Pregnancy: 38 Weeks

How far along? 38 Weeks 2 days

It is just 12 days until our due date.  In less than three weeks, I will have a baby. This is getting real.
Total weight gain/loss: 50ish, I thought I would be little and gain little.  I was wrong.  It hasn't been the easiest 9 months ever, so I guess I'm not shocked. I am very much ready to have him and be able to get loosing the extra pounds.
Maternity clothes?  Wearing my weekend pants. I have an old Old Navy pair of strechy pants, and it is what I wear each weekend.  Looks like I will be repeating my work outfits for another week.  

Stretch Marks? Veins veins veins, and a very purple one... Is it a stretch mark? I don't really think so, but I will give it another day or so before I decide.   

Sleep: Everything I read says that not sleeping at this point is totally normal, so at least there's that.  

Best moment(s) this week: Getting off work on Friday... haha! It was a very long and emotional week for me.  My mom is an ultra-marathoner, and before pregnancy, I was training for my first full marathon.  The news of the Boston Marathon bombing was very hard to hear.  Then, the fertilizer plant explosion in West isn't that far from us and the community we are a part of.  Teenagers are just not as sensitive about things because it's hard for them to wrap their minds around it all.  It made it a very hard week to teach them.

Miss Anything? I miss exercise. I can't wait to start walking with the baby & eventually running again! I miss laying on my belly! OMG 

Movement: His feet seem so big!

Food cravings:Food! Nothing much, just hungry.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I drank a ton of tea that I heated up in the microwave because I am also fighting a cold/sinus thing (yes at 38 weeks pregnant, fun).  It with my heartburn made me a little sick at one point, but it passed quickly.   

Gender: Moose Boy!

Labor Signs: Okay this is where I'm trying to document this for myself for next time, trying to share with others that might also be pregnant, and learning to be less sensitive about what I share. That being said this could verge on TMI... I have been having a great number more contractions this week.  Baby boy feels like he has dropped to me. I feel like his head is below my panty line and like he might just stick it out and say hi at any given moment. Been losing my plug, too.  I am 1 cm dilated, 50 % effaced, but cervix is still very high. (That was as of Wednesday when I saw the doc this week.)
I read this great article that was "25 Signs That Labor Is Starting." It said X can mean labor is starting or it could be weeks away. X can mean labor is just hours away or it could mean you ate something bad. Every single sign meant labor is just moments away OR it could mean NOTHING. So really, even as I share my own labor signs it all could mean I'm actually going into labor right this second, or it could mean jack.
Symptoms:  Heartburn, achy back, swelling, slightly elevated bp, exhausted!
Belly Button in or out?Yeah, I don't have one anymore.
Wedding rings on or off? Off :(
Happy or Moody most of the time? Very moody this week
Looking forward to: Moooooose time! When? When? When?

My doctor went to a conference out of town this weekend, so I was really afraid the baby might try to make his appearance.  It's officially Sunday afternoon, and the doctor is coming back tomorrow so maybe we have skated by.  I won't count my chickens too early, but it's looking pretty good.

On Monday, we have 7 weeks left of the school year.  I asked the baby to just stay put until I didn't have to come back to teach this year, and I have budgeted to have 6 weeks off so maybe he heard me.  Yeah, teachers don't get paid maternity leave, so that's been a hard thing to work out... No matter when he arrives, now, it's really so much less stressful than it was when I was afraid he might show up WAY early.

God is good! He has a plan that is far beyond my understanding.  Doing my best to put it all in his hands, even though I keep asking, "When????" Haha!

Lots of Love,
The Rileys