37 Weeks

With the dissertation, defense, graduation, and trying to get everything ready for baby, my bump pictures and updates here have been seriously lacking. But, I am in the home stretch and have no idea how much longer baby girl will be on the inside here, so I thought I'd do another post for good measure. No big deal, just 11 weeks have passed since that last one....

How big is baby: Swiss chard. This girl is somewhere around 6 or 7 pounds already.

Weight gain: Somewhere around 18 pounds. My weight has fluctuated a bit at my last few OB appointments.

Sleep: Mostly ok, but the last several weeks have been increasingly uncomfortable. It's the weirdest thing to wake up sore. I've been sleeping with a pillow between my legs trying to support my hips, but it isn't awesome. It also isn't awful.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I had to swear off a few certain sweets that were just too tempting and too risky on my blood sugar. No real cravings or aversions.

Exercise: I got in a lot of activity with graduation and my parents being here this weekend (lots of errands running), which came with a few gnarly lows. I'm fairly active, but it isn't really dedicated exercise.

Movement: She is still quite the mover and shaker. I love that now I can identify body parts when she jabs them out. The rump and her little feet make frequent appearances.

Belly: Behold:

I definitely had some weirdo dudes last week make comments about how big I am ("Are you sure you aren't due May 8??" "Is it twins?"), but really the bump is fairly petite for how far along I am. I feel pretty massive, but have pretty much forgotten what I used to look like...

Symptoms: Getting stuck in seated positions, difficulty bending over, a giant belly....lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions (and some that have started resembling real ones, but not regularly). Basically, I a super pregnant.

Diabetes: I seem to have hit a pretty good groove with no major changes to my dosing in the last few weeks. My numbers are mostly in the target range, with a couple post-prandial highs (that really aren't too high) and a few lows here and there. I'm pretty happy with where my doctors and I are right now with my care.

I've had my induction date set for awhile now, but my docs are becoming more and more convinced I won't be making it all the way to June 5. My twice weekly non-stress testing has shown that I could be admitted any day for delivery. When I found that out last week, I was quite panicky. Now I've come to terms with it, and must admit I'm rather eager for her to get here soon. Of course, her health is my first priority, so staying in to cook a bit longer is just fine with me. But, I just cannot wait to meet her. I know I will ache a bit to not have her as an actual, physical part of me once she's born, but I think I'm about ready to meet her and share her with all of these other people who already love her so much.