Showers, Cervixes and Swelling, Oh My!

That's right, as if Baby T and I aren't the luckiest girls on this whole Mother Earth as it is, we've hit the jackpot one more time with good food, friends, and fabulosities! My two best Minnesota friends threw me another baby shower where several of my favorite girlfriends that I never get to see anymore all got together in one place! Thanks to Angie and Jesse for allowing us all to convene in your house! And YES, Ang had the above-pictured onesie made especially for our girl. How adorable! (Not pictured is the other that she had made, "Obama 4 President"...I am not above using my kid as a walking political billboard...At least she's getting involved!)

Here are the Pretty Party Planners themselves: From left to right: Lovely Angie and Liza!! Thanks for everything you did for me! For the record, Angie is an up-and-coming event planner and so everything was put together flawlessly! If you're in need of event planning services for anything (wedding, anniversary, bar mitzvah, etc.) feel free to shoot me an email and I'll get you in contact with her. She will put something together for you for CHEAP while she's finishing up a few college courses, so you may as well take advantage of her before she starts charging an arm and a leg like everyone else out there! :)


The attendees from L-R: Liza, Jen, Erin V., Jennifer, Angie, Erin S., and Nancy

My Stash and I! Man did we make out like bandits AGAIN!!

Have I told you about Jen who I work with? Our due dates are exactly TWO DAYS apart! What are the chances?!? It has been awesome to go through this experience with someone else who is incidentally much more knowledgable than I (this is #2 for her!). All I have to do is walk next door to her office and ask her the latest icky question of the day and she's usually armed with a quick answer supplemented with an anecdotal experience to make me feel warm and fuzzy for not being the only one, all without phasing her in the least! Jen and I do feel a little bad considering that our office location only has four people working out of it, which means that they will be losing HALF of the office to maternity leave all during the busiest time of the year. SORRY SMP!! Here are Jen and I at 36 weeks:

My boy Sawyer just keeeeeps on growing. He's just about ready to upgrade into a new car seat at a little under five months!

Erin V. and I making the only gang sign that matters: Michigan WHAT?!? (Yes, that's supposed to be the mitten and the U.P.) Erin and I met back in the day while we were waiting tables at Bennigan's. We wondered why we clicked so easily...It's gotta be the Michigan ties!

Thanks to all for the amazing shower and gifts. I appreciate it so much and am so lucky to have such wonderful friends in my life.

Alongside my belly, there are still other body parts of mine that continue to swell. As I was mentioning in my last post, my feet and ankles have been the biggest culprits so far. I snapped this shot of my piggies last week and already I am looking at this thinking "that's nothing anymore!" So yes, it's gotten even worse. They are like Play-Doh now, like where the top of my foot is all pushed up into a mountain where my flip flop straps were sitting. In addition, I officially have "cankles"! And trust me, this is a big deal coming from someone who is known for her chicken legs!

I also promised a before and after shot of my bathroom floors in last week's post. Feast your eyes on this nastiness! (Note the waterstain around the toilet...GORGEOUS!)


This is actually rotted-out wood trim near our shower. We had tile trim put in so the moisture can't get to it. Snazzy!

As if any indicator is needed...AFTER and AWESOME!

And as always, the pregnancy poses! Here I am at 36 weeks:


Finally, as promised, an update from my 36-week doctor's appointment. This is where it starts to get fun and interesting!

Firstly, I found out that I have been on the incorrect week this entire time...OOPS! My due date remains the same (9/2), but I was thinking that I was only at 35 1/2 weeks this week when really I am at 36 1/2!!! This means that as of Tuesday I will be at 37 weeks which is also considered FULL TERM! I could have her at any time and she will be perfectly healthy and fully developed.

I've gained ANOTHER six pounds in the last two weeks so now I am weighing in at a large and lovely 156 pounds. I feel like Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! Could some Oompa Loompas please take me to the juicing room?!? Her heart rate is still chill...Between 147 and 152. My kind of baby, nice and relaxed! (I say that now, huh?!?) Cervix is still high up (it is supposed to descend as the day gets closer) and is not dilated in the least. As I report each week (if I'm making any progress) it should go from a 1 all the way up until I give birth which is where it needs to be at a 10. So for now, no spontaneous labor in sight which I'm actually okay with for now. Ask me in a couple of weeks!

I reported that I had not been experiencing any Braxton-Hicks contractions which are sort of like practice contractions for your uterus which prompted Cardo to ask "just what is a contraction anyway?!?" She did finally give him the answer he was looking for and also showed us that I was experiencing a contraction right then and there! My tummy felt all hard when I laid down and then it softened up a few minutes later. I couldn't feel anything from the inside, but it was still crazy that this whole time I hadn't noticed anything of the sort. Let's just say I'm not one that pays attention to detail, I guess!

So, that's it for week...36!!! I'll be reporting from the homestretch side of full-term next week! Of course, the doctor's office will be seeing me weekly from here on out, so I expect to post after each with updates.

Hugs!

D and Baby T