37 WEEKS!

A lot of changes are happening in my body this week. It feels like we're gearing up for the big day! My breasts have become sore and full again so hopefully they work. It's still a mystery to me that I can nourish my baby fully. My hips and back have been in a lot more pain and it feels like they are spreading. I think she's probably dropped further because I feel a lot of punching really low in my cervix. My center of balance has changed completely and I feel like a teeter totter. My swelling has increased somehow. I honestly didn't think that was possible. My belly has grown a lot this week and my shirts are barely covering it. I developed a new stretch mark and surprisingly it's on my squishy love handles and not the super stretched belly skin. Go figure.

Sunday I got up and started sorting through all of the gifts and arranging things. We have so many clothes so I had to sort them by size and make a pile of duplicates to exchanged. Later Steven, Dad and I went over to my sister's house to help clean up after the mess we made at the baby shower. We all ended up going out to dinner at Paul's Place and then met Steven's Dad at Cerritos park so they could play with their RC boats. Charlotte had fun driving the little boat and playing with sticks in the gross pond water. Dad got to test out his newly upgraded boat and they flipped Steve's boat so many times that the rescue craft gave out. All in all it was a lovely day.

On Monday my Momma left for Thermal, CA (Palm Springs area) for a job interview at a public high school. They hired her on the spot and wanted her to start the next day! Such a surprise and a big change, but how can you turn down a decent job offer no matter the commute? She's staying with my grandparents who live out there until she can find a room to rent. We met up with Michelle and went to Babies R Us to make some exchanges and get the rest of the items that we need. I'm so glad she was there to remind me of what I do and don't need since my brain feels like a mushy mess these days. She also bought us a mattress while we were there, as if she hasn't done enough already. I love my family! She came over later to visit with Momma before she left for the week and we went through Mom's closet and planned some outfits for her. Hopefully we made things easier and helped her feel comfortable making a good impression.

Tuesday we headed to UCI for our usual NST and everything looked good with me and the baby. Steven headed to his Dad's house afterward to fly their airplanes. I think the ended up doing more tinkering than flying as generally happens. LoL I spent the rest of the day napping, resting, sewing, and doing baby laundry.

Wednesday and Thursday were lazy days with nothing in particular going on. We ran a few errands and I worked a bit more on organizing things.

Friday morning we had a Dr. appointment at the clinic. I finally hit the 200 lb mark I've been dancing around for a while now. So that puts me up 3 lbs from last week. She said I was measuring 34 weeks and that the baby's heart rate was good. She's still head down and cervix is still closed. I've told her the last few visits that I haven't been feeling well with headaches and nausea and since my sugars have been really good she had me do a blood test to see if I'm anemic. I'm already on iron supplements so I'm guessing that maybe I need more? After we finished at the clinic we had to run over to UCI for another NST and ultrasound. The nurse said that I had a happy baby and everything on the monitor looked perfect straight out of a textbook. She measured my fluid and said everything was fine there too. We didn't get to see the baby this time though because they seemed a little short staffed and the nurse was in a hurry. I came home and took a nap after all that running around because I felt nauseous again. Steven went out racing his RC truck and I stayed home and failed miserably at being productive. Momma got home late and we talked about her new position. I think she's going to be pretty happy there. :)

Saturday Michelle and Charlotte stopped by to visit with Mom but she was out with my Auntie all day. So we went back to Michelle's house and ate at the chicken place and dropped by JoAnne's to get a few items I needed. Gotta love those 50% off coupons! We stayed at their house pretty late playing Mario on the Wii. Auntie Anne dropped of the crib that she and Mom bought for us. Steven got a wild hair to put it together at midnight so Dare helped him build it. It's so beautiful and matches the changing table. Thank you!!



I received a few birthday cards this week. :) Diane also sent some sweet bracelets that she made for the baby. So cute!



Here is my 38 week picture. I hope I don't grow much more, although everyone (even strangers) say that I'm small for 9 months. I'm not sure how many of these weekly pictures I have left!