37 Weeks

Full term! Wah-hoo! We are all registered at the Birthing Inn. And... here is the most exciting part: I am now on leave! Yay! So far the best part of leave is being able to take naps in the middle of the day. It is a glorious thing, I am telling you. My last day was Thursday and we had a little going away party in my class. My students decided it was my 4th baby shower and they were very excited since they got to go to this one. They didn't think it was quite fair that they were not allowed to attend the work baby shower. It was a very nice way to end our time together.

Actually, since it it Memorial day weekend my leave has not yet officially started, since school is out anyway. But, tomorrow, the kids will all go back to school and I will stay at home. Well, I actually will need to go in after school to drop off a few things for the sub, but you know, whatever. Also, in exciting maternity leave news- I have been approved to take a full year leave of absence. So I will be a SAHM for the next school year. Even though I am now on leave, I am not quite done with work. I still have to complete the end of year report cards. Judah and I have a deal- he is not going to arrive until after I have finished report cards. Good deal, right? I should really get on that report card thing then, because he could come at any time...

That being said, I still have yet to experience any Braxton-Hicks contractions. I have had lots of dreams about having contractions, my water breaking, and general going into labor stuff... Every now and then I think maybe I am having a contraction, but then I realize it is just Judah changing position (so there is pressure in just one area not across my whole uterus) or it is just that I have to poop (because contractions are said to kinda feel like period cramps, so you know...).

We had our 36 week ultrasound the other week to check size and position. Everything looks good. He is right where he should be. He looked to be about 6 lbs, and they said to anticipate an 8lb baby at birth. Of course, ultrasounds are not super accurate on weight, so give or take a pound. He continues to be very responsive to getting poked and prodded, which is a good thing. Being able to raise and lower his heartbeat shows that he should be able to handle the stress of being born well. Way to go, little buddy.

Here are some photos from the ultrasound. I actually found it harder to tell what everything was this time around than at week 20. He is just so much bigger that you only get bits and pieces on the screen at one time as opposed to the whole shebang. We couldn't get any super clear shots of his face because he had the umbilical cord right in front of his nose and his face was pressed right into my hip bones. Oh well, soon enough we will see his face clear enough :)

He has gotten so big at this point that when he moves it kinda hurts (especially up in my ribs). It is like someone slowly punching me on the inside. There is just no more room for the little guy. His head is also pressed into my pelvic bones constantly, so there is always a dull pressure down there. I have also had crazy heart burn these last few days. I have had it quite a bit throughout the pregnancy, but these last couple days have been insane. It used to be just after eating I would feel heartburn, but now it just comes on whenever it damn well pleases. So much acid. Blech.

We continue to work on the nursery. It is still a mess with baby stuff everywhere. We are making little dents in the piles each day, but there is just So Much Stuff. It is crazy times how many material goods this baby has.