37 Weeks - Full Term

I am SO relieved to have made it to 37 weeks with this baby. The last 5 days have been a bit nerve-wracking as I've had lots of contractions and other "the baby is coming soon" symptoms. I was so afraid that he was going to arrive late Saturday night because I'd been having some awful contractions from 11 am Sat to 2 am Sun. When they didn't stop after laying down for a bit, I got scared and started making a plan for "what if" that night (my on-call friend was out of town, so finding someone for Cooper was my main worry). I now have two on-call friends. :) But long story short, the contractions did eventually subside, and here we are 5 days later with baby still cookin'.

Went to the doc today.  First the nurse came in to get the baby's heart rate and such, using the little doppler.  Hudson was turned funny and it took her a minute or two to even find it.  Those few minutes usually have me nervous, but since he's been moving so much lately, I knew he was just at a weird angle.  Anyway, so the nurse kinda pokes him with the doppler wand, and he totally kicked right back at it!  That made us both laugh.  Then as if in defiance, he moved and moved and moved.  My belly looked like something possessed.  Oh wait, it is.  The nurse couldn't believe how much movement the kid made.  He's just as active as Cooper was before birth.

Then the doc came in and I told him all the ins and outs of the last two weeks, and said, "Long story short, Dr. K, there better be some kind of progression, or I think I'll just cry."  Without the gory details, there is some progression toward birth, but not a lot (if you want details, text or call).  I'll take anything at this point, and it was enough to keep me feeling like all the discomfort hasn't been totally in vain.  If I had to guess though, I'd say I'll make it to my c-section date of 5/16, but it's gonna be a looooong, uncomfortable two weeks.  But I can do anything for two weeks, especially something with such a great outcome.

I asked the doctor if he could guesstimate how big our boy is currently.  Taking into account that they really can't get a very accurate measurement by pure feel, he said if he had to bet, he'd say Hudson is right around 7.25 lbs currently.  I asked his prediction for birth weight, and he said at least 8 lbs, more like 8.5, if I make it to 5/16.  I was hoping for a little bit smaller baby than Cooper was.  Little bit is all I'm gonna get--maybe.  Cooper was 9 lbs. 1 oz, so looks like his brother is gonna be a contender, except that this time we're making the deadline a week (and two days) earlier.

This picture I took on Sunday.  Hudson was turned funny, and my belly looked like a bullet or something.  I took this and sent it to my Mom, but thought it worth keeping as a permanent blog memory.

This one was taken this morning.  I put on this shirt, not having worn it my whole pregnancy because I remember it being kinda big and baggy with Cooper, and also because I just barely ironed it.  It's one that's such a pain to wash and iron--not worth it.  But after my ironing escapade the other day in an effort to be productive while taking it easy, I finally ironed it.  However, the girth of my baby bump just about exceeds the limits of this blouse.  It was as tight as could be.  I was determined to still wear it and not waste all that ironing effort--ha!

At this point I am thankful for every day Hudson is able to continue growing in the womb, making sure he's as strong and healthy as can be, but at the same time, I'm SO READY for this to be done.  Uncomfortable doesn't even begin to describe it, especially now that he's dropped so much.  Two weeks and counting down every minute...