Almost Here!

I've decided its time for another blog post. This month is almost over and I cannot believe how time has been flying by! Since my last post: We've made our last trip to Champaign (probably until May for my amazing sister-in-law's graduation!), had 2 baby showers (I cannot believe how blessed we are by the people in our lives), my best friend got married, and I've successfully made it to full term! Life has been so busy but incredibly great!
(Just a brief warning: I go into symptoms/side effects of late pregnancy so if you don't wanna know, don't continue reading... might be TMI)
Last week I had another ultrasound of baby girl. She has flipped and is in the head-down (correct) position for birth! No crazy interventions or a c-section scheduled! She was measuring in at approximately 5lb10oz at 36w2d. That puts her in the 24th percentile. Everything looks great! She was awake during this visit, so I got to see her move a little (there isn't much room these days). I got to see her put all of her fingers in her mouth and stick out her tongue. It was so cool to see her moving! She also has a lot of hair! I could see it flowing/moving in the amniotic fluid! I cannot wait to meet her and see her grow and watch her little personality develop! We have also started weekly appointments. In the past few days, my Braxton Hicks have been a lot more frequent. They aren't painful; they do make me lightheaded and I feel very low in oxygen or I get very flushed and warm. All normal apparently. The bathroom trips have gotten a lot more frequent, so I'm hoping that is from her dropping down getting ready to come! Sleeping has become a thing of the past. She actually never wakes me up from moving... its my body. Just gearing up to be a baby delivering machine I think (hip and back pain). These last couple weeks are going to be the hardest I think. Physically and emotionally. I'm not anxious or nervous about the delivery at all yet. My mind set has been very positive. My body is designed to do this and it knows what to do. I just need to relax and let nature take its course. So far I've been doing pretty good. Other unfortunate side effects of late pregnancy have been extreme swelling. I have pitting edema in my ankles. For those of you who don't know what that is: basically when I touch my ankles, I leave a fingerprint indent. Its lovely. Pretty much everywhere else is swollen too. My ankles are by far the worst.

The nursery is almost completed! (once EVERYTHING is done, I will put up more pictures... here is sneak peak.) I finished sewing the curtains yesterday morning and I went to the store and finished buying the rest of the stuff we needed. I still need to finish my wall art project and hang a couple things, but its ready enough for her when she comes. Plus she will be in our room in the bassinet at first. Most of her clothes (NB-3months) are washed, diapers and wipes are stock-piled, everything (bottles, pacifiers, toys) has been sterilized and cleaned, and the baby swing is set up. I feel like all the important stuff is done :) We also installed the car seat and had it inspected at the fire station! And the Go-Bags have been officially packed!  We are good to go!!

Hopefully I'll post before she comes, but if not: next time I write, we will be parents! I'm beyond excited and so full of joy and love!

<3