36 Weeks

How far along: 36 weeks.

How big is baby: Last week she weighed in at 6 pounds even. This means she's around 6.5 lbs this week.

Weight Gain: 28 pounds.

Symptoms: By the end of the day, my work flats no longer fit. Baby hiccups have been happening around 5 times a day for awhile now - but this month they have been very strong. Still not sleeping at all, but that's just preparing me for the future. My iron is now back to a normal level - I still have to keep taking it, but that's why I have finally been feeling like a normal person. As far as we can tell, baby girl is healthy, so I really can't complain about anything.

Cravings:  Salad! It is all I want. Mmmm, salad.

Aversions:  Same ones: cloves and cocoa butter.

What I miss:  Not much because I keep thinking about how quickly this has gone by. I know I will miss being pregnant - so I can wait another few weeks for a rare steak or a pumpkin beer!

Looking forward to: Meeting our baby girl and giving her a name!

Best moment this month:  Our trip to Charleston - which I promise to post about shortly. I thought for sure it would be our final ultrasound. But we really couldn't see much because she is so big. Plus the lady was semi-rushing, so we didn't get any good pictures. We found out that she has no hair and that she was right on target at 6 pounds. So I guess she's not our little chunker anymore! We will see when she is born though! The tech also said that she was 100% a girl. That if they hand me a boy in the hospital, we can hand it right back because there's no way its our baby. 

Worst moment this month: Probably attempting to paint my toenails. Let's just say that that is the last time that is done by me. I will run and get them painted one last time around my due date. 

Overall, it has been a great month. I am slowing down a little bit due to back pain. I also have to strategically place pillows when laying on the couch. If I sit straight up she kicks me from lack of room - and I can't lay on my back because I can't breathe that way. Sleep doesn't exist - but I can't tell you how much better it feels to have the iron back up. I'll take being sleepy over the feeling that I can't physically move because my body is so exhausted. So many people told me that once I hit 30 weeks, I would start to feel awful. That scared me because I couldn't imagine it continuing to get worse. I'm here to say that every pregnancy is different - and each week I have felt better and better. So never listen to what "they" say. 

Technically, this could be my last monthly post - but if family history is on our side - I'll be back again at 40 weeks.