39 weeks

My last official week of pregnancy before I'm considered over due! Not that I would mind. I'm probably the first woman in history hoping to go a day or two past her due date.

Baby
Is hanging out, fully cooked. The only thing happening now is adding some adorable baby fat.

Me
As evidenced by my above statement, I'm not ready for the baby to make his or her appearance yet. Not because I'm not excited to meet our child or be done with all this extra/awkward weight and the pregnancy symptoms, but because I still have stuff to do. If you know me at all, you know I'm a bit of a procrastinator. Hurriedly finishing my summer homework the week before going back to high school, rushing around vacuuming 10 minutes before guests arrive, buying a card on the way to the wedding ceremony. Yeah, I've done all those things. I like to think I'm better than I was in high school and college- I'm generally more prepared for things and prefer to have things done ahead of time. However, I am currently facing the ultimate deadline and there are a few more things I'd like to squeak out before baby arrives. These mostly include cleaning, organizing and some relaxing. Today is my last day of work and I would be THRILLED to have a few free days next week to get some "optional" things done and just relax without work hanging over my head.

Melanie and I at our weekly Monday night dinner.
She's 17 weeks and wanted to get a picture before I lost the belly
and gained a baby!

Also? I have no idea when this baby will arrive. So please don't ask. I'm looking at you, Meg. If you'd like to speculate, I have some updated information from our midwife appointment yesterday. I decided to be "checked" (innocuous term for an uncomfortable procedure) basically because I was curious as to how my body is preparing to give birth. As I said last week, these numbers really have no bearing whatsoever on when labor may start, as you can be all nice and closed up one morning and that afternoon be in full, active labor. Or conversely, walking around for weeks 4 cm dialated. So, as of yesterday I was about 1 cm dialated, 50% effaced and the baby was at -1 station. If you're not familiar with what this means, in order to push a baby out you have to reach 10 cm (this is what labor does) and be 100% effaced. The station refers to how low in the pelvis the baby is sitting. The image below shows it better than I can ever explain it.

Obviously, the "pluses" are reached as the baby is coming out. Our midwife, Margie was very impressed that the baby was already down at -1 station and she said that was great for me because getting the baby to sink lower into the pelvis is often the hardest part. I also feel a bit vindicated that there has been a reason I've felt so much pressure down there and sometimes feel like I have to carry my belly. Her prediction was that I would make it through the weekend fine but that next week all bets were off. However, she reminded me that if she could tell me when the baby would arrive, she'd be in Vegas making her millions.

Preparing for Baby
Aside from the cleaning, I think we're pretty prepared. The nursery is basically done, besides a couple finishing touches (waiting on pictures to arrive in the mail that I have frames picked out for). I'm hoping to take pictures this weekend and post a little "tour". My hospital bag is about half way packed. I know, this should have been done a little while ago! I say halfway because I'm still using some of the things that we'll be taking with us, though there are a few items that are not in use that have yet to make their way to the suitcase. I'm honestly not sure the status of Charlie's bag. So if you visit us in the hospital and he's wearing one of my shirts, you'll know why. Pais is the only one who's had her "go bag" prepared for a couple weeks. Mostly because we just never unpacked it after she stayed at a friends while we were in PA a couple weeks ago.
Charlie installed the car seat on Sunday. Man, that's surreal- driving around with that behind me. We have decided on two boy and two girl names that we'll choose between when the baby arrives. I feel relieved that our child will not be nameless. Another "optional" to-do this weekend is cooking some more meals to freeze. I have a couple in the freezer but would like to add more. We also went and bought a boy and a girl "coming home" outfit. Since most of the clothes we have are gender neutral we wanted something distantly girl or boy to bring baby home in.

Last night we went out for a fancy date to a restaurant I've been wanting to go to for a few years. It's on an organic farm and their whole menu is seasonally based. The food was fantastic and the staff was so nice. They brought out the "Congratulations" plate pictured below after dessert and sent us home with some blueberry bread. I would love to go back again sometime!

Week 39
Days till my due date: 6
Crazy dreams: last night I dreamed that I could see the entire outline of the baby protruding from my belly. And I was most freaked out because the head was up, not down.
Exercise: Ha! I've slowed way down. Exercise has basically consists of mini walks and swimming. (Hello 100 degree heatwave this weekend!)
Excited about: Finding out if baby is a boy or girl. This is the part where all the waiting pays off!