38 Weeks + 6 Days - Nothing Much

Last night was my last weekly OB appointment (woo!).

Sadly I really don't have anything to report. At this visit I was 100% effaced, baby is dropped down where he should be, but I'm still only 1-2 centimeters dilated. I suppose that makes sense. I'm not having any contractions (besides the 2 hour weird menstrual cramps on Sunday) so why would I be dilating more?

Are you wondering if I have my birth plan worked out yet? No not really. Which is very strange for me since I'm such a planner. It's because I don't know what is the right decision to make. We are still set for the induction. I talked to my doctor about my concerns about doing an induction, but also wanting to try things as natural as possible. She hopes that with all the progress I've made (with out having any big contractions) that we will need minimal drugs to get things going, and hopefully it will all go pretty quickly. That made me feel better, but who really knows how it will go?

Although she's been telling me I would go into labor on my own for the past 2-3 weeks (but predicting birth is a guessing game I suppose). . . .but I do hope she's right about the labor. I am happy I made it this far. I want the little guy as cooked as possible.

So here are some of my pregnancy stats:

- Weight gained: 29lbs (as of last night) - not too bad! I believe 25-35 is recommended.

- Stretch Marks: Nope!!! Thank you Mom for your wonderful genes.

- Morning Sickness: I was queasy a couple of times (it never lasted long), and I never puked!

- Best Part of my Pregnancy: Hmmm, being spoiled by Jared, not having to do much house work, and feeling the baby move/kick. It's such an amazing feeling.

- Worst Part of my Pregnancy: (don't hate me for this) but I had an amazing pregnancy I really can't say there was a "worst" part. I guess if I HAD to pick something it would be the first 6 months when my skin was breaking out like a teenage boy, but even that wasn't horrible. Just hard on my vanity.

- Any Aches or Pains?: I had two days where I over did it at work where my back was killing me, but I felt better after about two days. Around 25 weeks I had a little sciatic pain while sleeping, but once I bought a maternity body pillow that fixed that. Other then that, no pain or discomfort!! (again, don't hate me! :-)

- Swelling: None to minimal.

- Nervous About Labor?: Heck yeah I am! Who wouldn't be?

- Am I Ready to Be a Mom?: Uh, I don't think I'll ever be "ready." But I'm excited to start this next phase in my life! I will say I'm ready for a family, but. . .I'm nervous if I'll be a good mom or not. That's where the not "ready" part comes in.

- Food Cravings?: Pink Grapefruit jelly fruit slices, chicken pot pie, chili, and spaghetti (probably the most frequently eaten meals in the past 9 months), and now lately oranges

- Was the pregnancy planned?: Yup! I really didn't think we would get pregnant so fast (it took my parents 7 years to have me) We tried for 2 months, although since they moved my due date 2 weeks, I really have no idea when we conceived.

- Any Huge Body Changes?: Well of course the weight gain. I got that line down my belly (linea negra), and my boobs got a lot bigger (this could be a pro or con depending on your opinion). I think that's it.

- What is your secret to having such an amazing pregnancy? LUCK! But seriously. . . no idea. I was in good shape before I got pregnant. I worked out about 3-4 days a week. I drank a TON of water through out my pregnancy. I have a 32oz water bottle, and I drink at least two of those a day. (I think this helped with the no stretch marks and no swelling too) I also rubbed coco butter on my belly every night, but I don't really know if that did anything. I stayed active through out most of my pregnancy too. Up until about 23 weeks I was going to the gym, walking a ton, and doing a pregnancy workout dvd. Around 25 weeks I stopped going to the gym and just walked and did my workout dvd. At 30 weeks I stuck to just walking. . . .slowly my motivation went away, haha. I'm still trying to walk a lot, although it's harder now that the weather is so cold. Hmmm, what else? If I ate fresh produce (mainly apples, stuff you eat the skin on) I would always buy organic. I also ate dried apricots a lot, they are a great healthy snack and help keep you "regular" . . . . if you get my drift (apparently clogged pipes are another common pregnancy symptom). Other then those things I really didn't change any of my habits. I tried to eat better, but in the end comfort food (peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese, etc) would usually win out for what I ate.

I really wanted to post a collage of belly photos but I have no idea how to make a photo collage. Does iPhoto do that? If you know how to do that, please leave a message. If not maybe tomorrow I will just upload all the photos again, but that will be a huge pain.

Merry Christmas Eve folks!