Week 36

At 39 inches around and boasting a weight gain of 22 pounds, I'm just one inch and one pound shy of my final tally when we went into the hospital to deliver Abby. Too bad it looks like I've got more than one week left...

Our doctor's appointment this week confirmed that the baby is in a head down position and very low, but so far no dilation. Things are, however, "softening up" as they should, according to my doctor, and she and I are hopeful that his low position will speed things up when the time comes for Caleb to make his grand entrance.

Caleb must be able to hear all our talk about our preparation for his arrival, because he has been jumping with excitement for the last week. His movements are violent and unmistakable and I'm certain that if he keeps this up much longer he will indeed kick right through the walls of my abdomen. Perhaps he's annoyed with all the intense Braxton-Hicks contractions I've been having lately (the fake ones that are readying my body for the real thing). While annoying and painful at times, these false contractions are a good sign that my body is doing what it should to get ready to push our little one out into the world where he belongs.

In other news, Caleb's nursery is officially ready for his arrival, though I'm sure we won't have everything in place for a while. I'm still waiting to hang a few very cool pictures of his grandfathers and great-grandfather flying fighter jets and need to ship some fabric to his Nana to make some curtains. Mimi's visit over Christmas yielded some bedding essentials that allowed us to get the crib all set up, so at least he has somewhere to sleep when he gets here, and Justin's hard work paid off to give us the perfect blue and khaki colored walls and, finally, some overhead lighting in the nursery.

In Mommy news, I'm officially over being pregnant, and the countdown to our arbitrary due date is constantly running through my head. I'm back to taking one or two naps a day as Abby allows, and have given up all hopes of checking things off my to do list in favor of sitting down and reading Clifford the Big Red Dog to my daughter while she tries to make room for herself on my ever-shrinking lap. We've tried to explain the impending arrival of a baby brother to her, but I'm certain she has no concept of what we're talking about. I have shown her some pictures of a baby inside the womb and explained that mommy has a baby inside her belly too, and that little lesson did end with her trying to kiss the baby...it's real cute to see my 16 month old plant a wet one on my stretched out tummy!

Please join us in praying for a safe delivery and a healthy baby boy when the time comes. I'll be praying that the time comes very soon!