Almost 37 Weeks!!

23 days until my due date! I can’t believe it. After “changing the date”, I thought it would drag on, but everything still seems to be flying by. In two days I will be 37 weeks officially, and Bennett will be considered “full term”. That is a great relief for me – not that I thought he would be premature or had any reason to worry, it’s just a milestone.

Baby size averages for this point are just over six pounds and 19 inches… pretty incredible! We had an ultrasound on Tuesday, but it was a quick one. They wanted to see how my fluids were, and all levels are still normal. I’ve gained another 1.5 pounds in two weeks and am starting to feel Bennett drop! It’s the strangest sensation… I feel a lot of pressure low, especially in the morning for some reason. The Braxton Hicks contractions I have been having for weeks seem to be increasing, but with no rhythm or reason to make me believe I am close to labor. I am going to the doctor weekly now and will start getting physically examined to determine “where I am”. It still is a ways off, I think (though just in case, the car seat is in the car and the bag is packed!).

While I am excited and anxious, I know that Bennett will come when he’s ready :-), so I am trying to practice the virtue I usually like to pay NO attention to: PATIENCE (I think that is beginning to grow with me in a general sense in the last couple of months and wonder if that is one way I am naturally preparing for motherhood). My mom had a looooonnng labor with my brother… So when she went into labor with me, she REFUSED to go to the hospital until she absolutely felt the need… Also, back then they wouldn’t let you walk around in the hospital and she really didn’t want to be confined to a bed, uncomfortable for hours once again. Anyway, she did some house work, scrubbed the floors and then my mom and dad started watching Cheech and Chong’s “Up in Smoke”… What can I say? They were hippies! ;-) Anyway, they were about half way through the movie when my mom said, “Okay, it’s time, we need to leave”… and my dad said, “You can’t wait until the end?” Haha… So they left at around 5pm and it took them ~ fifteen minutes to get to the hospital - - and I was born at 5:36pm!!! I was almost born in Detroit rush hour traffic – in a car! And it’s a good thing I wasn’t, because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and I was blue… not a major problem, but it WOULD have been for my mom and dad in a car by themselves and as it was my mom couldn’t hold me for a few hours! The story of my arrival makes me laugh every time I think of it!

My emotions are out of control lately… everything makes me cry. And those animal cruelty commercials with Sarah Mclachlan singing in the background?!? FORGET about it!! Other than that, funny things are happening. Colostrum has recently found its way out of my body on two separate occasions ;-), and if you don’t know what that is, I AM NOT EXPLAINING! Oh, and yesterday I had a case of the “toots”. I still don’t “fluff” in front of Quinn (no joke), so I kept running to the bathroom… and the last time I did, I wet my pants. AWESOME. But honestly, all is well. I still feel good and am in the home stretch!

If you haven’t joined the “Bennett pool” (guessing birth date, time, weight and length) and want to, copy and paste: www.expectnet.com/games/BABY_BENNETT_POOL. I will give you a couple hints, if they are even “valid”… I was born two days before my due date, was 8 pounds exactly and 21 inches long. Quinn was born on his due date, was 10.5 pounds and 24 inches! Happy guessing! :-)