35-36 Weeks Prego

In the words of my two year old, "I wanna open baby!"

Two things I love about this quote. Number one, it tells me she understands the concept of pregnancy (to a small degree), and she's expecting a baby one day. Number two, the simplicity of her view on the whole situation just puts everything into perspective, doesn't it? Plus, it eloquently encapsulates everything I'm feeling right now--my anticipation, eagerness, excitement, joy, etc.

Well, I wouldn't say that I'm ready, but I'm close! Tomorrow my daughter's going to be at my mom's for the whole day. I plan to make a mad tear through my to-do list (see below), and pamper myself as well. Prenatal massage is scheduled for late morning. I can NOT wait! I don't feel the least bit guilty about spending these dollars. It's going to be bliss!

Here's my to-do list (and I've already marked quite a few things off, so this is a shortened version). Can we say type-A? It gives you a good idea of why I say I'm not quite ready for this baby to come; and it gives you a peek inside my head to see what's consuming my thoughts lately.

Finish editing projects (2 left)

Pack hospital bag (yep, after that big rant and lots of warnings from friends about early deliveries, I still haven't finished this. I do, however, have a bag started. And when I say "pack," that means I'm going to make a list of everything I want in the bag. I probably won't pack until I go into labor or closer to Sept. 11th--my self-prescribed due date).

Make a big-sister crown for A.

Paint picture frame (technically it's painted, but it needs another coat, and we ran out of spray paint--this should say "buy spray paint" too).

Hang picture frames (which won't be possible until after Saturday when my hubby picks up our furniture. Until then, it's just a task hanging over my head that I really can do nothing about right now).

Babies R Us shopping--any of the necessities I haven't received from my showers and still need to be purchased. (I've actually done most of this online, so I might be good to go, but you never know).

Type out (reminders, breathing patterns, pain management techniques, birthing positions, etc. as a) cheat sheet for my hubby. (Since we're going doula-less, he's the doula. I've been giving him tips every night so I don't overwhelm him all at once. And, the cheat sheets should cover all the basics).

Prep hubby's birthday (i.e., at least buy him a present--and maybe the ingredients for his cake/dinner. His birthday is six days after my due date. I know I won't be buying anything--unless it's online--once baby's here. I probably should plan family birthday parties, too, but those might have to wait until we see which day Baby Ninja actually comes).

Type out a food preference sheet--a friend has already volunteered to arrange meals for me; I just need to write down some suggestions/guidelines people can follow if they want.

Pack my daughter's suitcase (again, by "pack" I mean make a list for now).

Applique curtain (I made a curtain to cover the bookshelf in the nursery that houses my work supplies, books, and sewing. Right now it's plain white. Once the nursery is assembled, I'll pick something fun to add to the curtain. This is another task that has to wait till at least next week. It's pretty low on the priority list.)

Order baby shower present for another friend--I might be out of time for this one. May have to just contribute to group gift =)

Put up fall decorations in my house. (Fall is BY FAR my favorite season, so I go all out. I've got boxes of decorations organized on recently purchased handy shelves in my garage--thank you, nesting--and I know if the decor doesn't go up before baby arrives, it's not going to make it up this year, and that would make me very, very sad).

Prep camera and video camera--download all pix/videos, clear memory, charge, pack chargers.

Put together a nursing box (this is the box my daughter will only be allowed to pull out while I'm nursing. There will be special toys in there that she can play with during nursing times. The goal is to make sure she doesn't feel excluded during numerous baby feedings throughout the day).

Pick music I want playing in delivery room

Pay taxes (ah, the joys of being self-employed. The nice thing about the timing of this baby is I won't be making any more money this year, so I can pay through the end of the year and not have to worry about it again until next year).

Order baby shower gift for my cousin--she's long distance, and she waited to find out the gender of her baby (born yesterday--it's a boy!); so my family has put off buying her a present until now. I really want to find something special and practical!

Order mattress for crib--the semi-organic one I want is only available online. This isn't a top priority because I won't be using it for awhile, but it would help to have the mattress with bedding on it to really bring the nursery together. So I'll probably order it sooner than later =)

Finish photobook--free photobook on Picaboo right now. I'm trying to do a book with just December of 2009 in this one--that's how far behind I am. At least it's free. I'm liking the program so far, but Snapfish is still my favorite to work on).

I'll knock a good majority of this out tomorrow. I'll probably pack (really pack) after Labor day. And I plan to knock a few of the other things out after I finish this blog. Are you overwhelmed just reading this? Sorry, I actually feel more organized and calm knowing it's all written down, and I have a plan to be completely ready for baby.

As far as what I'm going through right now--I'm definitely bigger (pointier) and more uncomfortable than I was with my first pregnancy at this point. Sleeping usually leaves my hips feeling sore because of my belly's weight pulling on them all night. I'm gaining more weight than I did with my first--only a few pounds, but all of those pounds have been from this last month. I'm constantly hungry, and I'm craving sweets (especially ice cream) like crazy. So, instead of my average pound-per-week weight gain, I've been averaging two pounds the last three weeks. I keep remembering how hard it was to get rid of baby weight the first time around, and I'm trying to use that as motivation to put the spoon down and walk away from the sugar; but it's not working very well =(

I haven't made much progress as far as dilating or effacing, but that doesn't bother me. First of all, I plan to do as much walking as possible in the next week to get things moving. Plus, I've been resisting the contractions up until now. From this point on, I'll be welcoming the contractions and allowing my body to use them to prepare the baby. Plus, I had made no progress the morning I went into labor--my midwife checked me and figured I'd go until 41 weeks at least, but I started labor that night--so I know my body doesn't necessarily need to progress a long time in advance before labor begins.

Okay, time to get back to that to-do list!