Week 37

I am finally full-term, which means it's less risky if Shuler decides to come early now. Every day this week I've woken up thinking today might be the day, but Shuler hasn't agreed so far. Tomorrow we go back to the doctor to find out if I'm any further along. If they send me home, I'll post an update here. I'm hoping they'll just keep me and we'll have a little Shuler by this weekend :-) I am getting more uncomfortable by the day, so that would be great news for me. Stay tuned...

I just noticed that my blogs have been a little too reflective of my mood. If you are interested in what has brought this on, keep reading: Since my 32nd week I've been having cramps/contractions and my sweet baby dropped lower into my pelvis, placing all of his weight onto my bladder. It has gone downhill from there. Jason says that I have displayed 9 months of stereotypical pregnancy symptoms in 1 month. I never ate more than I used to until this month; now, if you get between me and the food, you might lose a hand. Pregnant women cry? You have never seen a woman so hysterical for no reason until you have lived with me for the past month. It is ironic that this is the one time in a woman's life that she cannot drink, smoke, or take heavy medication - things that may have once made me a little anxious, now send me into a full-blown nervous break down. I didn't think I would use the phrase "I just need to lie down" so often until I was at least 80. At least 3 out of every 5 of these little episodes are because I have once again read or heard something about giving birth. Never say the word "tear" around a pregnant woman. Did you hear that pregnant women pee alot? I am now the proud owner of a padded toilet seat. Thought we had another 60 years before that one too. Sleep? Ironically I have never been so tired in my life, but cannot sleep more than 2 hours at a time. This is what my days have been like for the past week or so: I get out of bed and get in the recliner about 5am; I sleep in the recliner until about 7am when Jason gets up; by then Shuler is telling me it's time to eat - this week it has been Oh's Cereal (I've been through 3 boxes in a week and a half).; Koozie and I usually nap in the recliner until 9, when I am awoken by a baby playing then bongos on my bladder; I usually take another nap around 3pm and sometimes another one between 5 and 7. In between? when I'm not running to the bathroom, I am doubled over with cramps, counting contractions that go away just before I convince myself it's time to go to the hospital, complaining about any of the above, and occassionally I get these random bursts of energy that find me in the nursery fussing over the same things over and over again. How many times can you pack and repack a hospital bag? Apparently I have set the record at 4 so far. I usually complain for about an hour around 8 or 9pm and then give up and get in the bed. I sleep great for about 2-3 hours and after that the intervals of sleep between bathroom visits get shorter and shorter as I get increasingly uncomfortable with pains in my back, hips, and belly until finally I am lying in the bed contemplating things I can do with Jason's sledgehammer. Shuler usually wakes up about this time and starts kicking me. These little kicks have gotten lower in my belly in the past week, which reminds me that I am going to be seeing him soon. This thought calms me down enough that I move to the recliner to start my day again. It's a magical time...