It's Finally Happened....

Remember how back in week 31, I was playing around with my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" app on my iPhone and discovered that I would eventually be delivering a watermelon? It's here. The app officially switched from cantaloupe to watermelon this week. I'm happy because that means that I'm almost done being pregnant. I'm also terrified because although I'm that much closer to my bottle of wine, seeing a watermelon on the screen means that said watermelon must come out soon. Since we skipped the birthing classes, I'm still not exactly sure how that is going to happen. Granted, I could just pull up some YouTube videos and learn from there. But I'm not sure which is worse, going in blind or learning about labor and delivery from YouTube.

Now that I'm 37 weeks, I'm full term! So if I were to go into labor tomorrow, they will not do anything to try and stop the delivery (no matter how much I beg and plead. Yes I have already confirmed this with my doctor, who I'm sure by now is telling stories about her completely sane patient (me) at happy hour each week.) It's obvious that I'm getting ready to pop. I mean, my belly enters a room minutes before I do. There's no sneaking around with this thing hanging on the front of me. My feet have also decided to jump on the pregnancy bandwagon and randomly swell to pregnant proportions multiple times a day. And you can literally watch them do it too. My ankle bone will slowly disappear and then all of the sudden, my whole foot is inflating. I'm sure jumping up and down on hard ceramic tile isn't helping the swelling either, but I don't really have a choice since it appears Kevin is hell-bent to get a picture of them. His iPhone comes out, and I start hopping around like the ground is on fire. I have to admit that it would make an interesting, albeit not a pretty picture. If he were quick enough to catch me.

CHECKING IN - WEEK 37!

Due Date: November 12, 2010
Total weight gain: 34 pounds! Looks like I'm holding onto my under 35 pounds goal for one more week. Barely.
Next Appointment: October 27. These weekly appointments (of which I've only had two so far) are already starting to get old. Especially since I know every time I go in there, the doctor is going to tell me that I'm still not making progress. It gets a little depressing after awhile.
Maternity Clothes: Screw the clothes. Let's talk shoes. Or lack thereof. I have finally given up on wearing my heels to work. Oh, I still bring them with me everyday, but they're pretty much just for show. Actually, I take that back. They are currently serving two purposes: 1) wearing professional shoes (or having them next to me on the floor of my office) fools people into thinking that I am still a professional, even with Fred Flintstone feet (as Kevin refers to them), and 2) they aid in fooling myself into thinking that I might have a chance of squeezing into them before the day is over. The power of positive thinking!
Labor Signs: At my appointment on Wednesday, I was still only dilated 1 centimeter. Yes, same as the week before. I feel like something should be happening since my stomach feels like it's hanging between my knees, but my kid apparently has other plans. He really needs to realize that in my world, we work on mommy's schedule. (Just ask daddy.) But he'll figure that out soon enough, right?
Sleep: HA! What sleep? Within a span of two days I went from waking up once a night to waking up 4-5 times a night, and that's if I can get to sleep in the first place. Last night I laid in bed for an hour trying to fall asleep while it felt like my blanket was trying to squirm out from under my stomach on its own. I think I could write a horror flick out of this stuff.
Best moment this week: TEXANS GAME! I almost didn't go and would have seriously kicked myself if I hadn't. (No I can't maneuver myself through that range of motion at this point, but pretend.) The game was by far the BEST game I have ever seen. Mostly because the Texans rallied in the 4th quarter and actually pulled off the win. Barely. To be there in person was beyond amazing. The suspense was enough for me to honestly wonder (while I was jumping up and down screaming at the top of my lungs) if this were the kind of thing that sends women who are 9 months pregnant into labor. According to the security people that we met while tailgating in the parking lot pre-game (one of whom was named Allie Kat - her parents were hippies), I would have been the first to do so at Reliant Stadium. They then requested that I please refrain from doing so, either inside the stadium or in their parking lot, if at all possible. Gladly.

Movement: He's definitely trying to get out, he's just not going about it through the correct exit (refer to blanket trying to squirm away above). He seems to think that if he pushes hard enough, he'll be able to make his escape somewhere out of the top of my stomach. At this point my ribs are still fighting back, but I am starting to wonder if they'll be able to hold out for much longer.
Food cravings: I'm trying to decide if I should go all out for the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy and eat whatever I want (since I'm not going to have this excuse for much longer) or control myself and be good. Would anyone believe that I'm suddenly craving all things edible? (Because THAT'S never happened before, right?)
Planning/Preparations: We did it! We actually worked on the nursery last Saturday! Now it is possible to walk into the room without killing yourself on piles of gift bags and little red wagons. The car seat adapter is on the stroller, we have a final inventory of what we still need, and all of the linens, blankets, and 0-3 month clothes are washed and ready to go. Although I'm seriously wondering how some of those onesies are going to fit an actual human being. They are so tiny they won't even fit my premie Cabbage Patch doll, Myron. Not that I have tried them on him. Or that it even crossed my mind to try them once I took Myron out of the stroller that I HAVEN'T been pushing him around in for the last two months.
Belly Button in or out: Flatter. And my belly button ring hole is now crooked and slightly skewed to the left. I obviously wasn't thinking this far ahead when I got THAT done now, was I.
Stretch Marks: None. Although I have started checking my feet in addition to my belly. I don't even know if it's possible to get stretch marks on your feet, but if it is, I can guarantee that I will have them.

What I miss: Sanity. It's amazing how much stuff we still have left to do. As much as I would like him to come a little early and get this over with, I think I am going to be needing every last day I can get. I'm still waiting on that "nesting" instinct that I keep hearing so much about to kick in.
What I am looking forward to: Making the last of the baby purchases and taking care of all the last minute details: financial advisors, wills and trusts, life insurance, and other boring stuff like that.
Milestones: Full term baby!

37 Week shot: