37 Weeks: FULL TERM

Maybe it was the photo shoot I did on Saturday morning, chasing a 2-year-old boy around, squatting, standing, kneeling, running. Maybe it was the Bills game on Saturday night, plus the drive to and from the stadium. Maybe it was the apple picking in 90-degree heat on Sunday, or the six hours I spent in the kitchen preparing meals to freeze.

Regardless of what it was (and hey, maybe it was a combination of everything!), I think I have turned a corner in this pregnancy. And it's not a corner you want to turn, really.

I am tired.
I am sore.
I am uncomfortable.
I have puffy, fat, Fred Flintstone feet.
I am WADDLING, people. Waddling like a freaking penguin.

But praise Heaven, I am FULL TERM! So I've been talking to this baby and telling him/her that he/she is more than welcome to come on out at any time now.

37 Weeks Pregnant

(For a progression week to week, check out the compilation of my belly photos I put together this morning. It's hilarious, actually, to see how bright-eyed and energized I look in the second trimester, and how that has gradually disappeared until I now look exhausted in every photo.)

Have I mentioned that the forecast features 90 degree temperatures every day this week? Because apparently I need to be elevated to a whole 'nother level of miserable.

I cycle back and forth between practically begging this baby to come out, like, NOW, and being scared shitless that ohmygod, the baby might come, like, NOW. I am simultaneously so grateful to be at the end of this part of the journey, while I am also trying to hold onto every last minute of it. It is quite confusing.

But mostly, I am just READY. Really ready. Ready to evict this little person from my body and welcome him/her to the world with open arms.

I have debated whether or not I want to share the state of my cervix with the internet, and if you don't want to hear this... TURN AWAY NOW. But this blog is a journal and who knows, maybe I'll want to remember this part some day. At my 36-week appointment last Wednesday, I had my first "check" and I was 1 cm and 50% effaced. And even though I know it means jack, I was still kind of surprised and definitely happy to hear about any kind of progress. Now I'm looking forward to my next appointment on Thursday to see if things have moved along any further.

I have some kind of weird "feeling" about next week. I don't know, week 38 just seems like "the week" to me. But it's very possible that is just wishful thinking. I guess we will know soon enough.

In the end, we are nervous, but we are SO excited. We want to meet this baby so badly. I "know" my baby right now. I know his/her hiccups, and the way he/she wiggles back and forth after I eat. I know he/she prefers to hang out on the right side of my belly. I know his/her heartbeat, and that it usually measures in between 135-150 beats per minute. I know baby likes to stick its butt out at the top of my belly, loves to cause mommy heartburn, and is taking up so much room in there that I almost always feel out of breath. We have watched him/her grow as we have watched my belly grow.

I know all these things, but I am ready to really know my baby. I am ready to know my son or daughter.

Come on out, Baby. Meet your parents. Let us give you your name. And say hello to the world.