35 Weeks

Yesterday marked the beginning of the 35th week of my pregnancy with Ryan. We are getting really close to my due date now (only 34 more days from today!), and I'm really starting to feel it, to say the least. I have to be careful not to do too much or I end up paying for it. Like yesterday, for instance... first of all, Jordan and I had nursery duty at church. I greatly enjoy serving on nursery duty, but it means we have to get up extra early in the morning so we can make sure to get there on time for when parents start dropping their babies off. It's getting harder and harder to drag myself out of the bed in the morning. Then, yesterday afternoon, after we got home from church, ate lunch, and got Rylee down for her nap, I helped Jordan move Ryan's crib into his room and sorted through some of the stuff that is currently in his closet that needs to be cleaned out. Then, last night, I had my family over to our house for dinner and cake and ice cream to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is today (Happy birthday, Mom!). I baked her cake and made "Chicken Stuff", mashed potatoes, and rolls for dinner. I was on my feet in the kitchen for a good bit yesterday, and by the end of the night, my whole body was in pain, and I was having strong Braxton Hicks contractions one after another. Now, I'm not saying all of that in a complaining manner. Like I said, I love serving on nursery duty. And I really want to get Ryan's room finished. And I was happy and honored to "host" my family to celebrate my mom's birthday. I just have to be more careful/conscious of how I'm feeling and remember to take it easy right now. I'm trying to do too much right now (because I feel like there is SO much to be done), and lately, I've been over-doing it a bit. I just need to be careful not to put too much stress on my body, because I want Ryan to stay put for a few more weeks so he can continue to grow big and healthy. Thankfully, I've had a good, healthy pregnancy with no complications so far.
Anyway, I had another check-up with my doctor today. Everything is still going very well with me and the baby. I weigh 133 pounds now, so I'm up 3 and a half more pounds from my check-up two weeks ago, and I have a total pregnancy weight gain so far of 26 pounds. That means I have now beaten my total pregnancy weight gain from when I was pregnant with Rylee - I think I only got up to 131 pounds with her. I told you I've got a big boy on the way (and I'm sure all of the chocolate I've been eating lately hasn't helped matters either...). My "height of fundus" was 36 centimeters, so in that aspect, I'm measuring a week ahead of schedule. Ryan's heart rate was 146 beats per minute... not quite as fast as it has been at my last few appointments, but still good and strong. I had a good visit with Dr. Dupre. Now that I'm a month away from my due date, he spent a few minutes talking with me about what signs to be on the lookout for and what to do in case I end up going into labor. I reminded him about my plans to go to Candace's wedding this weekend, and since it's three hours away, he wanted to go ahead and check me to make sure I haven't started dilating yet. Thankfully, I haven't, but he did say that "this baby has REALLY dropped" (I know this, Dr. Dupre... I can feel it.). He is head down and in position (good boy!), and my cervix is soft, but it has not actually started thinning yet, so all is still good for now. He gave me the "okay" to go to the wedding and told me to enjoy myself but to take it easy. Now, I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but Dr. Dupre likes to make predictions - just for kicks - of different things along the way in his patients' pregnancies. The funny thing about it is that he is almost always totally off. When I was pregnant with Rylee, he predicted that she would be a boy. He was wrong. Then, he predicted that I would go into labor with her on my own before my due date. He was wrong. Then, he predicted that I'd be in labor with her for at least 7 hours. He was wrong. This time around, though, he's done a little better with his predictions so far. He guessed Ryan would be a boy, and he is quite obviously right. So today, just for fun, I asked him to make his prediction of when Ryan would be born. He was so funny... he sat back in his chair with his tablet in his lap and started analyzing all of the charts he has with all of my pregnancy information on them. He asked me a couple of questions, and then he finally came to the conclusion that he believes I will have Ryan at 38 weeks and 3 days gestation - December 28th. He even went so far as to say he thinks he'll be born at 2 o'clock (although now that I think about it, I don't know if he was specific as to whether or not he meant 2 in the MORNING or 2 in the afternoon...). So anyway, we'll see if he's right or how close he gets. My next check-up is next Monday (we're down to weekly visits now!), and he scheduled me for an ultrasound as well so we can check in on Ryan and see just how big he's getting. Dr. Dupre wants to have an idea of how big he'll be at delivery. So anyway, hopefully I'll have a few ultrasound pictures to post with next week's update entry. For now, though, here is my belly picture from last night:

Is it just me, or does my belly look like it could hit the floor at any moment?! He has definitely dropped! Until next time...