notes on pregnancy: 37 weeks aka you look like a...

{my 37 week bump photo!}

as you might fathom, being very round on halloween... and the weeks leading to halloween... has warranted (apparently) many, many, OH VERY MANY, comments regarding me looking like a pumpkin.

strangers. neighbors. co-workers. postal workers.

"you should paint your belly orange and put some eyes on that!"

"you've got yourself a pumpkin in there... i didn't come up with that, so and so thought of it first."  thanks!

"you've got the biggest pumpkin in the patch growing there."  thanks!

"what are you growing, a pumpkin?"

"wow, what a perfectly shaped pumpkin you have!"

"hey you, really pregnant lady! you look like a pumpkin!"

"everytime i see you, your pumpkin is bigger and bigger... and bigger!"

"i guess we all know what you're being for halloween... a pumpkin!"

hardeeharhar.

so funny.

really, so creative!

ok, i don't mind a ton, but it's very interesting the social protocol (or lack there of?) regarding commenting on a pregnant lady's body.  like, suddenly you have free reign to compare her to objects, mammals... mostly anything big and awkward.  not only that, but apparently these comments are suddenly cute and endearing!

i have to tell you all that when you tell a woman she looks like a pumpkin, you're not the first to think it.  she has thought it, so originality isn't in your favor.  it definitely isn't when you're the 29th person to make the comparison!  i think there are mostly good intentions behind the above comments, so i take them kindly. but...
i'm sort of over them:)

and haven't you enjoyed my long winded speal?

but in other news, great news, i'm full term!

the baby is like big, over six pounds and letting me know it!

i seriously can't believe i've made it.  we've made it!

how many yay's can you put on a screen without being obnoxious?

so morale is?

i'm a really big pumpkin!

and i suppose i'm proud about that;)

happy halloween!

ok we're ready!

dear soma baby,

don't come yet of course, because it's early.

but we have a place for you to sleep.

that's serious progress.

in the meantime, teddy will be waiting!

notes on pregnancy: 36 weeks

first of all, this past weekend i was given the most beautiful and thoughtful baby shower!

i'm tremendously blessed with generous friends and it was the greatest gift just to see them all!

it was a ton of fun and i'm just sad it's over!  perfect memories though, the day meant the world to me.

for now, some rambling.
it's such an odd thing, watching the world turn leafless and cold while waiting for the baby to arrive!  odd because this fall is the beginning of so many things for us.  obviously, adding an addition to our family is the biggest, but also m is defending his dissertation soon (yay for him!), our basement is hypothetically going to be completed, and our schedules and responsibilities will be drastically different in a month.  to be honest, i'm pretty gitty thinking about it all!  it's been the longest wait for christmas morning ever!

i'm almost 36 weeks now and feeling super great!  there was a month there when i didn't.  at the beginning of the third trimester, i felt so tired, big and had lots of nerve pain in my back and legs, and i was pretty fearful that the rest of the pregnancy wouldn't be as joyful as it's been.  lately, i've been lucky to have energy and i'm thinking the baby has dropped because my bump has shifted downward and i can breath just a bit;)  the goal line is in sight!  i do think i'll miss my baby bump though, so i'm appreciating it while i have it.

oh and at my 35 week 3D ultrasound, the baby looked like a baby (whew!  although m tends to disagree!) and was 5.7 pounds, so they're estimating her as a 7.5 pound baby, whether that's accurate, who knows!  she's super, super active, kicking and rolling near always, even this late in the game.  the ultrasound was funny because it was pretty difficult to get images because of her squirming.  and she's in the 40% for length, so below average like me;)  last time we'll see her on screen!

now, i'm getting anxious about how the baby will come in the world.  this is such a normal fear, i realize, but considering i have yet to experience labor, it's scary.  i think it's healthy to be nervous about it, so i try to not worry.  but it's weird to be so so so excited for something and be so leary at the same time.  so far i've been totally surprised by fitting into every pregnancy stereotype, from belly button pop to waddling.  i've given into the process, how seriously cool it is, so i have to feel the same about the end of it, right?  and if all else fails, there's drugs...  haha.  no seriously;)

in the mean time, we're making progress on the nursery!  teddy manages to get cuter and cuter and we're starting to really get ready for our arrival.... so much so, i did my first load of laundry today that was all baby related;)

next week the baby will be considered full term;)

notes on pregnancy: 32 weeks

i've neglected blogging, but here's a post started and not finished;)

{32 week bump picture here. if there was one!}

i now waddle.  yes, pretty sure i go as much left to right as i do forward while walking these days.  i've been feeling like a really lame old person lately, complaining about my sciatica and my ailing back.  it all frankly kind of hurts.  again, it's all very worth it!  but lately, i've had such a difficult time remembering how it felt to breath and move normally that i'm a bit freaked out.

not really sure how my body will handle eight more weeks of growing. 

women have been doing this forever, and it just boggles my mind!  the majority of pregnancy is totally fun, but i've definitely hit the stage where i want the baby out!  nature really does work wonders in that way.

i feel like i've been pregnant forever.  it's been the longest anticipation for christmas morning ever and it'll be incredibly surreal when i do, in fact, have this baby!  who just happens to be 4+ pounds now, basically the length she will be at birth, and healthy!.... it's all getting so real, so amazing!

lately, i've been getting the "when are you due" question a lot.

it makes me a bit worried that i look so ready to have this baby when i'm actually two months away, but honestly, most of these inquiries are from men who don't have a clue;)

for now, i'm just going to sleep a lot while i still can and enjoy this amazing fall, which i consider "baby season."  i'm going to cherish all the goofy moves my belly makes (which happens all the time!) and celebrate things going well.  i'll try to not eat too much more ice cream during this pregnancy, and concentrate on all the crafting i need to do before baby soma arrives (i'm sewing little dresses... awww).  i'll finish the nursery!  and i'll continue to be super duper excited to meet my kid!  wow!