Sunday, April 3, 2011

37 Weeks + 3 days

We have officially hit the "Full Term" marker - baby can safely be born any time now with little likelihood of long term health issues! It's a relief to have made it to this point, and also to know that one way or another she will be here in a matter of weeks!

What's going on with me this week?  Previous post pretty much sums it up: discomfort.  My belly is stretched to the max, and my skin is not happy about it.  Stretch marks alone have given way to stretch marks underneath a layer of hives off and on throughout the day/night.  I went to the Natural View Market in Brighton today to look for some homeopathic remedies to try, and got some calendula gel to put on which seems to help at least temporarily relieve the itchies.  So far the hives are isolated pretty much to within the stretch marks themselves, which is odd, but at least they haven't spread to other parts of my skin (*fingers crossed!).  Baby is still growing every day, but I'm not so much uncomfortable from her size alone unless she decides to stretch her legs all the way out! I think she's dropped some, because it's a tad easier to breathe now than it had been - hooray for that!  Otherwise, I don't really have any changes or intuition that she's planning to make her debut in the next few days.  I think she's comfy in there for another few weeks.  I'm thinking it may be sometime within the week up to her due date, perhaps around the 16th-17th if I had to venture a guess.  Of course, those dates will probably pass without a hint of change, and she'll be a 42 weeker, but I don't wanna talk about it right now :)

Here's the belly this week:

I have a major to-do list to tackle, but somehow the urgency hasn't set in yet and there's really still a lot to get done around here! Most importantly, we haven't started packing a hospital bag yet.  I know when labor starts we'll likely have plenty of time to gather things up if it isn't done, but it would definitely make Matt feel better to have that at least started!  That's my goal for tomorrow :) Perhaps if I make the list public I'll be more likely to cross things off (I like to include some things I've already accomplished, too, just to feel better):

- Pack hospital bag
- Write out birth plan somewhere other than in my journal (although if that doesn't happen, I can always bring the journal, I guess)
- Clean living room and put away laundry that has been sitting in baskets for weeks
- Finish re-arranging our bedroom so that I can actually get in and out of bed with the co-sleeper on my side (that's made midnight bathroom trips interesting lately!)
- Vacuum pet hair tumbleweeds from all corners of the house...repeat
- Attach safety straps for co-sleeper under our mattress so that it can be safely used when we bring her home
- Call pediatrician's office to make sure they are accepting new patients - they are :) 
- Install car seat base and put seat in car - better to have it sit there than on the living room floor, right?
- Hang last few decorative items on nursery walls
- Cook/prepare meals that can be frozen for the first few weeks at home
- Finish sewing binding on blanket I started
- Find out we need to replace all 4 tires on the car unexpectedly after having a flat on Friday
- Finish our childbirth education class  
- Wrap up at work this week - last day is Friday April 8!

I know there's more, but that's what comes to mind at the moment.  Baby prep is pretty much done though - diapers are washed and ready for when our disposable stash runs out, clothes are washed and ready for her cute little self to fill, items like the swing and bouncer are assembled. The room is essentially complete, save for a few things to go up on the walls.  See?
Wall collage - not sure if I posted this already on here

Crib skirt done, fabric bunting done (don't worry, it won't stay hanging on her crib as a strangulation hazard - it will be hung on the wall before she sleeps there!)

View from the doorway (changing table no longer has random boxes and tools sitting on it either)

DIY Crib skirt, bunting off crib


Fabric bunting hung on the wall 


Anyway, things are pretty much a go over here - so baby girl can get her groove on any time she feels like it! I'm ready to meet her, I know that much! 


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