Ack! Less than a month to go!

Today is officially 36 weeks.  Baby Girl is due less than a month from now.  I can't even believe it.

This week was apparently a week of showers for me and Baby Girl.  I was included in one a couple months ago before my first pregnant co-worker went on leave.  I really shouldn't have been included in that one, but it was very sweet, and it involved my closest work friends.  And of course there was last Saturday's "surprise" shower.  And then this past Wednesday, my full office included me in a shower for me and my third pregnant co-worker.

First, some pictures from the excitement last Saturday:

The balloons that were delivered Saturday morning.  I had to like the pink ones so that Jayden could like the purple ones.  There are a lot of rules to follow when you live with a three year old.

Jayden picked this shirt all on his own, and it was very appropriate considering what my sister must have gone through to organize such a ridiculous outpouring of love from my friends and family.  

The beautiful pink and purple flowers that are still blooming.  From now on I am always ordering from Proflowers.  This is no way an advertisement for them, but these flowers were shipped completely closed and have slowly opened into this amazing bouquet over the past week.  They couldn't have timed it any better; I am very impressed.

The assortment of hand-painted/hand-drawn onesies from friends and family.  I love them!  They are an assortment of sizes, from 0-3 months up to 6-9 months.  Jayden drew one too, but I keep forgetting to iron it (ha - as if I could find my iron if I tried in our mess of a house) or run it in the dryer.  I will.
Also, I have no idea how these all look so good.  I tried drawing something on the onesie and it was impossible.  So I clearly have some talented friends and family.  

And finally, three pictures from this week:

Me and Baby Girl last Sunday (May 17), at 35 weeks and 2 days.  Even my maternity shirts are starting to pull a little.  :)  

On Tuesday I went to a meeting with Lili (my friend/co-worker who is due a month after me) and we were literally wearing the exact same outfit - blue wrap dresses, black tank tops underneath and similar necklaces.  So Wednesday morning, the day of our shower, she sent me this photo.
The photo on the right is clearly what we will look like in a couple months, once we pop these babies out.  (apparently that photo is actually of the Kardashians and Lili just happened to find it Tuesday evening and think of us since I look about a head taller than her in our photo on the left). 

The beautiful and surprisingly tasty cake for our baby shower on Wednesday.  It was a dulce de leche cake, but it was basically caramel cake and it was wonderful.
Wednesday afternoon/evening I felt terrible pretty much the whole time from eating all the food I ate at the baby shower.

The work baby shower was funny; it involved a white elephant gift exchange, with just me and Lili as the recipients.  It was very awkward.  But we later learned the whole point was so that people would only have to buy one present.  So I immediately took back everything I had said negative about it and thought it was a great idea.  I was already trying to avoid showers, and this was my third one (and second at work!), so I didn't want people feeling obligated to buy presents since I had already said I didn't need anything.  But everyone was very sweet.  And I am definitely appreciative of all the love being showered on Baby Girl, and me of course.

So.  Back to 36 weeks.  Baby Girl is about 6 pounds, and is the size of a head of romaine lettuce. She is somewhere between 18-1/2 and 20-1/2 inches long, most likely.  She is mostly just gaining weight to get to her full birth weight of (hopefully) between 7-1/2 and 8 pounds.

Baby Girl is shedding the downy hair that covered her, as well as the waxy substance that protected her skin during her almost 9 month bath in amniotic fluid (no wonder babies are so wrinkly!).  She swallows these substances in the womb, which turns into meconium, which is her first bowel movement (and scares pretty much all first time parents out of their minds!).

She should be head-down at this point, but my doctor hasn't started checking yet.  On Tuesday I get my strep B test and then begin my weekly doctor visits.  She is definitely taking up a large amount of space in my belly.  It is very difficult for me to bend over, to get up from sitting on the couch, etc.  I don't think she's "dropped" yet - but apparently because this is my second child she likely won't drop until I go into labor.  I definitely should be careful about eating full-size meals.  I've actually started giving myself almost the same portions as Jayden (maybe just a little more) for dinner, and that's about right, sadly.  It's mostly sad because sometimes at lunch I get so hungry that I eat too much and then regret it for the next four or five hours and end up feeling kind of nauseous around dinner time.

She is still moving regularly, although her movements are much different than before.  I described them to my doctor as "thunderous," which made my doctor laugh.  What I mean is that they are just so much more intense and strong than they used to be.  One night this week Carmen and I were sitting on the couch and I felt a movement, looked down and saw what looked like a giant tumor sticking out one side of my stomach.  For anyone who hasn't been pregnant, it seriously feels like there's an alien in your stomach.

I've also felt some contractions, which I don't remember feeling with Jayden - but that may have been more about me not knowing what was going on, rather than them not happening.  Not frequently (thank goodness), but every once in a while I feel a general tightening across my stomach that lasts for a little bit and then goes away.  It's pretty crazy.  I am not looking forward to having to time these things, especially with the way my work schedule is.

I'll try to update more regularly as we get closer, especially since "full term" is 37 weeks (aka next Friday!), according to my doctor!