36 weeks

though i am just now getting around to posting these 36 week belly photos, i will actually be 37 weeks here in just a couple days......

on saturday to be exact.....  

while i was trying to capture a couple images, my sweet little boy kept saying "belly" and "blaire" and "kisses", so though it is a little blurry and i am awkwardly bending down so he can reach me, i thought this photo was really precious!  he is going to be such a wonderful big brother ;)

i am really poking out there.  i have heard lots of funny and interesting comments about how i look ready to pop; and believe me, that is exactly how i feel.

i have very few shirts that seem long enough for my belly, and i have actually started feeling really uncomfortable in maternity pants.  none of them have panels that go up high enough, and there is nothing worse than wearing a waistband part-way up my belly.  in these shots i am actually resorting back to my pre-preg pants with a belly band.....

makes me feel pretty good about myself that i can still fit my butt into them!

sort of helps to soften the blow that i have now gained 20 pounds. 

that is 4 pounds more than i did with hendrix.

and, she could still wait another couple weeks to arrive.

wowzers.

i have really gone back and forth about how i am feeling.  over the weekend i had a couple rough days and was really thinking that she would be born very soon - but i am now thinking it might have been my body reacting to just having such a full plate.....and i am settling back into the role of patiently waiting mama.

she has definitely dropped, i can see that, feel that, and the doctor noted that at my appointment on tuesday. i am feeling a ton of pressure down low on my pubic bone, but that is giving me some relief up higher on my rib cage and lungs.  it isn't terribly uncommon to drop a couple weeks before you deliver from what i have read though.......it just makes sitting and walking a lot less comfortable.

i made it to the appointment where you get tested for strep this time (hendrix was born before that ;) and had my first cervix check in which the doctor found that i am 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced.  she said those numbers are no prediction of anything to come and are in the very normal range for this point in time.  in contrast to my first and only cervix check with hendrix, which was the day before i delivered him, i was 1 centimeter dilated and 70% effaced.  my hubs is convinced that following in that pattern......today will be the day.  he thinks he is going to get a phone call that will pull him from work and change our family dynamics sometime today!

i did have some braxton hicks last night, and am randomly awake at 5:20 am (which is really not a normal scenario for me).  usually i try to sleep until the last minute possible - in fact, most mornings my toddler starts pounding on my shoulder saying "wake-up mommy" and then literally takes me by the hand and drags me out of bed......

it is so interesting to now be almost two weeks past when i delivered with hendrix.  while i am soooooo thankful and feeling so very blessed, i am emotionally unsure how to proceed with my schedule and plans.  i have a few things on the calendar for the next couple weeks, but most of them are easily "skippable" and i keep telling everyone that it all depends on blaire's arrival....

but honestly she could make me wait until the end of the month.

heck, she could make me wait until november.

i don't really want to think about that though......lol

the doctor said she is really happy with how far i have made it, and would consider it safe to have her anytime now.  yippee!  so i guess that really takes the fears and pressures away, and i can just relax and let it happen when she is ready.

here's to being all ready, and just patiently waiting!

blaire is going to look so sweet snuggled in her crib.....i really can't wait to meet my sweet lil babe ;)