36 Weeks

36 weeks and five days now. Although, the pictures I'll share are from exactly 36 weeks.

I read in one of my pregnancy books that the baby's bones have officially hardened (well, except for the skull which will remain soft until after birth to allow for an easier passage through the birth canal). I didn't really need to read a book to know this to be true. We can often see bony appendages protruding from my tight belly. I can never tell whether it's an elbow or hand, knee or foot, but it's definitely bone. While a bit uncomfortable, it is one of the more fun things to watch at this stage.

It's not so entertaining when I'm trying to work with a student and I have to stop, catch my breath, and attempt to reposition the baby before moving on. This pregnancy has been much harder on my body than the first. Thanks to my district's sick leave benefits I have plenty in stock from the last three years that I'm able to stay at home when I need to. And, I've needed to a lot since I've hit the third trimester. I try to do everything as normal as possible physically because I know it'll only make labor that much easier, but some days (especially after a sleepless night from heartburn or aches and pains) it's just smarter for me to stay at home than try to make a go of it at school.

I'm slowly pecking away at my "before baby arrives" to do list. Some things on the list include make freezer meals (I've got one.), make custom burp cloths (I made one!), reorganize closet in the boys' room and get out infant clothes (done and done!), set up crib in Gabe's room and cradle in mine (well, the crib's up...cradle's still broken), purchase a special going home outfit (done!), reorganize the spare bedroom (we moved the desk in last week and I haven't made the time to put all the items that belong in and on the desk back in their spots yet), secure a place for Gabe to go at a moment's notice when baby comes (done!), pack a bag for the hospital (not done...not even started), write one last final and get all finals for my classes copied (just in case he comes early), get the never ending piles of laundry caught up (halfway there...sort of)....oh and the list goes on.

Pretty sure I won't have everything exactly as I want it when he does come, but I'm a lot closer than I was just a few days ago. Since Casey's done with school for a month I've had extra great help to do a lot on that list just in the past few days.

In my head I've been ready for this baby for a while. However, now that I'm there and the estimated due date is literally three weeks away, I'm looking around thinking okay...not today...I've got this one other thing (or several other things!) I need to do.

Gabe is so excited for his brother to be here. Last night he wanted to talk to my mom just to tell her, "The baby's going to be here soon. Bye now. Love you."

Monday I'll have a check with the baby doctor to see if there are signs of progression towards labor. I'm going to cry if there aren't. Heck, I'll probably cry if there are. I am the biggest, most ridiculous ball of emotions lately. Poor Casey. I love how he takes it all in stride.

Okay, enough rambling....on to the belly pictures.

Do those first two pictures make me look tired? Cause when I look at them all I see are my poor tired eyes. I wish I was having this time pre baby to soak up as much sleep as I can...but it's just not in the cards for me this time around. I'm sure those tired eyes will only look more awesomely tired once the baby is here. Pretty sure my brain's done a fabulous job of blocking out the time that was the first eight weeks of newborn life. The time in which I rarely slept and was nearly constantly feeding a hungry infant. At least I'll have his precious face to stare at in wonder and awe as I'm not sleeping.