40 Weeks

Before possibly our last date before having to make babysitting arrangements.

Officially 40 weeks pregnant! Full term. I keep telling our baby that this means he is welcome to make an appearance at any time.Unfortunately he seems as happy as a clam in there, content to kick my ribs all night long and make painful jolting movements that I sometimes mistake for contractions. I know it's really common, for first time moms especially, to go past their due dates; I don't know why I am so restless and anxious to get him out. I mean, once he is here, he is here FOREVER! And he'll be a lot harder to take care of then. I should just relax and enjoy the last week of my life in which I am only responsible for one human life. But really, I literally CRAVE holding the little guy. I already feel surprisingly bonded to him and I've never laid eyes on him. I can't even imagine how much I'll love him when he's in my arms. Plus, I am so curious to see what he'll look like! Will he have hair? (I hope so, at least a little.) How big will he be? (I suspect 8 lbs+. The doctor told me his head is currently really low, yet I still feel kicks in my ribs all the time. That means even squished and folded up, he's taking up a LOT of space.) Will he be a good baby? (If karma has any validity in this situation, I might be in trouble. I have been informed that I was the baby from hell. I apparently cried NON STOP for the first 5 months of my life.)

My swollen hands after the death walk.

Yesterday, in an attempt to get things going, I naively ventured out on a nice 4 mile power walk. Um, HUGE mistake. I have not been especially active during this pregnancy and 90 degree heat is a friend to nobody. For the first bit, I was chatting on the phone and didn't recognize my misery until I was already 2 miles out.  Those two (uphill) miles back were killer. I had to get off the phone (talking put me out of breath) and kept having to squat down every 20 yards or so (I sweat out all the water in my body and felt lightheaded). Some of these breath-catching squat-downs were done in the bicycle lane of the street as there was no sidewalk. Oh also, the best part? I was wearing a belly shirt the entire time. I accidentally put on a shirt that I swear fit me last week. Apparently my stomach has grown/changed position drastically since then, because I was baring a solid 6 inches of ghostly white pregnant belly skin the entire time. I'm sure the cars driving past were having a hay day. I did get a few encouraging honks and "whoots". When I finally made it to the church next door to our house, I saw a patch of shade under a tree that looked tempting. Might as well take one last rest before that final 30 yard stretch, right? Another bad call. I huffed and puffed over to the shade patch and promptly lied down in a pile of dog poop.

And as for the baby? He was probably laughing the whole time. By now it's become clear that he had no intentions of budging whatsoever. That little tease.

I have been waiting for almost 10 months to see this screen show up on my "Baby Bump" app... Although it is a little anticlimactic sitting here typing this, contraction-free with water intact, while baby boy kicks away happily.

Umm, also can I just share these gems I found on the Baby Bump app today? First of all, I'm pretty sure I accidentally installed the "Baby Bump Ghetto Edition", because you should see some of the posts that are shared in the message boards. This girl sure had a "qood" question! Yes Krystal77, "yuh" should "due" some squats. Also, why in the world would you post that picture of your stomach for all of the community to see? I mean, you CANNOT be proud of that! I know stretch marks are a sad truth and that is a nicely designed skeleton/butterfly(?) tattoo, but really- we don't need a visual.