Baby E Update: 36 Weeks

Happy Sunday!  It’s that time again – another Baby E Update!  Now that we’re less than a month away from our “guess date” I’d say we’re in the home stretch.  Just a few more weeks and we’ll get to meet our little guy!

How far along are you? 36 weeks.

Cravings:  I had a big craving for chocolate pudding this week, which led to a semi-meltdown due to not having said pudding because Marc couldn’t read my mind that I wanted it.  Oh geesh, the things that pregnancy hormones make us feel/say/do.  Other than that, not a whole lot.  In fact, not a lot has been sounding great to me.  Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been an eating machine lately, but only because my stomach tells me I’m hungry, not because my mind is telling me I’m craving anything in particular.  This has been kind of annoying to me, as I typically know exactly what I want to eat, but lately I could stare at the refrigerator for 10 minutes and find nothing appealing.

Oh and a cherry dipped cone has been on my mind for WEEKS but the rainy weather hasn’t seemed ice cream-appropriate.  There was finally a sunny day, so we took advantage of it and hit up the DQ.

Food Aversions:  Nope.

Generally Feeling:  Still feeling pretty good but tired.  I’m doing a lot of the same exercise, including running, despite the weird looks when I am out around the lakes, but I’ve been doing more prenatal yoga lately for stretching and barre classes for strengthening, which feels great.

While last week I was feeling unmotivated and lazy, this weekend I’ve been in straight-up nesting mode.  Garden and flowers have been planted, hospital bag is packed, refrigerator is cleaned out and organized, I did some spring cleaning on my closet, and we finished some projects that have been hanging over our head for months.  Feels so good!

I’m also feeling a mix of being ready to be done with pregnancy and super excited to meet our baby, but also already nostalgic and missing pregnancy.  I just know I will miss feeling him in my belly and this special bond that I have with him right now.

Looking Forward To:  My mom coming to visit for a couple of last days of mother-daughter time.  I’m thinking pedicures and some shopping are in order.  I’m also looking forward to slightly shorter days at work, as I’m cutting back to 8 hour days (right now I work 10 hour days).  I’m thinking this will help a little with how tired I’ve been feeling, since 10 hours of working on my feet was just a little too much and I figure my body could use a little break before the baby comes.

Miss Anything:  Being able to put on shoes like a normal person, sleeping on my stomach, not having to pee every 30 minutes (the struggle is real), and being able to go, go, go, all day without feeling like I was run over by a truck.  Even though I’ve been feeling motivated to get things done the past couple of days, my energy is definitely a limiting factor.

Movement:  Lots of wiggles and kicks!

What I’ve Been Loving:  I’ve been obsessed with this Instagram account of a little girl and her two golden retrievers.  I can only imagine all of the fun our little guy and Maddie will have.  Hopefully.  See below regarding Maddie’s odd behaviors lately.

Maternity Clothes:  Yep.  I’m still wearing all of my non-maternity workout clothes, though the choices are getting slimmer by the week.  At this point, I am refusing to buy any more maternity clothes, so my belly just might have to peek out a bit during yoga class.

Boy or girl:  Boy!

Other thoughts:

-Both Marc and I are getting a littttttle freaked out at the thought of bringing home a baby.  Don’t get me wrong, we are *sofreakingexcited* we can’t even handle it, but seriously – how do we know how often to feed him?  Or when do we change his diaper?  Or develop any sort of schedule that parents swear by? And what kind of hobbies do newborns have?  I want to make sure he’s not bored with us!  And WHY HAVEN’T I READ ALL OF THE BABY BOOKS BY NOW?!  What have I been doing the past 8 months??

-Maddie is going through some issues right now.  She’s still been seeming down and sad, so much so that Marc was convinced she got Lyme’s disease from the ticks up North even though we’ve checked her 20 times for ticks since we have been back.  She’s also been following Marc around like it’s her job.  Me?  She could care less about.  But if Marc simply gets off the couch to refill his glass of water in the kitchen, she follows him.  Does she smell some hormones that I’m putting off?  Is she appalled at how big my belly is getting?  We’re not sure what’s going on but I’m convinced now that she knows something is happening.

-I’m still a huge fan of Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter.  No stretch marks yet, and my belly is always super soft.