36 Weeks!

36 Weeks & 1 Day

We have officially moved into the month that my daughter will be born in....that is so incredibly crazy and weird to say. I'm starting to get really anxious to meet her and thinking about the actual giving birth part. I think I've been in a little bit of denial and thinking she is definitely going to come late. In turn, it means that I keep putting off thinking about these little details. I finally feel like we're as ready as we're going to be for her to come home though so I guess that's good. This week we got the car seat installed, her stuff is basically almost packed, the co-sleeper sheets are washed, the monitor Hubby wanted is set up in the nursery, etc. All these little things are all falling together and now all we need is her!

Doctor's appointment this week was pretty uneventful, which I'm grateful for after the last appointment. I had my Group B Strep test done and will get the results at next week's appointment. Baby girl's heartbeat was at 158 beats per minute; perfectly normal and happy! Doctor is still perfectly happy with my weight gain. Not that it means much, but no changes in the cervix yet either. He did say he could feel her dropping down though, so I guess that's good. The only hiccup was that my blood pressure was 143/90 which is pretty high. By the end of the appointment, he retook it using a manual cuff and it came down to like 110/70. Needless to say, he made a note in my chart to just take it with a manual cuff from now on since the electric tends to give a higher reading for some odd reason.

All About Baby -- Most of her systems are now in working order and if she were born today, she'd most likely even be able to breathe on her own! Blood circulation has been perfected and her immune system is developed enough to protect her outside of the womb. However, seeing as how she has been receiving all her nutrients through the umbilical cord, her digestive system won't be fully operational until she decides to make her debut!

How Momma is Feeling -- As much as I love being pregnant and feeling all the amazing joys that it brings, I'm nearing that point of wanting to be done. My back is in constant pain and now my hip joints have started in. Other than those two things, I've felt really great. Granted, I don't have the energy I once did and I'm learning to pace myself so I think that helps.

Cravings -- I don't think I had any this week. I REALLY want a Boston Creme doughnut from Dunkin Donuts but I don't know that it's a real pregnancy craving or if one just sounds delicious!

Highlight of the Week -- I guess just getting that feeling that we're ready for our baby girl to come home. Having the car seat installed and getting things together for the hospital bag (which I'm determined to actually pack this week) and all of that just makes everything seem so more real. We ran into someone who was on the hospital tour with us and they were due on Christmas Eve but the baby decided to come on Thanksgiving instead. It was just a moment of real clarity that this could happen any time now which is an amazing feeling to have.

Most Looking Forward to -- At this point, I really think it's just meeting her! It makes me smile so much to think that in just a few short weeks, I could be holding this beautiful little baby girl and our lives will be forever changed for the better!