35 weeks

Holy crap, I've reached the 35/35 milestone! (35 weeks pregnant and 35 days until my due date - only now it's 34 days since I didn't post this yesterday.)



(This is my first horizontal belly pic, and I must confess that I really don't like it.)

This week has been all about kicking it into high gear and getting things ready for Charlie. We both realized over the weekend that holy shit, we're going to have a baby soon and we need to start getting everything set up for him. So we picked up our glider and ottoman, took several trips to Babies R Us and Target, ordered a good diaper stash, washed all of his stuff, installed the infant seat in my car, packed some stuff for our hospital visit, and made up his crib. The nursery is not done yet, but we're hoping it will be soon. When it is, I'll definitely be sharing pics.

Comfort-wise, I'm taking it day by day. Some days are good, and some days suck. Yeah, I'm tired - a good night's sleep is hard to come by. And my feet hurt and so does my pelvis, ribs (the rib pain is getting bad again), hips, and back... but overall, things are okay. I am not in terrible shape, although sometimes my complete lack of sleep seems to exacerbate all my discomfort. It is also entirely too damn hot for April, and I am already a furnace. The heat during the first half of the week was making me absolutely miserable. But it could be worse - I could have to spend my last few months of pregnancy in the bitter Southern California summer. Fortunately for me, I should deliver before the worst of it hits.

The dreams have been crazy this week. One night I dreamt I gave birth to a 10 lb. baby (ouch!). Another night I dreamt that I could see Charlie's foot stretching the skin of my belly so much that his foot almost broke through. His foot was pressing so hard that there was literally a little leg hanging out of my belly. So weird.

Charlie seems to be doing awesome. He gets hiccups at least once a day now, and I feel them way down deep in my pelvis (and sometimes in my butt, if that makes sense). So it's safe to say, I think, that he's still head down. I also feel him less in my ribs, which probably means that he's dropped a bit - although I can't say for sure that I've "dropped." (I have no idea why the rib pain is returning with a vengeance since he's not in that area as much.)

One of the best things about pregnancy is feeling Charlie move around. It is the most surreal and amazing feeling to know that there's a little guy inside me who at this point is well-developed and healthy. I love feeling him roll and thump around my belly. I love it when I press my belly to Roy's back when we're in bed and how he can feel Charlie moving, too. It sounds a little silly, but I'm probably going to miss those moments.

Aside from all that, I am counting down the days until I go on maternity leave. The next time I do a pregnancy update, I'll be off work and living the life of luxury. You know, eating bonbons, watching soap operas, having sordid affairs with mystery men who love themselves a good engorged woman with a distended abdomen and broken veins on her ass. That kind of thing.