35 Weeks: UGH

I am now 35 weeks pregnant. First, let's talk about how I felt last time I was 35 weeks pregnant. Here is an excerpt from an entry from April 2006, when I was pregnant with Sam:

Do you hear that? 26 days until this little guy is due to join us in the world. I can't believe it. Things are going all right. I've been getting some stuff done during the day, but when it's later at night I still feel anxious, and my head is filled with the things I still have to get done. But, I have gotten the following done this week:

• Put together the crib.
• Put together the toy box. This was actually an ordeal, as I mentioned in the photo album. I put the whole thing together myself and then got to the LAST step, which was attaching the safety springs so the lid won't fall down. After I attached them, it would not close! I almost went crazy, and Justin finally figured out that the wood blocks that are attached to the lid to screw the springs into had been attached upside down at the factory. For some reason, the one thing they had to do themselves, they couldn't do right. Sigh.... all is well now though, and the toy box is very cute.
• Called & set up the first delivery for our diaper service.
• Called & made an appointment with the pediatrician next week.
• Cleaned out the storage at our apartment to make a little more room for whatever we need it for.
• Packed up some glasses in the kitchen cabinets to make room for the bottles & put them in.
• Went to Babies R Us again and got a few more things I needed.
• Talked to Kira about picking up our dresser, which is finally in.
  

Now, let's talk about things I got done this week, with 32 days left to go:

• Overreact several times (a day)
• Cry three times at the show "Parenthood."
• Clean approximately .75 rooms per day, then feel like I needed a nap afterwards.
• Not take a shower for several days.
• Wish Justin was home from work. Despite the fact that he is at his awesome new job, which became paperwork official on Wednesday and is great so far.
• Give Sam a bath when I realized I didn't know when he'd had his last one.
• Wash a load of baby clothes, then abandon them in the drier. Also abandoned the second load in the washer, and now it needs to be washed again.

Um... yeah. We don't have a crib set up for Danny, and we have no place in the kitchen to keep bottles. We need to pack up the fine china and get it back to Justin's Mom, but we don't have the right containers, and that hasn't happened yet.

Since we seem to be on a roll with lists, here is a list of things that I am currently unable to do, which is quite frustrating:

• Keep my house clean because every task takes 100 times more energy than it used to.
• Manage my diet effectively because really it seems like I need to be eating constantly and I'm just not accustomed to it. Also, half the time nothing sounds good at all.
• Go more than 20 minutes without peeing. Okay, I may be exaggerating a little bit but c'mon... we should have bought stock in toilet paper.
• Walk more than 5 feet or 3 stairs without feeling like I need an inhaler.
• Explain to Sam why he can't climb on, push on, knee, elbow or sit on my stomach in any manner that seems to mean anything to him.
• Prevent myself from becoming frustrated in about 10 seconds. Apparently my rope has become about an inch long, and it doesn't take much for me to reach the end of it.
• Go grocery shopping at a reasonable pace (I move like a tortoise) and not feel like my belly is about to fall off when I'm done.

With Sam, I made it to less than a week before his due date before I felt "done." If you've ever been pregnant, you know what I'm talking about - reaching that plateau where you feel done and start to wish that the baby would come early. I never wished for or thought Sam would come early, but now I find myself thinking that I wouldn't mind if Danny showed up a week or two before he's due!

At the same time, I don't feel ready! We still have stuff we need to get, including clothes and bottles, and the baby's room? Not ready in ANY way. But hey, we don't need too much, right? A few outfits, some diapers... In any case, I know he's still growing and I am okay if it goes all the way, but I'm pretty sure if he's late I'm going to punch someone.

Speaking of growing, do you want to know how I know he's growing? Because I have gained SIX POUNDS in the last three weeks. Two a week. That's right. I went 33 weeks without gaining weight, and then BOOM! I don't feel too bad about it since I lost 10 lbs early on, so right now I'm at the weight I started at 8 months ago. Even if I gain 2 pounds a week until I have this baby, I'll end up a little lighter than when I started after he comes out. Not too bad! BUT, it is still disconcerting to see the numbers on the scale go up so much after such a long plateau!

We still have not chosen a middle name yet. We have not talked about it lately, but we were at a sort of impasse last time we did. So, we'll see!

At my last midwife appointment, I met her assistant, who was very nice. She also felt Danny is head down now. It's weird because he's curved so that his back is on my left side and his butt/feet are on my right. So, I only feel movement one one side ever. I feel big rolling movements when he shifts his body/butt and kicks. I also feel him punching me in the crotch sometimes. Thanks for that, little dude. At this point sometimes I have to push at him when he moves a certain way because it can get uncomfortable when he stretches my belly too much!

I will post a belly picture this weekend when I hit 36 weeks, I didn't get one last weekend. For now all I really want is to take about 2 naps a day and sleep for 15 hours a night. Oh well, we can't always get what we want.