Merry Christmas!

I think I totally missed my shot this year at renting a Santa suit and really pulling off the look.  I definitely could have filled out the middle and had a belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly!  Ah well.  We have had a low key holiday here at home with my parents while we await the arrival of Baby Z.  It's been fun and relaxing, but I will admit to getting a bit impatient.  We check in to the hospital in just about 24 hours, and will hopefully have a new arrival sometime in the next 48! 

I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday as you celebrate with your friends, family, and loved ones!

One last belly shot from my viewpoint...the red was the best I could do for holiday cheer when it came to clothes this year!

Snuggly Sunday

This was how Harley and I spent almost all of Sunday morning...all snuggled up in the chair with Baby Monkey.  It was a pretty darn good way to pass the first half of the day :)  I'm just hoping that Harley likes Baby Z just as well when he is outside as she does when he is inside!

We had a good weekend here, celebrating Christmas with Jay's family, which was a ton of fun with a 3 year old around who was SO EXCITED to open presents!  Today was the last of my scheduled doctor's appointments, which is so hard to believe!  All was good though with the nonstress testing, the nurse called it a textbook happy baby.  The rest of the appointment was good too, and we now have a date for the induction next week.  Unless Baby Z joins us on his own, I check into the hospital on the evening of the 26th and should (hopefully) have a baby by the 27th!  So we have a plan and a date and a time (assuming nothing changes between now and then).  In the meantime, I'm still hoping he'll come on his own, so yesterday we took a nice long walk and ate a bunch of the foods that folks recommended as having worked for them.  No dice yet, darn it!  Today was back to acupuncture from the chiropractor, and we may be back to my acupuncturist yet too.  Only two more days of work though, and then the University closes for the holidays...and then I get another 6-8 weeks after that to spend lots more mornings snuggling with Harley and Baby Z!

Is Today the Day?

Every day I wake up and I think, "is today the last day I'll be pregnant?"  Part of me gets really excited about that idea, the part that would really like to see Baby Monkey, the part thatwould really like to sleep on my stomach again, the part of me that has worn a path between my office and the library bathroom.  Then there's the other part of me though, who knows that I'll miss certain things like feeling him kick and move around in there (except maybe not the kicking and settling on the sciatic nerve, that I could do without), the part of me that is a bit terrified about the whole labor and delivery thing, and the part of me that knows he is a lot easier to take care of inside than out!

Either way though, we are getting closer and closer to D-Day (delivery day).  At my appointment this week, enough progress had been made that they are comfortable scheduling an induction for 39 weeks, which is tentatively looking like December 27 (I'll know for sure after my appointment on the 19th).  It could be any time before then, should he decide to come out on his own though, which is what I'm hoping for!  But considering today is the 16th, and if they induce on the 27th, well, we're just about into the single digits left of days before we are officially parents. 

So in the meantime, now that we are officially full term, I'm working those pressure points with chiropractic care, massage and accupuncture, eating lots of pineapple, trying to make myself do more walking, anything I can think of to keep things moving!  I feel like there are a number of other old wives' tales I need to try though too, maybe it's time to do some research!

33 weeks - can tell how far he's dropped by comparing to this week!

To Waddle Or Not To Waddle

So far I think I've been able to avoid the pregnancy waddle.  There are days I sort of limp, thanks to Baby Z deciding to use a nerve as a chair, but I don't feel as though that counts as a true "waddle".  We are wrapping up week 36 here, tomorrow Baby Monkey will officially be considered full term and is welcome to come join us any time!

All was well apparently with the first of the weekly nonstress tests.  We didn't get much feedback, but since they sent us home and said we'll see you next week, I took that as a good sign.  In the mean time, we've gotten about as ready as we can here...bag is packed, Christmas presents are wrapped and the basics are ready.  Of course, that surely means that he's going to make us wait until the bitter end since we (and I suspect a number of the grandparents and other assorted family members) are impatiently tapping our toes and waiting.

This week's photos made me laugh...I took the one from the front, and though, oh, that's not TOO bad...and then I switched views and just laughed :)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

It's December!  That means that not only is it Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas around here...but it's also baby month!  That's right, the way it looks, Baby Z will be joining us one way or another before the end of the month.  We are officially at week 36 as of today, and I have a hard time believing we are 9 months along!

Some lovely (ha) 35 1/2 week shots.

We learned last week that Baby Z is head down and getting ready to go, so that was good news.  Ideally, he will stay that way!  Everything else was measuring good as well, including my blood pressure and all that fun stuff.  I now start weekly appointments, with the first of the nonstress tests tomorrow.  The off chance that might not go well has again spurred me into action today: wrapping Christmas presents, getting the car seat ready, writing thank you notes, packing the hospital bag, etc. etc.  We figured out yesterday that we were smarter than the pack-n-play, which was a relief.  It took a bit more work to get it back down and put away today, but again, we were the victors.

Now it's just a waiting game though!  Baby Z is living up to his name and is a little monkey in there, some days feeling like he's swinging from my rib cage, others like he's just bouncing from organ to organ.  I'm getting paranoid about Christmas, so I've been online shopping like crazy!  A few more good days at work and I think I'll feel like we're in pretty good shape should I have to take off a few weeks early.  The waiting, waiting, waiting is hard though...the time has flown by, yet it seems like forever at the same time.  Other than discomfort/pain while sleeping, I really can't complain about how I'm feeling though.  So far I've even managed to avoid the pregnancy waddle...we'll see if that remains true over the next few weeks!

I did manage to get one project done for Baby Z on the crafting side.  Months and months and months ago, like last winter, I took a baby blanket crochet class.  I started a blanket, and then set it aside about 80% of the way done in order to start on one for my youngest niece.  One project led to another, and I never got back to it, and I haven't exactly been full of energy and crafty these last few months (despite the best laid plans...someday I will get those valances made for the nursery!!).  Last week though, I FINALLY got the blanket done, and it felt good to cross a project off the list.   

By the way, my Rose Bowl prediction ALMOST came true, as my Spartans came thisclose to getting the Big Ten Rose Bowl bid.   I think it shows Baby Z is both a Spartan and Hawkeye fan though, as this way neither of his parents is going to have to regret not getting to go to Pasadena to see his/her team play :)

I better get back to work, so much to do when this "nesting" bug hits!