Week 36

It's March, y'all. And I'm 36 weeks. That means baby could be here in 2 weeks, or 3, or 4, or heavens help me, 5 weeks. I had thought by this time I'd be climbing the walls, bored, anxious, etc. But I still feel so busy and pre-occupied with work that there is little time for obsessive pre-baby nesting that I thought I'd be wrapped up in.

How I'm feeling physically:

• At 35 weeks I went to the doctor in the morning who gushed encouragingly about how well I'm doing - good blood pressure, low risk, made it to 35 weeks, etc... I felt large and in charge, but by evening, I was wincing at my swollen feet and how they sting and self-prescribing bed rest for myself the next day. Yes, this is what it looks like for me right now. When the lows come on, they feel intense.
• The foot swelling is getting to me - well, it's limiting me. I have to be careful how much time I spend vertical versus horizontal now, or swollen, stinging feet are the price.
• I am having occasional Braxton Hicks nights. It's like a ladies night for contractions. They like to come and party in the dark. I have started to wonder what they mean, what I'm feeling, what I will feel when real labor starts. I know this is not real labor, but it makes me wonder.
• There are no stretch marks yet. For reals. I'm afraid they're waiting to jump out at me like bogeymen in the last weeks. After all, this baby is going to gain 2 pounds - a third of his size - in the next month. 

How I'm feeling emotionally:

• My bouts of nesting from the second trimester have long passed. I wish I'd get the urge, but all I want to do is chill. Car seat? Not installed. Nursery? Not finished. I'm making progress little by little - but it feels less like a military attack and more like inching my way forward.
• A few weeks ago I felt eager, ready for baby to arrive, but my most recent fear (probably unrealistic) is that he will arrive before I've wrapped things up at work, or just after. I want some time after work stops - a few days, a week, to rest and get my head together before that happens. 
• I know I'm no "foxy lady" right now, what with the ever-present messy bun, granny cankles and Chinnie hangin' round, but it seems in the last month I've felt more at ease with living in a pregnant body and a lot of my body issues seem to have flown the coop.

Highlights:

• Another baby shower last weekend! It was a tea party theme, which I loved. We used this fancy china tea set that once belonged to my husband's grandmother and had scones and cucumber tea sandwiches and millionaire bars and berries. We did some crafty things together - made a pom-pom mobile to go over the crib and decorated onesies. Soooo much fun, so special. But it felt like a marker in time, a threshold I'd just crossed. This is it, the clock is winding down now.

• This isn't my most flattering photo from the shower... but here's the thing, I kind of love it because I can see in my face how happy I am and how much fun I'm having in a spontaneous moment. So screw my ego, I'm posting it anyway.

• Hubby and I went to a birth class together and learned a variety of ways to deal with birth. We learned all about slow-dancing, rebozo, booty slaps, aromatherapy and other things that would make your hair curl.. We're getting ready! 
• But we still don't have a name picked out. If this makes you nervous, you can only imagine how nervous it makes me.