sunrise over Baltimore

4 weeks or so to go! I am definitely feeling it - tired in the afternoon and can hardly keep my eyes open, a bit of lower back pain, waddling around, tough to get comfortable, up several times throughout the night to hit up the bathroom, sometimes don't know how much space I am taking up, hard to put pants on one leg at a time (but I don't know how any other way)...but the end is in sight. I have my 36 week appointment today and am anxious to hear what the doctor has to say about the position and size of the baby. Someone told me it looks like I swallowed a basketball - ha! We had our 3rd childbirth class last night. It was a bit eye opening (or closing) with some of the videos that we watched (I thought that was just a myth but I suppose not). Baby's room is coming together! I did my first of many baby laundry loads the other day and can't believe how tiny the socks and little onesies are. Yesterday Dan's co-workers had a surprise shower for him and it was so sweet. Its such a nice group that is so excited about our little boy. We received some very thoughtful gifts and were touched by everyone's generosity. Dan was surprised and didn't even at first see me there! We are narrowing names down. That seems to be everyone's next question. Do we have a name...I'm glad to say that we are closer than we have been. I've been waking up early, when everything is still quiet and dark thinking about how different it will be in a few weeks once he is here and we get to marvel at him and everything he does.

my pregnancy

Something I thought I would write about for hours and hours or at the very least blog about - but none of that has happened yet. I have had a truly wonderful pregnancy. The kind that makes you glow from the inside out. I did not get sick once. I have no food aversions and am not overly sensitive to smells or anything like that. I waited and waited to "pop out" and finally did. I remember thinking how will I ever fit in to this piece of maternity clothing and now I am busting out of everything. My stomach is round, hard and impossible to miss. I slather cocoa butter or whatever else I can get my hands on all over the growing shape and marvel at the changes. My belly button is unrecognizable. People say that I am all baby and for the most part, I agree with them although I can tell there are other more subtle changes that are happening to my body. I am now 33 weeks and the baby is the size of a pineapple and weighs just around 4 pounds. I can't imagine that we get to meet him finally as soon a next month or whenever he decides to make his appearance in to this world. His movements are more pronounced now than they ever have been and I think will only get stronger as he grows and stretches and tries to make more room in there. He is loved so much without us even getting to meet him. This whole thing truly is a miracle and such a blessing. I wasn't sure if I would ever get to be a mom and now I can't imagine not experiencing this - feeling his pokes and prods and daydreaming about this little life that my love and I created. Tomorrow I go to the doctor's for a tummy check and to make sure that things are progressing as they should be. We also start our childbirth classes tomorrow night - everything is definitely happening and although I will be fairly uncomfortable, I know the next few weeks will go by so quickly and that we should sleep while we can.
Today was a snow day which meant that I didn't leave the house, Dan got to work from home and Dad and Joanne came up for a few hours to help in the baby's room. The amount of stuff that we got done with their help is incredible and makes me feel much less crazy. The room is really starting to come together and the amount of clothes that this little boy has is unbelievable. We squeezed in some homeland, a few great meals and some r+r between all of the hanging and sorting and organizing. All in all, a wonderful way to spend the day as the temperatures outside plummet.