baby update: 38 weeks.

How far along:  38 weeks (...and 2 days)

How big is the baby: Baby Simon is the size of a pumpkin. By both our midwives guesstimates (which I don't trust either), he is right around 8 lbs now and will make a delivery of somewhere around 9.3 lbs. He is also all limbs, so we will have a tall boy (Zag basketball, anyone?)

Total weight gain/loss: Holding steady.

Maternity clothes: I am still wearing a mix of maternity clothes and non-maternity clothes. This weekend with the labor day sales I went out and bought myself new, non-maternity clothes that I will be so excited to put on in a few weeks!

Stretch marks: I have finally hit the mark where I am getting a few stretch marks on the underside of my belly but Jim, the most caring husband, ordered me Frank (www.frankbody.com) so I can start getting rid of them now.

Sleep: 4:15 seems to be my new wake up time. I still get in a solid 6 hours but that seems to be as much as my body wants to give into. A friend sent me a Snoogle maternity pillow so my sleep is A LOT more comfortable (Jim may be jealous of it).

Exercise: I've been able to walk more (accidentally up the side of a mountain this weekend) and did some Pilates. 

Best moment last week: My friend, Hope, and I have pretty much gone through our whole pregnancy together, asking questions to each other and comparing notes. She has been one huge, fabulous support system for me. Last week she had her little baby boy, Maxwell. I seriously felt like I just had a kiddo, too! I am so over the moon happy for her and her husband.

My best personal moment last week? I don't think there are huge moments that stick out. I think that I just love when it's the end of the night and we're watching Grey's before bed and Jim has his hand on my belly and Baby Simon is kicking away (he loves to move between 8-9pm). Or I love when Jim calls midday and asks how I am AND how "our boy" is. It's beautiful how love starts before you ever meet your little one face-to-face.

Also, my midwife forced me to have a conversation with my mother about how her labors were. I would never ask my mom these kind of questions because I'm a pretty tight lipped person when it comes to anything too personal or health-related. It was interesting to know that all her kiddos labors were about 11 hours long, they never dropped before she gave birth, and I was a chunker at 9 lbs 6 oz (aka baby Simon will be big). It was good to give me some perspective on what to expect!

Movement: He's slowed down over the weekend but when he's moving in there it is much stronger than it has been. Just praying for the day he moves away from my ribs.

Food cravings/aversions: I was craving sweets for a very, VERY long time. Berries and fruit (and chocolate) by the handfuls but now it seems like I am craving salty foods, specifically chips. Thankfully we don't keep snack foods in our house and we will not be starting now so I just ignore those cravings.

Other symptoms: I get sick to my stomach often at night but since it's night, I roll over and ignore it. By the morning usually it has passed and if not then I generally just sleep a little longer until it does.

Gender: Baby boy… although we talk about what if it's a girl. This child will have no name and all boys clothes (okay, well her name would be Rudy in my head, I would just have to guilt Jim into it.) We have had 4 confirmations on it being a boy so I'm sure we're good here. I guess when you have nothing else to worry about these are the silly things that creep in.

Labor signs:  I've got a whole lot of nothing. This kiddo needs to make an appearance for Aunt Harper and my parents aka he has until the 19. I'm not anxious in the least for him to get here which is good because my midwives make it sound like he will be baking past his due date, for sure.

Belly button: Still not an outie…but not really an innie.

Weddings rings: Now that the weather has cooled, my rings are just fine.

What I miss: Running. Laying on my stomach. And for some reason this week I really want a beer. I walked by a brewery the other day and it smelled so, so good. Funny thing is I RARELY drink a beer.

What I am looking forward to: I am looking forward to the baby being here and family visiting. I keep putting off a few small things that need to get done before baby comes because I'm nervous that if I complete the whole list then maybe I will get impatient but the bags are packed and the car seat is in and those are the most important things.

Weekly Wisdom:  Build a support system of moms or moms-to-be to ask the "embarrassing" questions to. I am a very private person so it has been really important to me to have a few girlfriends who I can ask the questions I would never dream of asking ANYONE out loud. I think that this is a key not just in these pregnancy situations but in life in general.