36 Weeks: 28 Days to go!

We have begun the final countdown... I hear the final Jeopardy song playing in my head... the time is near.... are we ready... NO, but we are getting close. It is CRAZY to think our little girl will be here within the month. This week my plan is to pack our hospital bags and clean out a few closets.

I am feeling pretty good... just very big. In fact, this is the first week I feel extra puffy... I am thinking it is from water retention, but who knows. I am going to lay off the sodium to see if that helps. I am also having a lot of pelvic pain and pressure, so bad that I could barely get out of bed this morning.

• I am starting to swell :( I can still wear my wedding rings but may have to retire them soon. (being 9 months pregnant in this heat is so much fun).
• 3/4 of my belly button is still "in".
• I am sleeping pretty good, switching sides is quite the event these days but I fall back asleep pretty quick.
• Addison's movements are getting to be very painful. Yesterday I though she was trying to escape from the side of my belly... OUCH!

Tomorrow is my 36 week doctors appointment, I will post about that tomorrow.

The most exciting news is that I hired someone to help me around the house. Her name is Cathy and she is best friends of one of my friends from church. Cathy has 4 kids under 4, and is an amazing Christian woman. I met with her last night and she is just awesome! She is going to come every three weeks to do a deep clean... I am beyond thrilled!

From the Baby Center: Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term.