36 Weeks!

This week the Little Princess has taken some pressure off of my ribs, which I greatly appreciate. However, this hasn't reduced my acid reflux much yet. I'm still hoping it will eventually. Contractions are regular and at times painful, but I am so glad to have them since they mean less real-life labor (so I hear). It's been a win-some-lose-some-Charlie-Brown situation as far as pregnancy aches & pains go: my upper back gets so tired carting around her weight, but my restless legs have gotten far more manageable; walking is harder than ever, but I'm not waking up to eat in the night anymore. She is taking up more room in my belly, which means that I get to "chase" her all the time with my hands. If I just lay my hand on my tummy, she moves in response, without fail! I think she must be responding to the warmth... My abdomen usually looks lumpy with some appendage of hers poking out. Her favorite position is still head-down, curled on her left side, with her heels digging into (out of?) my right side. At least now that she's lower they don't dig into my ribs anymore. Actually, I find it comforting and familiar by now. I often walk around doing stuff with my right hand on her feet. I'm sure I look sort of odd, but oh well.

We can't wait to meet this little girl and find out what she looks like! I can't wait to SEE and know I'm holding her hands or her elbows or her knees instead of trying to guess which it is! :) We continue to rejoice at a healthy, relatively easy last trimester... so far, no swelling, sugar, protein, or blood pressure problems. I had my Group B strep test done last visit, and as soon as those results come in they'll send my records to the hospital, because from here on out any time is fair game for her Grand Entrance. Our birthplan is ready and signed by our midwives, and now just has to be signed by our pediatrician.

All right, I'm off to make some waffles for brunch, write some Pre-K curriculum (more like update it) and then pick up some frames! Yay for the last days of summer. :)

PS Ryan and I had a WONDERFUL anniversary and I will post stories and pictures later.