A sneak peek

I am 35 weeks or, depending on how you calculate, heading into week 36 of pregnancy. Only two weeks until I am term and can officially be on the look out for labour! At the most, I am looking at another 6 weeks or so. I have started packing the baby/hospital bag, the infant car seat is going into the van this weekend and I am trying to get things organised around here in preparation for his arrival. Clothes are washed and other then a few random items we are pretty much set for Asher to come.

Latest photo from last weekend.

I am definitely feeling very pregnant now. I have now gained 18ish pounds and my skin is suddenly feeling very tight. New stretch marks are popping up at the bottom of my belly despite my best efforts of slathering creams and such all over it every day. Losing battle, whatever. I don't sleep much, but find taking daily warm baths and massages from my husband help to make me at least a little more comfortable. I'm still going to a prenatal massage therapist once a month and have my next appointment in a week. Cannot wait! I find it really does help, especially with sciatica. Oh, and I am giving up and going to my salon on Saturday morning to chop off my hair. I haven't cut it in about 9 months and I love the length it's at, but I honestly just do not have the time or energy for it anymore. With summer coming and what little of my free time I have left about to disappear I just cannot justify it anymore. When it's long like this I can't wash and wear. When its shoulder length I can shower, throw some gel in and the curls look nice on their own. So that's what I am going to do!

I am now into weekly doctors appointments! I know that means we are getting close, so it's exciting. The biggest thing we learned this morning is that Asher is still head down. Despite his hiccoughs being up high and his constant movement, she believes he is in that position to stay. Most likely what I have been feeling (and seeing) is him turning front to back and shifting side to side. At this point, any of those movements will feel massive to me. He may continue to do that for a while, but he is out of full flipping movement.
You know how he was measuring smaller then Noah? Yeah, that's out the window now. He is weighing and measuring in at the exact same as his brother at this week. However, when he decides to show up will have a big impact on his size at delivery. If he doesn't go two weeks over there is a good chance I will have a 7-8 pounder. Come on 39 weeks!
The coolest thing about my appointment this morning was that my doctor now has a hand held ultrasound machine, so I actually got to see our baby! She showed me his head (it looked scary big...), his butt and his back. Then she helped me to distinguish what parts of his body were which by guiding my hands around my belly. Super cool. She confirmed that what we've been watching sliding all over the place is his knees.
Other then that, his heart beat is in the 150s, my blood pressure is still perfect and I haven't been swelling at all, so all is well.

This update turned out to be longer then I meant, so I'll wrap it up now. Besides, my toddler seems to have decided to skip his nap again today so I guess I ought to let him out of his crib. Take care all!