pregnancy [week 35]

I'm almost surprised that it took until the last day of the last week of my 8th month of pregnancy to be so miserable as to take a belly picture with no make up, hair wet from the shower, wearing pajamas, and just not giving a damn.  I had stayed home from work in fear of the painful and repeated [non-labor] contractions I'd had the day before.  Other than utter exhaustion and normal pregnancy-related body weaknesses, I ended up contraction-free during the day and didn't experience an encore until that evening.  While the returning pain wasn't as scary and didn't last nearly as long, these Braxton Hicks are definitely making me wonder how much longer I'm going to be able to work.  I've been planning all along to stay on until I go into labor, but I'm not so sure of my abilities anymore.  Mainly, I'm just so freaking tired and uncomfortable that I'd love nothing more than to sleep all day, everyday, until Simon comes.

a cuter photo of me from earlier in the week

 Niners are going to the Super Bowl!

But don't get me wrong; it was actually a pretty great week.  We started things off with our very last baby shower, thrown by my fabulous and supportive co-workers.  Eric drove up to my school to join in the event, and boy we had no idea that he'd be joining in on the festivities in a performing capacity!  (I'll share more later!)  Then we had our hospital tour; we were in a group of about 10-15 couples and it felt so strange to be around so many other pregnant women.  Our group got to witness a woman in labor coming in to the hospital to check-in, which was so surreal and a little bit frightening for me.  Also as we were touring the family waiting room, we heard the lullaby play that signals a baby being born.  Hearing the tune nearly brought tears to my eyes and made me imagine the lullaby that will play for my family and friends when Simon comes.  The tour was great and I feel so lucky and thankful that I will be giving birth in such a state of the art, nurturing facility.  And finally as you saw above, we have a crib!  After sorting through all of our shower gifts, we gathered our duplicate items, gift cards, and the old crib we were given by our wonderful friends Jeff and Kerry that unfortunately we couldn't assemble due to missing pieces, and headed down to Babies "R" Us.  With the help of their trade-in event, we were able to recycle the old crib in-store for 25% off the purchase of a new one, and factoring in our gift cards and reimbursements from our returns we were able to save $100!  Simon finally has a bed and it was such a relief getting this major to-do crossed off our list (plus, it was a real treat watching Eric assemble the crib; he's really a dad now!).

 a preview of the baby shower shenanigans

At 35 weeks, our growing boy is the size of a coconut, and after deciding that I didn't have the energy to go out and find one, we ended up seeing some at the store yesterday... and they were way too small!  What isn't small is this baby, though; The Bump says that my uterus has grown about 1,000 times its original size!  As crowded as my lungs and other organs feel, Simon is crowded in his watery home as well and all of his movements and rolls make my belly protrude in crazy directions.  The swelling in my hands and feet--and sometimes ankles--has become a daily occurrence and is really starting to become uncomfortable.  My wedding band is always tight and now makes a clear indentation on my finger.  As much as the swelling and water retention is bothering me, I doubt it's anything outside of the ordinary, but I still plan to bring it to my doctor's attention at my next appointment.  Topping off the list of this week's symptoms are recurring back pain, regular leg cramps that wake me several times during the night, and persistent heartburn.  I know I am coming up on the finish line, but I'm having SO. MUCH. DISCOMFORT.  Simon is so going to be worth this long wait, but I am surprised to find myself already saying that I'M DONE and I don't think I'll really mind too much now if he comes a little early.  Baby boy, your mama is tired!