free at last

Let the countdown begin!  Baby Noah should be here in two and a half weeks, but I have developed a completely irrational fear that he will never come.  Yes, I realize this is crazy because he can't stay in there forever, but I also can't imagine going into labor anytime soon.  Thankfully my OB will only let me go about a week past his due date, so he should certainly be here by the first week in January (for tax reasons, everyone keeps telling me to make sure I have him before the end of the year, as if I'd wait longer if it were up to me...).  At my appointment last Thursday, which was a few days shy of 37 weeks, he weighed in at exactly 6 pounds, so it doesn't sound like I'll be having an enormous baby, and that is just fine by me.  I was 8 weeks early, and Jake and Ben were in the 7 pound range, so it seems fitting that Noah will be in the 7 pound range too.  The dilemma I am having with this is that I don't know what size clothing he'll wear, so I am stocking up on a few newborn and one preemie outfit just in case.   As Ben has pointed out several times, baby Noah already had more clothes than he does, but the majority are for 0-3 months or older, and I have a sneaking feeling those will be too big right away.  The good news about being half way through week 37 is that Noah is now considered full-term.  Of course the closer we get to 40 weeks the better, but at least he is fully developed should I unexpectedly go into labor.  I am having weekly OB appointments now, and at my appointment last Tuesday, I was only 1cm dilated and 50% effaced.  They will check me again next week, so I am crossing my fingers for progress.

As I near the end, I am still feeling pretty great.  I've noticed I get really tired after being on my feet for a long time (aka after a full day of shopping), but I am still able to exercise and generally have a good amount of energy.  The heartburn is still here but not as bad as before and sleeping hasn't gotten any easier.  To continue to prepare for his arrival, we completed a childbirth education class two weekends ago, and both Ben and I found it to be rather unhelpful.  The only important thing we learned is when to go to the hospital after labor starts, which is something I'm pretty sure my OB would have told me.  This weekend we're doing a breastfeeding class, and I am hopeful that it will be more informative.  We also met Noah's pediatrician yesterday and really liked him.  He'll come meet Noah the morning after he's born and check on him each day until we leave the hospital. 

In other news, I am finally free from work and officially on vacation!  It was a rough few weeks transitioning all of my projects, but eventually I wrapped almost everything up and hope to do minimal work for the rest of the month.  My first few days of vacation have consisted of a lot of errands to get ready for Christmas and Noah.  Ben and I adopted a family through an organization called Families First, and I had to deliver their gifts yesterday, so Monday involved a lot of shopping and wrapping.  It was really fun to get gifts for the family and we'll definitely make that a tradition.   I've also almost completed my Christmas shopping, and once that is done, it will be time to tackle some house projects and make some meals to freeze.  Ben is a little nervous about the nesting that has been happening but generally tries to humor me.

This past weekend we also had our first two Christmas parties, which unfortunately fell on the same night this and last year.  The first was Ben's work party, and it was great to spend time with all the wives I don't get to see enough.  Then we had a neighborhood party at the Millers' house, which was just as fun as last year except that I was completely sober (I figure I've made it this far, what is a few more weeks?).  We have three more parties this weekend, and I have to say that the maternity clothing world is sorely lacking in holiday attire.  I have searched everywhere for holiday outfits and come up with almost nothing, even if I were willing to spend a lot of money.  In the end, I found one shirt that is holiday-ish and have one that I can still wear even though it's not maternity, so I am scraping by. 

Since I don't have any good pictures of me from the last few weeks (I'll take one this weekend), I figured I'd share some George and Nibby holiday photos.  Jingle Dog, as George is now known as, loves his jingle collar, but the Nibby wasn't feeling it.  Also Ben has boycotted shaving since the middle of November and I'm not sure at this point what it will take to get him to shave.  Labor maybe?