists and turns still stretch out my belly in crazy ways, and she loves to stick what I think is a little foot out on my left side – I love to try and touch it and figure out if it really is a foot or what!  It’s like she’s playing with me already…such a sweet baby.  I can’t wait to meet her and kiss those little feet!
Food Cravings: Again, nothing in particular.  Some food tastes better than others, but no specific cravings.  Though I have been pretty thirsty and really enjoy anything cold and icy.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I sound like a broken record, but it’s still the same culprits – fatty meat, Chinese food, and Indian food.
Labor signs: Not yet!
Symptoms: Heartburn with occasional acid reflux (though nothing that keeps me up at night, as I hear it does to some women), a constant need to pee both day and night (and a feeling like my bladder is being squished or even pinched sometimes), some mild pelvic pressure, mild body and belly soreness, and some serious upset stomach for the past 5 or 6 days.  I’m not sure what is going on with that last symptom, but it’s quite uncomfortable, and I’m hoping it doesn’t last all the way until baby comes since that would be pretty miserable! 
I was thinking the other day – there are a few very common pregnancy symptoms that I have never experienced (or at least not yet).  For example, I had some nausea in my first trimester but it was never that terrible and I never vomited.  Also, my baby has never kicked me in or under the ribs (which you read in nearly every pregnancy book) – it’s almost like she dropped into the head-down position so early that she skipped that whole stage.  She kicks and nudges me constantly a couple inches below my rib cage, and in the center of my belly, but not up high.  Also, I’ve never found it difficult to breathe during my pregnancy.  Yes, I get out of breath much quicker than I normally would, but I have never felt like baby was crowding my lung space.
Belly button in or out? It’s out, but not like an extra appendage or anything – it’s just mildly raised in the center.   
Wedding rings on or off? Somehow they are still on! 
Mood: Sleepy and a little worn out, but so happy that we get closer and closer every day to meeting our baby girl!  I’m starting to get a little nervous and anxious, but very excited too.   
Looking forward to: Starting my maternity leave in less than three weeks!  At this point, I am really ready.  I’m getting a little uncomfortable, and sitting at a desk all day doesn’t help.  I’ve very tired when I wake up, and feel worn out about halfway through the week.  My last day is scheduled to be February 28th, but I may make my last day the Tuesday of that week instead (so two weeks from today!).  I’m really starting to look forward to meeting this baby of ours!  I can’t wait to see her and hold her and kiss her!  I keep wondering when her actual birth date will be…will she be early or late or right on time?  I’m hoping for just a couple days early, but Justin’s last guess was March 14^th!  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  We’ll be ready whenever she is!
Hospital Pre-Registration: We went to our appointment at the hospital today to complete our pre-registration process.  Luckily, they let you do this in advance so you don’t have to worry about filling out forms and reciting insurance information when you’re having contractions!  It was a little intimidating though because it was the first time we had been into the hospital itself (our midwives’ office is in the medical building next door), and we did the pre-registration on the 2^nd floor in Labor & Delivery – it’s so crazy to think that we’ll be back soon to actually have this baby!


Our Baby Registries:

The Land of Nod Registry:
http://www.landofnod.com/Gift-Registry/Madeline-Roberson-and-Justin-Roberson/r5051392

Amazon Registry:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/1UOV7HODFV99I/ref=cm_sw_em_r_brl_ms9Jsb13MSNFN_wb