T Minus 4 weeks...

Well today there is officially 4 weeks left.

I am 36 weeks pregnant today, and my stomach is still growing as fast as ever! ;) This week a friend who is due about a month after me was complaining on facebook about the pains of pregnancy, and how much it sucks. I must admit it was nice to rant with 3 or 4 other preggos who really understood the frustration!

Don't get me wrong. I've had a great pregnancy by all accounts - healthy, complication free, and baby is doing great. I am eternally thankful for all of this. *knock on wood, or whatever other superstition you want to throw in here*

However, there are some things you never hear about pregnancy until you get there. Like the pain. No, not the pain of childbirth (that ends in a day or 2, hopefully at the very worst, and then recovery obviously). No, we are talking about the bone and joint pain of your body adjusting to the weight of baby, the extra weight you gain at various points in the pregnancy, especially towards the end. There is constant pressure for weeks (or for the unlucky, months) in your pelvic area as baby settles, the feeling of your hips being forced apart, the back pain from supporting the aforementioned weight gain, the awkwardness of doing ANYTHING that involves a bit of co-ordination. After a while, all this can really wear you down. Sometimes its really hard when people all around you are super excited and happy and want you to do all these wonderful things and be giddy about baby... yet all you can think about is sitting on your arse for the next month because getting up without an extra arm/hand to help pull you up (cue the hubby) is enough to make you want to use a bedpan! Not to mention the fatigue and sleeplessness (insomnia before giving birth proves that mother nature really has a cruel sense of irony) that comes with later pregnancy.

But other than ranting about the pains of being preggo, things are coming together. There are many other things that are going great for baby's arrival:

-The nursery is up! (more or less). The Crib, shelves, change table are all assembled and filling with things. Something I still need to find is a toy bin of some sort... I have no where to put toys! I thought the bins I had with the shelves would be enough, but it seems Jr. is still a month from arrival and he already has so many clothes!! I have bins sorted by size, and the emptiest one is the 0-3 months bin... I guess everyone expects him to be big and grow fast, lol as I have lots of 3-6 month clothes! I still have to make up the crib (waiting for the crib bedding set I asked for) and put some decorations up around the room before it is completely ready. I have lots of frog decorations (Nursery theme for Jr. is frogs and bugs, what better theme to represent the discoveries of a little boy?!) and a few other things that we have that we want to add.

-Nesting has hit home. For those who don't know, nesting is when the mother has a unnatural urge to organize, clean, or sort everything itty bitty thing that is in her house so that it is "just so". Yes this has hit me, as noticed by hubby a week ago when I got upset that the living room wasn't tidy at 10:30 at night. So as much as my house isn't completely spotless, my sense of needing to organize and clean has been powerful lately.

-Baby Shower! My big family & friends baby shower is coming up next week! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! It will be a crazy mix of people from different areas of our lives... friends from high school, friends from post secondary, and family from all 4 sides (who live near and far, as far as Germany!) in one place for the afternoon. I am looking forward to seeing and visiting with all of these special people, as we celebrate my journey to momhood and spoil little Jr. with all the things he (and we) will need for the start of his life (and beyond)! I know there will never be a lack of love for our little guy.

-Our hospital classes start this week! Due to my horrible procrastination, when I tried to register the prenatal class was already full for July, so I had to settle for the August classes. Hubby is slightly concerned we may not finish to the last class (on the 19th), but I'm pretty sure Jr isn't coming that early. (or so I HOPE!) It's not that I haven't done my reading... on the contrary, hubby is a info junkie and I'm slowly becoming one (it must rub off...). We have both done a great deal of reading and discussing L&D. So the classes will just be a more formalized setting to discuss this, get some medical views, and then get a tour and get familiar with procedures at the local hospital.

With all of this going on, I'm pretty glad that I don't have to work right now. Hubby has had the past week off as his "staycation" (Vacation where you stay at home), and its been great having him around and getting things done and spending some time together just the 2 of us before Jr comes. He has 3 weeks to work (well 2.5 since tomorrow is a holiday) and then he is off for 7 weeks!

We are both looking forward to the end of the month, but I also need the month to get things done! We're anxious to meet Jr, but I have lots to do too!

I hope the next post won't be in another month... but as you can see we have lots going on!
Here's to preparing for Jr's arrival!