My feet look like fat sausages! I can't remember the last time I twisted an ankle or something similar so I'm not sure I've ever seen this atrocious a sight on my legs before. Even my flip flops from last season are squeaking like they never have before, must be the extra weight on them. It's depressing. I think I'll have to pay for a manicure to make my fat toes be a little distracting from the fat cankle.

37 weeks

I reached 37 weeks today - meaning she is considered full term and they won't stop labor if it were to start. I think she's pretty cozy since she's still sitting high though. The charts estimate her to be about 6 and 1/3 pounds. I was only 6 lbs 15 oz when I was born, but back then doctors were mean and really tried to restrict women's weight gain. oh and my mom smoked, so we were all right around 7 lbs. I would love it if my baby stayed a 7 pounder :)

I forgot to mention the wonderful name suggestion we had at the last baby shower. Eloise Lucille. I got to try it out later that day when someone asked me the name we picked out. I couldn't get it out with a straight face but they still thought I was serious. It was kinda fun messing with people, so I might have to play that few more times calling her Eloise. I just hope we don't get any monogrammed stuff for ELM - thats too close to Elmer. oooh, even funnier.

Guess I can laugh at myself too

Jeff had a good laugh at my expense the other day. I had a nice nap on Sunday and he came in after I was awake but I didn't have a reason to get out of bed yet (in other words, I didn't have to pee yet, so I wasn't going to move when I was comfortable). We talked for a bit and sure enough w/in 10 minutes I had to pee. I tried to sit up; nope just fell back. So to get out of bed I roll to the edge, let my legs fall off till my feet hit the ground and then I can use my arms to push off from the bed to stand up. I've been doing this for a few weeks now and I guess Jeff had no idea. He was thoroughly amused. I'm sure it was/is a funny sight.

Another funny sight would be how I move today. My legs have not been this sore since I paid a 250lb man to torture me in the gym. Yesterday morning our dishwasher decided to try to flood our kitchen. Luckily I caught it when just a few gallons of water were on the floor. I was already in my work clothes though, so I was bending and squatting getting the water up and moving all the cleaner crap from under the sink, so I could dry out the cabinets. Afterward I figured I needed to flip the breaker switch to turn off the dishwasher till Jeff could look at it, and when I went to climb the 5 stairs down to the garage I screamed out in pain. My days of doing lunges and squats were way too long ago and my body is mad at me now! The day after is always the worst. So today I'm using the handicap bathroom so I can use the handrails to pull myself up and try to give my legs a little break. I hope I don't break the bathroom door knob tonight at my house, since there are no rails :)

NASA baby shower

Yesterday my work threw us a shower. There were several ladies that helped organize it and a few really creative ones. I finally got a diaper cake! I didn't think I'd be one of those women that was all about the froo froo girly stuff, but I've seen pics of those cakes and thought they were pretty neat. So on my 3rd shower I finally got one - complete with a stork, some spoons and a headband :)
I think we are stocked now for baby gear! We got some of the lil onesies that I needed, more blankets, bibs and socks and a few fun things I didnt register for like a rainforest light up musical crib hanging thingy, a heartbeat bear, a Jenny Jump-up (I guess a baby girl can't use a 'johnny jump up'), a bumbo seat and a piggy bank that is handmade by one of my bosses made like an old timey post office box. That had lots of cash it, collected from the group. Ah - the benefits of working at a big place full of kind, generous people :)

Last night when I was watching the news I wasn't as depressed by it as a I have been recently (just depressed during the news hour - not in general). So many people are in bad situations, but Jeff and I feel like we're still at the top of the world. We're happy, in love, healthy, new baby, lots of friends and family and both work in great environments with more friends that are supportive and kind.
(I better not have just jinxed myself)

36 weeks!

At the end of this week I'll be considered full term :)
The charts estimate her weighing about 6 pounds - that's almost twice as big as her daddy when he was born (he is a twin)
She's still sitting up high and pretty against my ribs. I keep meaning to take some pictures so I can compare when she does drop. So far I just have the usual minor grips of acid reflux at night, some back pain/discomfort, and just a little swelling in my feet. The cold weather has come back and my leg rash came back - I had it nearly cleared up when we had a warm spell and I wore skirts all week. I don't think I've had any braxton hicks contractions but there have been a few moments it seems like more pain that just a baby kicking - though she is getting stronger!

I still need to pack the hospital bag -it's on my list for this week/weekend. Tomorrow is a baby shower at my work, so we'll know what we're missing and can go shopping this weekend.

People keep telling me I look like all my weight is baby. That's nice of them to say and I'm glad I can hide it elsewhere but I think it's only because I'm tall. Yes I have packed on enough pounds I predict the dr to tell me to stop. I have my fingers crossed for a relatively dry (but not drought) Spring, so I can get the stroller out and walk off some of this new fat on my thighs. I guess every woman dreads pulling out their pre-preggo clothes and seeing what will fit. I supposed I can sacrifice wearing shorts for a bit to get a healthy baby though - just have to keep reminding myself that :)

I talked to a landscaper yesterday that is coming soon to add mulch to our flowerbeds, so that will be one less stress this spring :) then maybe my nesting instinct will kick in soon and I will clean my house. If only we could coat the cats in glue so their hair would quit shedding - that would fix alot of our house problems :)

Tired again

I'm getting flashbacks to the first tri where I was tired all the time. I think for the 3rd day in a row I'll be taking a nap when I get home. I think the baby is using all my food for energy and not leaving me with any! ah, the sacrifices we make.

35 / 35

I'm at 35 weeks with 35 days to go!!!

The stats say she's just over 5 lbs and about 18 inches long and running out of room to move around. Though last night I got scared she was having a seizure b/c my belly was going crazy. Most of her basic physical development is now complete, now she's just getting fatter. Note to babymach: you can take some of your mom's fat b/c she'd like to stop gaining weight now.

My changes are nothing that I'm happy about - belly button is about stretched to the max, more acid reflux, back to being tired more often, a few times of crazy hunger fits, and some general body aches and other gross stuff I won't go into. Though some of my latest reading about getting closer to labor and delivery is really grossing me out, so I guess my stinky farts are just practice for whats to come. I really can't wait till my friend Taryn learns about a mucus plug. haha. The evil side of me wants to share the gory details - so I have been with Jeff at least. I keep reminding him, it's partly his fault, and if he can't share in some of the pain, he's certainly going to hear about it. He just smiles like he still loves me :)

I bought a breastfeeding book but so far it's pretty general knowledge stuff. I hope it comes easy for me like my sister. If not, I'm glad I live in a town large enough to get some help.

A tease for Spring

Yeah for warmer weather this week. Probably the biggest reason I'm excited is to see if this rash on my legs will go away. I think I have severe dry skin on my legs from my thighs down to even a patch on the top of my foot. It will calm down when I can wear shorts around the house, but then I go back to wearing pants at work when it's 30 degrees outside and it flares up again. So I washed some skirts this weekend and plan to wear them to work all week and see if it gets better. I looked up skin problems during pregnancy and it's very common. I'm just thankful I don't have one of the really bad ones that is on the belly with big streaks of fire coming up.
I'm also trying to take showers at night since the hot water seems to irritate my skin. So this morning I'm still a bit groggy, but when I put lotion on my feet I saw an ankle bone! Yes my ankles have been a bit swollen, so I was excited to see what they looked like again :)

The Nursery is done!

Photos on Picasa

I finally put up stuff on the walls. I think now it's just missing some diapers and a baby :)

Be sure to remember it

This morning I ordered a baby memory book. I remember finding mine, with some congrats cards stuffed inside and nothing else, no words, nothing. Yes, I'm the 3rd kid and I hear that's common :) So as of now, I have all these great expectations for myself to be that first time mommy that records every first milestone, takes lots of photos, saves the first artwork, and all that jazz. I did see keepsake boxes for hair and teeth, but that kinda grossed me out.

To my mommy friends: how good are you with keeping up with all your kid's milestones? I know my friend Keri is good with it because she keeps a blog and I get to read about it. Man, how I wish more friends had blogs or at least online photo galleries (hint hint). But I don't really know about my other friends, since I don't exactly go snooping through their house to see how many photo albums or keepsake boxes they have :)

It's Mommy, not mama

I'm going to try my hardest to get my child to call me mommy. Not mama. Oh, how I hate mama. (And I'm already being called that which makes me cringe a little inside) I think it's some left over resentment for being taken out of Texas and forced to live in Alabama where I still don't like the southern accents. Since neither Jeff nor I have much of an accent, there is hope that our baby wont. Otherwise she'll have her mommy correcting and constantly nagging her to repeat herself in a normal tone. And I still have vivid memories of making friends with 20-something year old men that still call their mom, mama. That just seems like they're stuck in a time warp to me. I had a mommy, and sometime around middle school she was called mom. sweet and simple. And last night talking to friends I heard stories of grandparents with nicknames like bubba. Maybe I'll change my mind when those words are coming from a cute 2 year old, but for now, I truly hope nothing like that sticks in our family.

almost ready

Yesterday I ordered envelopes for the baby announcements. I plan to get them addressed before I deliver, so afterward all we have to do is get a cute photo, make the order and stuff them. I thought about designing my own and printing from Vistaprint, but this site (www.photoaffections.com) had so many cute options and for just a little more $$. I figure since it's my first baby, I'll go all out and mail cute announcements.

I hit 34 weeks today - only 6 weeks left. yeah! The big belly is starting to cause some discomforts, so I'm definitely ready to not be pregnant anymore.

I'll get Jeff to install the car seats this weekend, so we can get them inspected soon, and then I have to pack a hospital bag and that's about it. My work is having a work shower in a couple weeks, but the only things left we really need are diapers, wipes, baby wash, and some cheap onesie's. I've gotten so many cute outfits for gifts and then Angie loaded me down with some great 12 month outfits. It's great to have friends with kids - I don't mind hand-me-downs at all :) Esp when I saw some Ralph Lauren and Tommy overalls. haha. But I won't let on to the baby those are good brands - don't want to get her smart on that, that early :)

oh so tiny clothes

I washed my first load of baby clothes and sheets this weekend. I was worried about loosing one of the tiny socks or mittens, but only lost one that Jeff found later. I'll be buying some of those mesh washer bags for those tiny things. It did feel more real on how soon this baby is coming since I already started doing the laundry :)

Last weekend Jeff and I were talking with his parents about their new washer/dryer, that they set to stack to save room. It got us to talking about laundry and how much more of it we'll soon have. I saw a flyer for HH Gregg's sale going on, so we decided to go look. About 24 hours later (and after some researching online) we had a couple delivery guys at the house with our new Whirlpool Duet Steam w/d on a raiser/drawer. I must be getting old to get this excited over an appliance :)

Part of that excitement is also shedding some guilt. I had no idea how much water the typical top load washer actually uses. I think I read about 70 gallons of water per load, whereas the new front loaders sense how much laundry is inside and typically use about 14 gallons. I feel pretty bad for all that wasted water and the environment now.

And this shows a little bit of how clueless I am - I was talking to a friend last night about the new washer and she said the whole sensing/using less water is good because I'll be doing more frequent smaller loads. That spitup/spoiled milk smell will stink and make me want to do laundry. oh joy.