36 weeks

ONE MORE MONTH!!! I've had a couple of people tell me in the last couple of days that they were 3 weeks early. That would be IN ONE WEEK for me. I hope that doesn't happen. I'm not ready! Not that I'll ever really be ready, but.... No, he can bake in there a few more weeks.

Although I really am getting to the point where I am about done. For the first time, last Thursday night, I really wanted this pregnancy to be over. I was so tired and itchy and hungry and FULL-feeling (full of baby), getting kicked and pushed on from the inside, my back hurt, it's so hard to climb stairs or even freaking stand up from the couch, and my belly button is crooked and poking out, my knuckles are swollen.... I just felt yucky. I felt the same the next night, and shed a few pathetic tears wondering why God didn't make it so pregnancies only lasted 7.5 months because before that point, I was doing pretty darn well.

When women would tell me, "That last month will go so slow!" I thought "Okay, whatever. That's for people that don't like being pregnant and who are big whiners. I'm going to be fine! I'm still super excited to meet this baby, but I love having him inside my belly, too, and I will enjoy every stage of this pregnancy!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

See how not-centered my belly button is? Caius is so often way on my left side, stretching things out unevenly.

Notice the ugly, old lady, comfy velcro sandals.

The other day, I came home with blue on my white shirt and couldn't figure out why! Matt finally realized it must be from the dry-erase markers on my whiteboard. That's right, I was at the board at school and my belly rubbed off some of the words. It keeps getting bigger, and I don't realize how far I stick out sometimes! (The blue came out of the shirt, by the way.) Of course I feel ginormous, but I really don't think I'm as big as a lot of women who are 4 weeks away from delivery. There are a lot of factors: torso length (how much room the baby has to spread out), carrying high or low, size of baby, size of mama.... My weight and fundal height are fine, though, so we're okay.

At this point, Caius is packing on baby chub at the rate of about an ounce a day! His lungs and brain are continuing to develop, and he's swallowing amniotic fluid to practice sucking and swallowing and get his digestive system warmed up for when he's drinking milk. His movements the last week or two have been more sliding and shifting and rolling than the kicks and punches I was feeling before. He's getting big and running out of room in there! Also, there's less amniotic fluid now, so the cushion between him and where I can feel him is less. A couple of nights ago, I was in the recliner (still no sleeping in bed for me, sigh) getting ready to sleep, when over and over again, I felt little tiny hands reaching above a little head and punching my cervix! OHMYGOSH. That was not a nice feeling.

I've been SO ITCHY all over the last few weeks. My belly and chest, of course, since that skin is stretching and growing, but also my legs, arms, hands, and feet. I put lotion or even oil on multiple times a day. I can even use hydrocortisone cream or something similar, and a couple of times (with my midwife's clearance), I've taken a benadryl. That helps a little, but not enough. This morning at 4:30, I woke up for no other reason than that my belly itched like crazy! I scratched and scratched, trying not to do it too hard, then eventually fell back asleep. Stupid hormones! What a weird side effect.

Another weird thing is that my stomach is now smooshed up under my ribs. It's a strange sensation to feel my tummy gurgling when I'm hungry or when I'm digesting... and it's right underneath my bra band! That is not where stomachs belong! So far this hasn't seemed to make me really uncomfortable and unable to breathe, though. I get out of breath more easily if I walk too fast or even try to talk much while walking, but that's been normal for a variety of reasons almost since I became pregnant. Give it another week, maybe, when I'm feeling tiny little feet shove up under my ribs.

Weekly physical therapy appointments are still helping the back pain. My hips are feeling better! I still have some lower back pain, but very few staggering sciatic nerve pains anymore. The back pain has moved into my middle and upper back, I guess because my belly has gotten bigger and my weight has shifted. I still use the TENS unit and heat or cold as I need it.

My local baby shower was last weekend, and it was lovely! Unfortunately, I got ZERO pictures of it. When I get pics from my mom and the hostess, I'll put them up. This weekend is my hometown baby shower. I'm so excited! It will be nice to see family and see how cute my mom, stepmother-in-law, and sis-in-law have made it. More on that to come!