Sass Baby Jane

36 week appointment?  Check!  All looks good!  The strong Braxton Hicks contractions that have been making me short of breath the last couple weeks have been doing good work it seems.  I'm already 2 cm dilated and "soft."  I haven't started effacing yet, as she's still -1 station, which means not quite dropped yet (still LOW though, trust me.) but we're making progress and the doctor is really confident that I'll do fine with another VBAC.  YIPPEE!!!  I'm feeling strangely great, which is not what I expected after a less-than-comfortable second trimester.  I am still about ready to be done, but I feel really good for being this far along.

Normally by now, I'd be huge, swollen enough that I'd be rockin' a big fake rock on my ring finger, have slightly elevated blood pressure and be doing my best "beached whale" impression much of the day.  This time, I'm less huge (I still feel huge, but it's all relative), not swollen, still wearing my wedding ring and my blood pressure has stayed down.  A likely culprit is the constant chasing of children and insane cleaning/reorganizing binge I've been on.  It's like an all day workout and far from a beached whale!  Surely it's not the cakes I've baked (and eaten most of), the cookies or the ice cream I indulge in on an all-too-regular basis.  I've literally gained nothing since the end of December or so.  I gained a pound a month ago, but it disappeared again.  I'm told the baby takes what it needs.  I think she needed what I was packing on my thighs and behind, because the maternity pants I'd sworn off for being too tight, suddenly fall off of me now.  I'm not complaining, but all of that, combined with measuring a couple of weeks behind at this appointment had me slightly concerned I was growing a miniature baby.  Luckily, a quick peak with the ultrasound revealed that all is well in the belly.  Miss Quincy looked great and on the smaller end of normal, which is fine by me (although, Naomi was supposedly going to be huge and she came out 7lb6oz, so who really knows.).  She did not appreciate being jiggled around by the ultrasound tech to get her hand out of the way for this profile picture.  I got a nice kick in the ribs for it and I'm pretty sure she's blowing a raspberry in this shot, which has earned her a new nickname, compliments of Aunt Kelly.  Sass Baby Jane.  Kind of perfect.

So, that's that.  All is looking good and I'm making slow progress toward a hopefully smooth delivery in the next few weeks!  I'm also making slow progress on my to-do list these days.  I did manage to go through all my clothes yesterday and get my closet ready for the transition phase we'll be starting in a few weeks.  I got rid of some that I've not worn in years, put my winter maternity clothes away and got the clothes I'll want to slowly start wearing again this summer ready to go in some bins at the top of my closet.  That feels good!  It was much easier now than it will be in a month when I'm hot, frustrated with my clothes, looking for an outfit I haven't seen in a year and wearing a baby.  The hospital bag is nearly packed, complete with a "kids schedule" to give to whoever ends up helping with the kids when the big day comes.  I do need to get some snacks and take-out menus ready to go (one word: hospital food), but I'm just about there.  There's still a lot I want to do, but really I'd be okay if she showed up today.  I am about as prepared as I can be, I just can't seem to get that across to the OCD nesting pregnant brain I have right now.  Which would explain why I'm about to go organize the kids closet.... again.