Pregnancy Update: 37 weeks

How far along: 37 weeks and 3 days (2 weeks and 4 days until my due date - CRAZY talk!!!)

Development: According to The Bump, baby is the size of a winter melon. He weighs somewhere between 6 and 9 pounds and is inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping, and blinking.

Symptoms: ugh, here goes - my pubic bone feels like it's on fire, my hips are sore, my back aches, my boobs hurt, my ankles/feet/hands are swollen, I can't sleep most nights so I feel exhausted a lot of the time, and I'm emotional.  I really don't like to complain and I feel so happy and lucky to be pregnant, but it is what it is.  Some days are okay and some days are not very pleasant.  

Maternity clothes: I am pretty much rotating through the same outfits at this point.  I try to switch things up with different cardigans/accessories when possible.

Stretch marks: Well those little purple lines have turned into big purple lines and there are quite a few more now.  I'm over it at this point.  Small price to pay.

Sleep: Not great.  My midwife gave me a couple of things that help (magnesium citrate is one of them).  I've been averaging a couple nights of pretty good sleep, a few nights of mediocre sleep, and a couple of nights of terrible sleep per week. The days when I don't sleep well and then have to work all day are rough.  

Best moment of this week: Finally feeling ready in terms of having everything we need, washing all of the clothes and putting them away, prepping the diapers, etc.  After our shower, Ben and I both realized we didn't have much time left and we had a couple of weekends of what felt like frantic prep time.  We made of list of things we still needed and one day I came home from work to find that Ben had spent the entire day tracking down items from craigslist and consignment shops.   He had everything washed, set up, and ready to go!  I think we are both nesting a bit at this point.  I love seeing how excited he is:)

Miss anything: sleep, being able to roll over in bed, and being able to wear fancy shoes.

Movement:  He moves quite a bit.  The movements have gotten less intense in the past week or two (I think he's running out of room!), but are still pretty frequent.  He gets the hiccups at least once a day.  He is still head down and likes to push up so that his butt pushes into my ribs.

Food cravings: Orange juice, hot chocolate, and cinnamon rolls.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really.

Have you started to show yet:  Um, YES:)

Gender: Boy!!

Labor signs: Not yet.  My midwife had me start taking evening primrose oil about a week ago.  I can tell things are shifting a little bit because my hips are so sore.

Belly button in or out: Still in, but barely.  

Wedding rings on or off: On for now.

Happy or moody most of the time:  Mostly good, happy, and excited.  I am definitely more emotional some days though (especially when I don't get enough sleep).  I've had a few crying-for-no-reason episodes, which feels really strange.

Looking forward to: Experiencing labor and finally holding my baby boy!

I had to have another ultrasound at 32 weeks to check on my 'low-lying placenta'.  We discovered that my placenta was low-lying after I had some spotting in the first trimester.  I was told that 98% of the time the placenta moves up and out of the way as the uterus grows.  I was so hoping that this would be the case, but I guess I'm part of the lucky 2%.  My midwife is not too concerned at this point as it's just slightly low-lying (it's 1.5cm away from my cervix), but it is something we have to be aware of and monitor.

35 weeks

36 weeks
please excuse the work bathroom shot:)