36 weeks

We've moved on to the last part of this pregnancy and boy, am I getting into the official stage I like to call "Get-This-Baby-Out-of-Me-Please" (soon to be followed by the next stage with the same name, just without the "Please" at the end). Yikes. It's like I hit 36 weeks and all of a sudden things got more uncomfortable.

I actually hit 36 weeks on Monday, Jan. 18. So today I'm 36w4d or something. The past two days have been terrible in terms of puffiness in my hands and feet. Yesterday I committed to drinking a ton of water to combat the puffiness and I think it helped, but only a teensy bit. I guess I'm just one of those pregnant women who is susceptible to edema in late pregnancy. I've strayed away from salty foods this week as much as I can (although I couldn't pass up some of the yummy breakfast dishes at MOPS yesterday morning) and carry my water bottle everywhere. I'm going to try to sit with my feet up more often today and I just realized this morning that when I was pregnant with Emma, I wore those teeny ankle socks instead of bigger winter socks and that helped my feet feel less ginormous. It is sometimes frightening to take off your socks at night and see big indentations in your legs!

I also had my 36-week appointment with Dr. Webb on Monday, where she checked me and told me basically nothing. She literally said, "Nothin'!" She was so cheerful about it, which cracked me up. Not that I expected to be dilated at all at just 36 weeks, but a girl can hope, right? Especially with such a long labor with my first, I am hoping my body catches on to the dilating thing a little quicker this time around.

I was very surprised to hear the nurse tell me my blood pressure was 130/64. That top number has never been that high. I'm always somewhere around 100/62 or something. The nurse didn't seem concerned, as I had run into the office a few minutes late and I had Emma, her stroller and bag and was a little winded. She said it was probably just from rushing around that morning and since the bottom number was still low, it wasn't a concern. I also looked up normal BP numbers for late pregnancy and most places I looked said that it's not a concern unless the top number is 140 or above. Even so, I don't like that 130 and hope that my next appointment on Monday reveals a normal 100 or at least 110 or something.

Gotta buckle down in the kitchen today. Emma's 2nd birthday party is tomorrow (woo-hoo!) and I'm really excited for it. I am surprisingly calm about it all, even though I have a lot still left to do. I have had great help from people and I'm thankful. Once her party is over, then I just want to make her actual birthday special (it's on Tuesday and we already have a few fun things planned) and then ... besides wrapping up a few photo discs for clients, all I have to focus on is prepping for labor and Kasey's arrival! We've got to pack our bags still and finish some things in Kasey's room. Plus, I'm hoping next week will be a freezer meal extravaganza and that I can pack our garage freezer with meals for the next month or so.

I still have pics and details to share from Kasey's shower and some updates on his bedroom. I have to finish editing my client pictures before I'll edit my own so as soon as I get done with those, I'll post some pics! Off to the kitchen -- time to shape my cupcake bites! :)