38 Weeks

I'm 38 weeks pregnant today!  How insane is that?  I could have this baby anytime (but I hope she waits until some of this snow melts).  I seriously doubt she'll be making her grand debut anytime before my due date but especially not two weeks before it...I haven't been having any contractions and I'm not showing any other signs of impending labor.  I am getting slightly more anxious to have her but I still haven't even switched gears over to that ridiculously uncomfortable, "get her out of me right now," stage. 

We, like much of the east coast, are having a snow day today.  All of our snow days up until now have pretty much been a joke.  Not this time! 

Always love the snow on the evergreen trees!

This is my attempt to show you how the snow comes all the way up to the bottom of the window on the sliding glass door...it doesn't convey in a picture very well!

Our beautiful trees in the front yard.

Our kitties have been providing us with quite a bit of entertainment.  You see, they are indoor cats but they often beg to go outside and we sometimes let them just out on the side or back deck.  Well, today, for some odd reason, they have been begging incessantly to go outside so we opened the back door and not surprisingly, they weren't too keen on going out once they realized that there was about 10 in. of snow on the deck.  Funniest part is that they keep begging to go outside anyways...like the snow has all magically melted since they begged to go out two hours ago!  Haha.

So desperate!  It doesn't help that little birds have been frequenting our back deck.

I wasn't able to capture him looking wistfully outside.

Last night, I took advantage of the fact that we finally had enough snow to make snow cream...

Can you spot my bowl?

Oh, and I made puppy chow with dark chocolate chips and coconut oil!

So, there you have my snow activities.  Other than this, I baked some banana-coconut muffins yesterday and I am bummed because I got a little distracted and over-baked them a bit.  My main motivation for making them was to freeze a few to have to eat while I'm in labor (or after I have the baby, or to share with my midwife/doula/etc.).  I'm so bummed that they didn't come out perfectly that I just might bake another batch sometime soon!  I also have been doing some organizing around the house.  I am making a small dent & hoping I have time to finish everything before going into labor.  There is just a major lack of time, energy & endurance to get it all done!

Here is my belly as of today.  Sorry I look like a bum...but there is no way I'm putting on makeup just to take my belly pic!  Oh yeah, I almost forgot...Happy Valentine's Day! 

And here are my stats:

How far along?  38 weeks

Baby is the size of a: leek (length, not size...see disclaimer below)

Symptoms:  Backache, pelvic pressure, loose joints, intermittent ankle swelling (it was super exciting when I woke up this morning & had ankles!), indigestion/heartburn, fatigue, fetal movement, occasional hand numbness/tingling, clumsiness, forgetfulness, etc., etc...

Sleep:  Not so great.  I started this new thing this week of not being able to fall asleep right away.  Guess I shouldn't complain if pregnancy insomnia is just starting in my 38th week of pregnancy!

Number of times I get up to pee each night:  Once again, it's more like, "How often I get up to pee each night:" and the answer is every 2-3 hours.

Best moment this week:  Is it sad that I can't really think of anything?  I haven't been able to get much done so I don't feel very accomplished and nothing particularly exciting has happened...

Miss anything?  Sleep (back-pain free sleep), pretty much anything to do with back pain...being able to go from lying/sitting to standing without back pain.

Food cravings:  I just told Jeff that I want some pizza (he suggested it earlier and it infiltrated my brain), ice cream and pretty much anything sweet/chocolate, last night I couldn't put a finger on exactly what I was craving but I knew it was something fried (mozzarella sticks?), this morning I wanted bacon with my pancakes (we never buy bacon) and Taco Bell!

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Salad still does not sound appealing to me but I haven't actually tried it recently to know whether it would make me queasy or not.

Movement:  Yeah, every once in a while I get worried that she's not moving as much as she should so I poke her incessantly until she moves (haha) but overall, she's quite active.  I love that I can see actual body parts moving around in there.  I don't so much like it when she pokes me in sensitive places or tries to scrunch up in a corner of my womb.

Stretch marks?  Nope!

Belly button - in or out?  It pokes out a little but I'd still say it's mostly flat.  It definitely looks hilarious though since my pre-pregnancy belly button was a deep cavernous hole!

Wedding rings - on or off?  Still on!  A tiny bit tight at times but no real noticeable hand swelling.

Mood:  Not excellent but I guess it could be worse.  Just a few moments of breaking down crying like a toddler every now and then.  Jeff & I have had a few more arguments than usual lately...I guess that might be par for the course here for a little while, huh?!?

Looking forward to:  Checking stuff off my to-do list and having this little munchkin!

Baby preparations:  Still doing a few small things here & there but mostly I'm trying to get some organizing/cleaning done around the house that is not absolutely essential but will make for a much more pleasant post-partum period! 

What the baby is up to this week according to Babycenter.com: 
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she is over 19 1/2 inches long (about the size of a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.
Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Babycenter's disclaimer about using a leek for this week's vegetable comparison:   Editors' note: We know what you're thinking – "There's no way my baby is the size of a leek. I feel ginormous!" Well, as much time as we spent at the farmer's market and on the USDA site, it wasn't easy to find the perfect produce for every week of development. The leek is just an approximation.