Monday, March 2, 2009

Shower's over and we're at 37 weeks.

Congratulations to us - 37 weeks! Full term baby. No more hearing the words "pre-term." This baby's done anywhere from now til when he feels like coming out. I just finished watching disc 1 of the Lamaze DVD I bought to make up for the birthing class that we probably won't make it to. If my husband's sullen, sleepy disinterest is any indication. We'd scheduled one for 34 weeks and then my doctor banned me from going, and now it's late enough that they might not have one soon enough or might be booked up.

My baby shower was fantastic. It was a bit rough preparing. I had to get the house ready, but I wasn't really supposed to be cleaning much. It worked out fine. My two friends who were planning it, and couldn't ever meet up or talk before due to scheduling conflicts, got it together the last week and had perfectly complimentary schedules on the day of. They tag teamed it and it worked out perfectly.

I got some really thoughtful, really great gifts. Board books, about 3 blankets, a footprint kit a cradle swing, a floor gym, about 15 more outfits, a carseat head support, a boppy baby pillow, a baby food book and at least 1 or 2 more fabulous things that I can't remember without getting up and walking to the nursery.

We brought the furniture back in, painted all white. We've got 2 more wardrobe things from Ikea to put together still, but the room's getting close to done. I finally took all the clothes and gifts out and comingled them (had kept the pre-shower gifts separate) and sorted them by age. I have tons of newborn stuff and almost as much 6 month old stuff. I also have a few 12 month and older outfits. Very nice. He won't be naked.

I have so many blankets and receiving blankets and lap pads. Tonight I finally got the courage to do a load of baby laundry. No Dreft for me. I'm using All-free, which we already use. It has no dye, no perfume and gets good word of mouth ratings from people. Found out today that fabric softener isn't a good idea, especially if it's dryer sheets. I was a little terrified of washing stuff because I felt like, in addition to making the wrong choices, I might not be able to remember what all the various squares are without their little tags and boxes. Would I recognize a lap pad? Would I remember which sheets go to the bassinet vs. the crib? All sorts of silly fears. I got over it (only took me all day of procrastinating) and just washed.

I also discovered that the 9 onesies I have for newborns were apparently made from baby dolls and not real children. They call it newborn, but it's really for preemies. It's for 5 to 8 lbs. Most babies would be out of those things in like 2 weeks. My baby probably weighs 8 lbs in utero already, no exaggeration. So they are going back to wherever. Not sure, but I think they sell them at Walmart - the Gerber onesies. The Carter stuff had more reasonable size estimates for newborn stuff.

I'll post some shower pics tomorrow. I'm really sleepy. And now that my inlaws are on Facebook (yes, roll please) I don't have to rush to post stuff here for my MIL to see - she can just check Facebook.

I'm not really having many signs of labor yet. I might be having Braxton Hicks, but they are really subtle and not painful. The baby hasn't dropped yet, or not entirely. He's still living under my right ribs. I'm getting these not-so-cute side stitches and plucking of some groin nerves like Sciatica, but worse. But none of the really strong symptoms like I had before at 28 weeks. This baby may surprise us all and be a full 40 weeks.

But I sort of doubt it. It's easy to stay in when I'm on my back all day, but now that I'm up and about, I start feeling it if I stand more than about 10 minutes. I kept hopping around at the shower, but I really paid for it a couple of times. And I refuse to keep sitting down because 1) I've got to finish his room and 2) I'd like to strengthen myself for labor - I hope everything hasn't atrophied after two months sitting on my booty. I'll need a little more endurance than that.

So without me artificially keeping him in, I don't know how long he'll stay. I didn't want to ruin the baby shower, so I took it easy last week, but this week I want to go to the movies, go out for dinner, finish the baby's room, buy the last things that we need that no one else got us, return stuff, etc. We should start a little betting pool. My bet is that he'll last til about 38 weeks and then come a little bit early. I also predict that I won't feel the initial contractions until he's right upon me.

I'm so thrilled we made it this far! We'll soon see, right?

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