37 Weeks

Woo Hoo!  I'm officially considered full term!  Although I'm still pretty convinced I'll still be pregnant for at least 3 more weeks, it feels good to know that if the baby would come today, he/she would be healthy.  According to babycenter.com the baby weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard).  Thebump.com has its last fruit/vegetable comparison this week too:

 Photo Courtesy of thebump.com

Seeing as though the baby is considered full term, there is not much in the way of development going on anymore.  The lungs continue to mature and the hair and fingernail continue to grow.  I saw Dr. Bale yesterday.  He said that everything still looks good.  My cervix is continuing to efface but still no dilation yet.  Baby is growing like crazy!  Matt and I have felt the limbs and it is starting to get more and more evident as to which body parts are protruding out of my belly.  It is such a cool feeling!  I always thought that a baby moving inside me would be annoying and it has been the complete opposite!  I actually think that feeling the movements inside of me will be one of the things I actually miss about being pregnant!

Matt and I continue to keep busy getting ready for baby's arrival.  I am in full fledged nesting mode!  It's like my body and brain are at war with each other.  My body is saying, "Lay down - you have an extra 20 pounds to carry around and you are exhausted!"  But my brain is saying, "Clean the toys, the bottles, the clothes!  Put everything away.  Set everything up!  Put together all the baby stuff!"  Over the weekend my mom and I went to Babies 'R Us to exchange all the duplicates of gifts I got at my baby showers and to pick up a few things that I needed.  When I got home all I wanted to do was organize everything.  Matt made a delicious dinner - steak, potatoes, broccoli etc.  He actually had trouble pulling me away from the nursery to sit down and eat.  I'm telling you, this nesting business is no joke! 

Matt is of course helping to organize everything as well.  He and Rick fixed the bath tub on the main floor (it wasn't plugging).  He has also been putting stuff together like a good dad.  Here are a couple pictures of him putting together the swing.  He was getting a little bit frustrated at one point and I couldn't help but laugh just thinking of all the things that he will be putting together (and getting frustrated with) for our little one over the years. 

We also celebrated Matt's first Father's Day over the weekend.  It was a beautiful day!  We started the day off with the church service at the nursing home to see Matt's Grandpa.  Matt's Grandpa is going to be 92 years old in August.  He hasn't been doing great lately.  You can tell his mind is still there, but he has trouble talking and communicating what he needs.  When we got to the nursing home, he was sleeping in his wheelchair, so he didn't see us come in.  At the sign of peace I walked around (we were sitting behind him) to give him a kiss and a hug.  When he saw me his face lit up and he said clear as day, "Baby!"  It was awesome!  Later that day we had a little party in his room.  Most of his kids, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were able to come.  It was so nice and grandpa was in great spirits all day long!  Here is a picture of Matt with his grandma and grandpa on Father's Day:

After the nursing home, we went over to my parents' house to celebrate with my dad.  Matt made some really good ribs for the occasion and my dad made some barbecue.

Matt opened his Father's Day gift from the baby at my parents' house.  Here's a video of him opening (the video is poor quality - we need to get a video camera in the next couple weeks!)  Just a little background - When our nephew, Will, was a baby we got a picture of him sitting in his Bumbo with a little onesie that said, "Baby" on it.  Matt looked at the picture and said, "Seriously!  Why do babies wear outfits that say 'baby' on them?  I mean I know you are a baby.  You are tiny, you have drool running down your face and you are wearing a onesie.  I don't go around wearing shirts that say 'Adult' on them!"  So here is what baby got for his/her daddy:

Father's day was a great day for all of us this year.  We are feeling so very, very blessed!

In the midst of everything else, I also finished my sewing class this past week.  Here is the finished product:

This bag is FAR from perfect, but it is functional and I really learned a lot!  I'm hoping to get some time to practice and maybe even take another class starting this fall.  I guess we'll see how things go once the baby arrives.  But I really did enjoy the class and I hope to continue learning!

Many people have been asking me about the nursery.  It really is looking very nice lately thanks to the nesting that I mentioned above.  However I have not gotten it to a point where I can take good pictures in there yet.  Just to satisfy some people I did take a picture of the room before we put anything in it.  Unfortunately I did not get any good before pictures.  I do have something that will do for now though.  Anyway, here is the before and after of one of the corners of the empty room:

My parents' neighbor and good friend, Ginny Schweiss, is making the curtains for the room.  Those should be up sometime in the next week or two.  As soon as those are up I will take some pictures of the finished product.  (It will not quite be finished since we are waiting on purchasing some artwork etc. for the walls until after we know the baby's name - but it will be close enough!)

Onto this week's belly pictures.  This week we did not discuss much as we took the pictures.  We pretty much were just in awe that I'm already 37 weeks.  I can't believe we will only be doing this 3 more times!  (Well 4 at the most according to Dr. Bale).  Here I am at 37 weeks:

There is no doubt that my belly has dropped based on both the photos and the fact that I have had to use the bathroom a LOT more often lately!  We'll get yet another update as to where I am from Dr. Bale next week, but as I said earlier, I still really feel like I'm going to go at least 40 full weeks.  I'll let you know more as soon as I know it.