38 weeks! How much longer?!?

Today is officially 38 weeks.  If this is like Jayden, this could be the last pregnancy update!  But I have a feeling (and a hope...) that I'll make it longer this time.  I have one more week (5 more days) of work.  And two more weeks until the official due date.  If I had my choice, I'd pick delivering at 39 weeks and four days.  But we'll see; my experience is I don't actually get much of a choice here!

I went in for my ultrasound today, and all the physical measurements are fine, thank goodness.  My fluid level is low though - not terribly low, but low enough that I got doctor's orders.  :)  It was described as "on the low end of normal."  So the treatment is to hydrate and to "take it easy."  The ultrasound tech mentioned the word "bedrest," which really isn't going to happen.  But I will do my best to sit down more this weekend, and definitely to drink more water.

The side benefit of this "worry" is that we got to see the baby.  Turns out an ultrasound at 38 weeks is pretty unsatisfying.  The baby is so big, it's hard to see much of the kid's shape.  And of course, baby girl refused to turn her face or move her hand away from her face.  So we couldn't even see her cute face.  But if you look closely below, you can see the baby's face, with her fist right above her nose.

Jayden and Carmen came with me so that Jayden could see the baby.  One of the things he said was "it's hard to see Mommy."

The week has been a little rough - partly from anxiety, and partly from just exhaustion.  It's 8:30 pm now, and it's kind of a miracle I'm still awake.  I'm one of those people who really can only sleep in a bed - it's pretty rare for me sleep well on an airplane or on the couch or wherever (unlike my husband who can literally pass out snoring any place he pleases).  But Tuesday night, by 9:15 pm, I was passed out on the couch.  I woke up a few minutes later, dragged myself upstairs, and passed back out pretty quickly.  Tuesday I even texted my mom to make sure she had her bag packed, because I was convinced the baby was coming any minute.  Which is why I'm hoping for 39 weeks and a few days - I want maybe one or two days at home after I quit work.  But that's what I wanted last time too, and Jayden had different ideas.  So who knows.

Today, June 5, 2015.  38 weeks officially.
I feel like my belly has popped out even more.  I'm definitely more uncomfortable.  And there is no sitting up; it's all about rolling over and propping myself up.  Oof.

According to my websites, the baby is somewhere around 7 pounds.  I said that at the ultrasound today, and the ultrasound tech was like "that's about right - give or take a pound!"  Which is so not helpful.  :)  She is probably 20-21 inches long - apparently the average newborn is about 21-1/2 inches long, so she's somewhere around there.

She is fully developed, but still adding connections between neurons in the brain.  Her nails are growing and now reach the ends of her fingers and toes.  She also has a firm grasp, which you can sort of tell from the ultrasound - making a fist.  Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Her movements are quite restricted, which I can tell.  I've had a few moments where I've felt feet on the sides of my belly - some rather painful.  They're not really "kicks," but more like pushes or pressure.  I also feel her rear moving back and forth across the top of my belly, which can be quite uncomfortable too.

One of my apps says "...the next couple of weeks are a waiting game.  Use this time to prepare your baby's nursery or to take care of necessary tasks you may not get around to for a while after your baby's born.  Take naps, catch up on your reading, and spend uninterrupted time with your partner while you can."  I read this aloud to Carmen, and, pardon my french, said "what the f*** are they talking about?!???""  That sounds lovely, and also completely unrealistic.  This is clearly meant for moms who are not working, moms who do not have other children and just generally people who don't have other worries.

Jayden went in for a haircut on Thursday.  We knew it had been a long time, but as usual, we didn't realize just how long it had been.

As Carmen always says when they go in for a haircut, "holy hair!"
The barber picked it out, and just kept going and going and going...  Jayden was apparently very brave, because his hair was rather tangled.  I need to comb/pick it more regularly, so we'll work on that.

The "after" shot.  So handsome.  

Jayden is nothing if not creative.  Tonight, as I was putting him to bed, the following problems arose:

• his legs hurt, and the food didn't help (I don't know what that means either, so I rubbed his legs for a minute and then tried to put him back to bed)
• his arm got "stuck" (which means he reached down between his bed and the wall - he could have pulled his arm back up but just didn't)
• he had a booger in his nose, he had a bad dream and his legs were telling him it was time to be awake

Jayden often has reasons why his stomach or his legs are telling him certain things.  Sometimes his stomach tells him things, sometimes his legs tell him things, it's awesome.  And there's really no arguing with it, so you just figure out how to deal with it.

One last item:
I decided, after much deliberation, to get pregnancy photos taken.  Honestly, what convinced me is how adorable Jayden has been with his baby sister, with his constant kissing of my belly.  And I decided I would like to have that documented, more than just on a cell phone picture.  So I took the plunge and scheduled a photo shoot with Ana, the same woman who takes our family photos.  Because I'm generally useless, I also decided to schedule someone to do my hair and makeup.  I am not a person that loves being pregnant, or that feels beautiful while pregnant.  So I decided this was something nice I was going to do for myself - to make myself feel beautiful, even if only for a few hours.  So we did that last night.  It actually turned out to be a lot of fun, and I did feel beautiful.  Ana made a comment "you look like a model - you don't even look like yourself!"  And then she realized what she said and just started cracking up.  That's about how the photo shoot went - just lots of laughs and hilarity.  The hair/makeup lady was awesome too; my hair just doesn't hold curl to save my life.

I don't have any of the real pictures yet - it usually takes Ana a few days to post her sneak previews - but I do have a picture of my makeup and one Carmen took from behind the scenes:

I initially didn't want my belly out for everyone to see, but it turned out to not be so bad.  And we made for a nice spectacle for all the runners and bikers on the path!
This is towards the beginning of the shoot and already the curls have faded from my hair.  So sad.  

A close up, after the shoot, of my makeup.

This morning, while we were on our walk, Jayden turns around looks at me and says "Mama, you don't look so pretty anymore."  Apparently I had talked up just how pretty I felt the night before a little too much!  Carmen tried to defend me and tell Jayden that wasn't nice - but I understood what Jayden meant.  I never wear that much makeup, and I have been wearing even less recently, so last night was a big change.  

And, as Jayden said this morning "Mommy, today is the last day!"  Which means today is the last day of the week and now it's the weekend.  Wooo hooooo!  We have no plans, and soccer is even cancelled on Sunday, so we get to relax (hopefully) and see even more progress on our house.  I'll put up some pictures of the progress on the house shortly.  A quick summary: the downstairs is completely drywalled, and the tile has been installed in the bathroom and the laundry room.  The walls have been painted.  They've covered most of the outside of the house, and are planning to drywall upstairs tomorrow.  It's pretty amazing, and will be even more amazing tomorrow when the whole upstairs has drywall.  I almost can't imagine.  But soon I won't have to imagine, which is even better!

I'll try to post a little more frequently over the next week or two - just in case!

A quick pregnancy update

...with a few pictures because why not?!?

Joy on the slide.

Jayden had been asking to go to the park all weekend.  When he woke up from his nap on Sunday he said "Mommy, my feet feel weird."  I said "huh, that's interesting, what feels weird about them?" (And I was really thinking something was going on, because he'd been running almost the entire morning and then went to soccer).  But then he said "yeah, my feet feel funny because they really really want to go to the park."  And so he won.  Because how can you argue with a three year old's feet?!?

Jayden training Daddy.

More training.

And some more training.  Until Carmen tapped out and I had to pretend to "run" down the hill.  

Some updates for the baby:
1. She is NOT breech.  Yay!  Not only did my doctor do the official "feel" test and decided the squishy part is at the top and the hard head is at the bottom of my stomach, but she checked to see whether or not I was dilated and actually felt the kid's head.  Kind of creepy, but also kind of awesome.  Now I can go back to enjoying the odd butt bumps to my upper left and kicks to my middle right side, knowing they are all coming from the right direction.

2. As previously mentioned, the doctor did check if I was dilated.  And I am - but not a lot.  "One and a wiggle," according to my doctor.  So I'm dilated a little more than 1 cm, but not quite 2.  Which is about normal, and I could stay that way for a week or more, so no need for everyone to start buying plane tickets yet.

3. Finally, I managed to LOSE four pounds this week.  It's really odd, for me and for 37-week pregnant ladies generally.  I thought I weighed in a little heavy at the doctor last week, but I'd even randomly weighed myself this morning and noticed I was down about four pounds.  My doctor asked if I'd been throwing up or if something had happened.  I explained I'd felt nauseous for a lot of the week and had maybe eaten less in the evenings, but it shouldn't have been enough to lose four pounds - particularly since the baby should be continuing to grow.  She's not worried - yet - but she is making me get an ultrasound this week to test the weight and size of the baby.  She doesn't think I'm carrying an eight pound baby - she thinks baby girl will be smaller than Jayden.  Which is generally okay with me, so long as she's healthy!  She asked me how I "felt," and I agreed I felt like this baby was smaller than Jayden - and for once she told me a mother's intuition is usually  right in these circumstances.  So we'll see.  It'll be interesting to see the baby one more time before delivery, but it also, as usual, tends to stress me out.  I'll be counting the minutes until the ultrasound (which is Friday at 2:30 pm).

I did get a treat today too: Stacy was in SoCal for the weekend and I took the day off of work for the doctor/errands, but mostly for Stacy. So we picked Jayden up from daycare early and spent the afternoon playing in the backyard and then ordered (some pretty awesome) pizza for dinner.  She left at Jayden's bedtime, and now I'm going to finish up some work and go pass out, hopefully.  It was actually kind of a busy day, but it was lovely.  Mostly productive, a little relaxing, and awesome to get to see Stacy!

Pajama Jam and Three Pairs of Shorts

I always forget what I've posted before, so if I tend to repeat myself, especially now, please forgive me.  I am incredibly scattered.  I drove from my office to our main office with a co-worker the other day, which is about a 4-1/2 minute drive.  During that time I told her the same story twice, and didn't realize it until I was partway through the story the second time.  She was nice enough not to say anything, except for to be sympathetic when I realized what I was doing.  Home and baby is stressful, but honestly the worst of it is work.  There is so much transition, so much drama, and so much anticipation surrounding my near departure (8-1/2 more work days to go since I'm taking 1-1/2 days of vacation this week!).

This week was the NFL rookie premiere in Los Angeles for Carmen, and Julia is out of town, so I've been doing drop off and pick-up at Dorkis' house, and on one night, dinner and bedtime, by myself.  It's generally okay, because (as I've said a million times and I'll say it a million more) we just have the best kid ever.  Even when he's a whiny snotty mess, he's not really that bad.

Here are some highlights from the week:

Jayden dipping his TACO in BARBECUE sauce.  I. Can't. Even.

                                                    

 

Pajama day at Dorkis' house.  Al the kids had their pajamas on, for naptime they all slept in a pile in the playroom, it was very cute.  And Jayden was so excited about it.

Pretty much my favorite giggle ever.  Much to my mom's chagrin, probably, I taught Jayden about slurping his milk.  He actually started it, but didn't know what that "weird noise" was.  So I explained and then we kept doing it.  And since I got this wonderful giggle, I wasn't going to stop...

And he found his comb this week and has combed his hair a few nights.  It's awesome, because his hair is rather long right now, so combing it really amplifies the 'fro.

You can kind of see my really pregnant belly in this video.  I kept trying to stay out of the picture, but it was tough.

Wearing three pairs of shorts, because, well, why not?  I had no good reason to say "no," and this was a battle not worth fighting.  So we put on three pairs of shorts this morning.  We took three pairs off at swim class.  We put three pairs back on after swim class.  We took three pairs off for bedtime (after some pretty amazing dancing - see below).  And probably all three need to be washed, considering it was a rather warm day today and Jayden doesn't exactly sit still.

And the dancing:

It's not quite the "my adidas" dance, but it's pretty close to it.  And this has some extra moves thrown in, so it's actually even better.  I will forever encourage this kid to dance - it's so awesome.

We had an amazing "you know you have a three year old when" moment today.  First, I rarely get to go to the bathroom by myself.  No matter how short of a time I'm in there, Jayden usually figures it out in time to come join me.  This morning was no exception.  But while he was in there chatting with me, he figured out how to lock the door to the bathroom.  I didn't pay much attention to it, but then, as we were leaving, he closed the door.  Without unlocking it.  So the door in his bathroom, to his toilet and his bathtub, was locked shut from the inside.  And we were on the outside.  Thank goodness he didn't lock himself in there alone - that would have been a whole lot worse - but still.  We only have two working bathrooms as it is.  And he likely would refuse to bathe in our bathtub.  Carmen and I tried picking the lock with a bobby pin and a hanger, Carmen tried to pry the doorknob off - nothing worked.  And somehow there were no screws holding the doorknob on, so we couldn't even easily take the doorknob off.  Finally, I pulled out this eyeglasses screwdriver my mom gave me years ago (one of the best gifts ever, by the way, Mom - I can't tell you how many times that thing has come in handy) and started prying the little hole where the lock was and turning it until it clicked - and voila!  I did it!  I was so proud of myself.  But we will shortly be removing all doorknobs that can lock, because, well, yeah.  The idea of that happening with a kid inside the room is just not okay.

Jayden is still excited about his baby sister.  And he knows it's just about June, and that's when his baby sister comes, so he keeps asking me "when."  I keep telling him we *hope* we have at least two more weeks - more to get the construction on the house further along than anything - but that we really don't know.  Clearly that is not a satisfactory answer for a three year old.  Today the guys at our house worked a really long day, especially for a Saturday and drywalled the entire downstairs.  The bathroom and the bedroom should be pretty much ready for occupation (except for substitute carpet on the bedroom floor since we're going to do all the carpet at once) before the end of this week.  Our contractor is being sensitive to the impending due date and wanted to make sure we had at least one extra bedroom, maybe even two, that we could use for family who come to visit for the birth or shortly thereafter.  It won't be perfectly comfortable, but it will be better than our current situation, I promise!

According to my doctor, I am officially full term - 37 weeks as of yesterday.  One of my apps says "full term" isn't until 39 weeks, but everyone can come up with a different rule, and the overall important message is that if baby girl decided to come anytime soon, she'd be fine.  Her brain and lungs will just continue to mature the longer she's in my womb.  She weighs around 6-1/3 pounds, maybe up to 7 pounds.  She is about 19-21 inches long.  She really won't grow much more in length at this point, but may put on another pound or two, depending on how long she stays in.

I am definitely feeling contractions, but they are very irregular, so I am sure they are Braxton-Hicks contractions.  They sometimes take my breath away a little, and my stomach feels incredibly tight when they happen, but then it relaxes and I don't feel another one for a while.  I still feel her move regularly, although the movements are different, most likely because she's so much bigger.  Some are more painful - as in arms or legs pushing into organs or areas that just aren't comfortable.

My doctor visit last week was uneventful, except that the nurse practitioner expressed concern that baby girl is breech.  This should be in the top 5 of things you don't say to a 37-week pregnant lady unless you know it for absolutely positively sure.  I've spent whatever free time I can find this week googling how to tell if your baby is breech and pushing on various parts of my stomach trying to figure out if the big bump I feel is a head or a booty (as our three year old says).  I really don't know.  I'll be at the doctor again Monday, since I'm now on the weekly visit schedule, and the nurse practitioner said my doctor would check baby girl's position then, so hopefully I'll know for sure. And if she is breech, I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that I can turn her around in the next two or three weeks.    The nurse practitioner did say it's possible I'm just carrying high, and I swear I feel the hiccups down by my hips, not up under my rib cage, but how am I supposed to know really.  Today I decided she's sideways.  Which is also no good.

I didn't take an official bump picture this week.  I'll try to get one in the next couple of days.  I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Best friends

Jayden has recently been calling me his "best friend."  I kind of love it.  It makes me realize I need to do a better job of exposing him to other kids (i.e., send him to preschool - I get the hint already!), but it's so sweet.  He'll say things like "Mommy, you and I both like purple, so we're best friends."  Clearly his standards are not very high.  :)  But I still think it's adorable.

He also picks up some awesome phrases from Carmen and me (mostly Carmen - but occasionally I get one in there).  For instance, today we went to the mall to pick up a few things and we were heading down the escalator to go to our car.  We told him we were going "down," and he goes "Down goes Fraser!"  We nearly died.  And then he kept repeating it for the first few minutes in the car.

It was kind of a gray weekend - not cold, just not sunny and hot, which actually was nice.  Saturday morning Jayden, Carmen and I went to a local library for story and craft time.  Jayden and I drive past this library most days on the way home and we've been talking about going for a long time.  Finally, I remembered to look it up Friday night or Saturday morning and they had something at the perfect time.  So Jayden was all excited about it.  And then we get there and he refuses to come listen to the stories.  I sat down in an effort to get Jayden to come over, but since Carmen also refused to sit, Jayden stayed with him.  The stories were read by local high school students (part of a volunteer program) and were cute.  But he did participate (and enjoy) the craft afterwards.

Making pizza slices.  Funny enough, Jayden was particularly excited about gluing the broccoli on the pizza.  And then we glued the veggies all over the plate.  Very cute.

Sunday morning we watched a little bit of the Indy 500.  Neither Carmen nor I have ever watched car racing, or at least not the Indy 500, but we'd been talking to Jayden about car races since he loves them so much.  And Carmen pointed out how loud the car races would be if we actually went, so we decided it made sense to watch them on TV first.  Jayden was pretty enthralled by it, and it turns out the coverage is actually pretty impressive.  I don't know that I could sit and watch the whole race on TV (maybe if I had a breakfast burrito and a mimosa or eight), but it was fun for a little bit.

We then took off to a local farmer's market to shop around and have lunch.  It was smaller (as in fewer booths) than normal, but it was fun.  And there was some good fruit, and some great (nitrate free!) sausage, which was awesome for me.  And a bunch of food trucks for us to have lunch.

Crepes!  Jayden and I both picked awesome crepes, and Jayden was pretty happy with his.  

We ran around in the grass after lunch, or, I should say, Carmen and Jayden ran around.  I tried running a little bit, but I'm getting to a point where it's just not comfortable.  Plus, I probably overdid it this weekend.  I went for a longer walk Saturday morning, I put together a bookcase for baby girl's room, I moved a few underbed storage bags of baby clothing, and some of my boxes of clothing in our room - just generally rearranged things to make myself feel better about the upcoming arrival.

Yesterday afternoon I proved what a terrible housewife I am.  :)  I have been wanting to clean Jasmine's bed for a while now.  I finally got my act together this weekend.  So.  I pulled out the vacuum so that I could get as much of the dog hair as possible.  As Jayden was walking up the stairs with Carmen, and Carmen was carrying the vacuum, Jayden yells at me "Mommy, can I help you with that thing Daddy is carrying upstairs?"  I had no idea what he was talking about, until he explained that it was a "machine."  Then I figured out he meant "vacuum."  Then later, when Jayden and I were actually vacuuming after his nap, Carmen came running upstairs, thinking someone was drilling.  So my three year old doesn't even know what a vacuum is and my husband things I'm doing construction when the vacuum is on.  Not great signs.

To be fair, it's not that our house doesn't get cleaned, it does.  I just don't do the work because cleaning is about my least favorite thing in the world and I can think of so many better ways to spend my "free" time.

We went to the park and the grocery store after vacuuming, and then hung out around the house the rest of the evening.

This morning we got up and went to the mall, like I said before.

As usual, Jayden got to ride the carousel.  And as usual, he sat on the bench.  He is just so cute.  And I wonder if he'll EVER ride a horse on a carousel...?

He was very patient with us as we ran our errands, and really was just awesome all day.  As we were leaving the house this morning, he decided it would be fun to take the longest route ever to get to the car.  We could have walked directly across the street.  But he thought it would be more fun to run around the entire cul de sac.  So he did.  But when he got to the first driveway, he stopped and looked at us very confused.  And we had to explain to him it was okay to go even though we weren't there, it was safe, no cars were coming, etc.  And this is why I will probably always worry about him less than baby girl; he is the safest little kid I know.

His smile as he's coming up the sidewalk towards us is just too cute.

During his nap I started feeling terrible - just nauseous, generally gross, some cramping or discomfort.  Because of this, we let Jayden watch a little more TV than normal.  Eventually, Carmen took Jayden outside to play so I could lay down for a few minutes.  It helped, but I still had to put dinner together (even if it was leftovers) and finish up the laundry.  I'm doing much better now, but I am grateful that I go see my doctor tomorrow.  I feel like maybe I overdid it a little this weekend, and I really didn't catch up on sleep the way I intended to this weekend.

Oh, and one more thing: for the second night in a row, we got a #2 in the toilet. We really can't contain our excitement.  And Jayden is pretty excited too, talking about how proud everyone is going to be. It's adorable. And makes him such a happier little boy. Tonight I walked into the bathroom while he was on the toilet to throw something away. He said, in a slightly exasperated voice, "Mom! Can you leave me alone for a little bit?!?" Yes, yes, I can definitely leave him alone if it means we get poo-poo in the toilet. Such progress. He is definitely our little man, and isn't afraid to tell you about it.

And now it's back to work.  At least it's a short week, and I have about 14 days left of work before I go on leave, which I am also grateful for.

Since today is Memorial Day, I also want to mention that I am grateful for every servicemember who has made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and their families as well.  Christopher Weaver (my cousin who would have been pretty much the exact same age as me had he made it back from Iraq) is obviously the first name that comes to mind for me every Memorial Day, but there are so many others.  All gave some; Some gave all.

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!