38 weeks

Stats on May 21st, 2013

Gestational age: 38 weeks
Weight: -.5 pounds (Gotta love losing weight when you are pregnant!)
Total weight gain: 26 pounds
Dilation: 4cm

Last night I started having some pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions.  Strong enough that they were slightly painful, but nothing that made me stop what I was doing to get through them.  I had the dilemma of going to sit on my exercise ball (which usually gets my contractions going) or go watch tv and lay down.  I chose to lay down since Forrest is sick.  I would like my husband to not be feeling like death while I am trying to labor naturally.   The contractions eased a bit, but continued through the night.  Today they have been every 10-15 minutes.

While I know that being 4 cm dilated means absolutely nothing - I did come home from my appointment and finish packing my hospital bag - just in case.  Squirt is lower than she was a week ago, but my cervix is still pretty long.  Our plan is to head to the hospital as soon as I have 3-4 regular contractions in a row due to how fast Selah's labor was (4 hours total) and I want to be ready.

I am feeling pretty fantastic.  Squirt moves frequently and I love to watch my belly rolling and contorting with her movements.  She doesn't have the hiccups very frequently, but it is always funny to me to feel them in my hip/butt when she does.  I am getting up 1-2 times a night to pee, but honestly it doesn't bother me.  That first middle of the night pee is my favorite - because it feels like a normal non-pregnant pee.  Getting back to sleep is a chore, but I'll deal for the next few weeks or days.  :)

Forrest and I have narrowed down Squirt's name to 2.  We don't have a middle name yet, but I am pretty sure I know what it will be.  The kids are starting to get really excited about her arrival.  Selah keeps asking when I am going to leave them so they can go to a friend's house.  They also ask interesting questions like "How is she going to come out of your bottom?"  "Are these (my boobs) full of milk yet?"  "How do they get full of milk?"  It is pretty entertaining.

We are just waiting for Squirt to make her arrival.  Will I make it through Memorial Day weekend?  Will she be a May baby or a June baby?  How big will she be?  Is she going to look like her siblings or be completely different.  Can't wait to find out!