nic and i went out for dinner the other night and ran into a couple that was in our bradley method class with their new baby. they recently bought a house not too far from us. it was good to see them, especially because it's proof that if she could one day not be pregnant anymore and be able to enjoy all you can eat tacos and beer, then i will be able to do all those things too!

i'm proud of how relaxed i am right now. i might not seem relaxed, but if you know me even a little bit you would probably use the words "high strung, " "neurotic," "senseless worrier," etc. to describe me. anyway, i've been pretty even-keeled as my due date gets closer. a big part of that is getting big stuff done around the house and minimizing and temporarily phasing out all my other responsibilities. it's nice to know that i could go into labor tomorrow and not feel like i'm leaving tons of loose ends.

speaking of going into labor tomorrow, wouldn't that be great? i think so. i'm thinking that i'll go during the last week in august sometime. i don't think i'll make it to september 6th. i'd like to go into labor next week since it seems like it would be a good time to go....but i have a feeling i'll hold on until the last week of the month.

been feeling ok. considering. i ended up staying home half the day on tuesday. i was so weak and tired...and it was pretty humid that day. this week the weather has been really comfortable, but i know it's going to get hot again next week.

we started with the evening primrose oil and i made a big pitcher of iced red raspberry leaf tea last night. i wanted to take the dog out on a walk last night, but i've reached the point where i can't bend over, so picking up dog poop is out of the question.

i really don't have too much more news for you. probably won't until next tuesday's midwife appointment!

we may be good looking, but we can't count

so, nic and i were a little off in figuring out how many weeks along we were. no matter what, the sept. 6th due date stays static, but for some reason we grossly misjudge if that means we're 33 or 38 or whatever weeks. about a month ago we were shocked to find out we were at 33 weeks....now we were convinced we were starting our 38th week when this thursday will mark our 37th. none of this really matters anyway. we found out today that i've started to efface a little bit and we got some great pictures of nic finding the heart tones in the doctor's office. evening primrose oil starts tonight and i think i've officially begun the maddening habit of desperately searching for new signs that labor is coming. things slowing down at work hasn't helped because now i have time throughout the day to think too much about each braxton-hicks contraction. i think i'm going to be thinking about this more obsessively at work since i've tempered down many of my responsibilities here and if i were home, i'd have cleaning and organizing to obsess over!

the baby has dropped. i have an appetite again and i don't feel like i'm breathing through a straw for most of the day. though, even just looking at a glass of water sends me to the bathroom about 16 times a day. most of the time for unproductive trips, might i add.

i got a big whif of nesting instict yesterday. before sunday brunch, i just wanted to clean and organize the kitchen and dining room in the worst way. and i was the one who needed to do it. however, when i got that surge we were on the way out the door to walk to hi fi for brunch. a walk there and back in the hot sun and a big breakfast burrito totally took the wind out of my sails. we spent the rest of the afternoon laying in the air conditioning watching the brewers game. the kitchen did get cleaned once we got home from sunday dinner and as long as it's not too hot after work tonight, i forsee having the energy to get even more done.

so, gentle reader(s), dare you venture a guess as to when she'll be born? i already have one person at work who has guessed not only a day, but she is guessing the weight/size as well. i have nothing to offer the winner of anyone who guesses correctly other than a high five. but i fully endorse gambling when it comes to guessing my delivery date.

yep. it's official. i'm officially ready to be done. so, uh, any day now. come on, baby! any day now....you ready? because i'm ready. so, uh, just come on out! you seem to be in the right position. we have crib sheets for you now. so, just slide right on out! that's right! you don't even have to take your time. just, uh, make your appearance. work stuff is wrapped up enough and we have enough done at home. plus, you have lots of clothes to wear. i would think that a newly remodeled bedroom and a new wardrobe would be enough to get you to want to come out. plus, we even have a dog to bark at you and cats to pee on your stuff. it's not as bad as it sounds. you can totally pee on the cats if you want to. see, a new bedroom....new clothes...and permission to pee on stuff. what else is there? nothing.

A rough night of sleep and a hot and humid day and I'm wiped out.

Plus, I've been getting dizzy spells midday. I think it's because when I am done metabolizing breakfast, I am DONE and need food immediately. Gotta keep snacks in my purse, otherwise I risk passing out.

My ankles are swollen now, one moreso than the other. The baby moves constantly throughout the day and all I ever want to do is just rest.

ONE MONTH TO GO

Today is August 6th. My due date is September 6th. My goal is to post here at least once/day until she's born since I've been so terrible in keeping up with this blog throughout the pregnancy!

I saw a chiropractor for the first time on Saturday. I was always a little hesitant about the whole chiropractic thing. But now that my back and hips are getting all out of whack, I figure it's worth a shot. Plus, she specializes in prenatal care and she went to my high school. So far, I'm pleased!

We now have a 98% completed bamboo floor in the baby's room. Nic totally rocked the flooring. He had such great practice doing our bedroom that it was no problem for him to whip through the baby's room. Cheri and TJ dropped off the crib yesterday and Mo and Nona helped Nic set up the crib while they were there. (Note to all mentioned parties: Thank you so much! The crib is great! And Mo, we promise we'll stop putting you to work at our house.) We washed all the clothes and blankets we've received as presents yesterday in Target brand baby detergent. The room just smells like baby too. And so do I. I've started using one of the bottles of Johnson's Baby Lotion we received as a present. I read somewhere that this is one of the ways to get your pets adjusted to the baby--through the smell. I've also seen a special CD on the internet of a baby crying to play for your pets. Seeings that that sounds pretty annoying, I'm just using the smells-method. So now we have a nursery and a place to put baby stuff.

That's all I got for today. It's going to be a week of high humidity and muggy heat. Expect a litany of crabby posts.

0 to crabby in 60 seconds

I'm in a terrible mood today. I must have been soundly sleeping for the better half of the night on my right side, because an excruciating pain woke me up around 5:30 in my right hip. I still haven't mastered the side-lay position where one knee is jutted out a bit further from the other to staggar the hips. Most of my side sleeping is done straight on my side. A combination of a full sized bed and 54 pillows of every shape and size to conform under and around my sore body makes it difficult to take up a such sleeping position. But I digress. I woke up with this pain...no, with a PAIN in my hip.

And my left shoulder was hurting from the little bit of sleeping that got done on the left side. And my stomach is too heavy for back sleeping.
And the graphing calculator and engineering degree needed to arrange said pillows for the possiblity of stomach sleeping was out of my reach at 5:30 this morning.

So after a frustrated hissy fit, some absolute moaning, realization that I couldn't even sit up in bed because that put pressure on my hip, and a failed attempt to sit up with Nic and lay/lean against him, I just got up. I showered and came into work an hour early. I'll probably duck out a bit early. And I've scheduled a massage for myself tonight and I'm meeting with a chiropractor tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll sleep well this weekend.

Oh, and all of this along with too much caffeine this morning has left me very crabby today. I'm glad it's a quiet day.