38 weeks!

I keep hearing "any day now" from people around me and it's starting to freak me out a bit!!
I am so ready to meet my little boy, but also insanely nervous about the whole process.
I was trying to explain it to my sister the other day... I'm not nervous for the delivery or myself for some reason, but I am so anxious about the baby.  Will it go smoothly?  Will he be healthy?  How big will he be?  What will he look like?  Do I have all the stuff I need"

I don't know why, but I just feel at peace about labor and delivery.  Don't try to scare me now - it's too late! I know that inevitably this baby has to come out, one way or another, so there is no avoiding it so why let myself get worked up over it.  I'm fully expecting it to hurt like heck and be a long crazy process... but I also know that at the end there will be a beautiful baby boy and that makes it so worth it.

I am still feeling really great.  I haven't hit the super uncomfortable stage yet, so I'm content to let this baby stay inside a little while longer.  Everyday he gets a little smarter and chubbier and that makes me happy.

I had a great visit with my OB today.  I am 1.5cm dilated and the baby is in the head down position and my cervix is shortening or whatever.... it's amazing he can tell all those things in literally 5 seconds.  I don't know if I just have the best doctor ever but he is so quick and totally un-awkward about examinations.
Also, since my last appointment 2 weeks ago (Did I mention that my doctor went to GRENADA for a week?! Since St. John is a clinical center for SGU a lot of the  doctors are involved with the school and so he went for a conference.  When he told me he was going I almost cried and then begged him to take me with him.  I mean, a girl shouldn't be too far away from her Dr. right?  So I quickly and quite fanatically filled in him in on all my favorite parts of the island and the must do things. lol. I think it was the most I've ever talked to him before.  He probably thinks I like Grenada more than my baby now.....)
ANYWAY remember when I lost 2 lbs at 34weeks and then went back at 36 weeks and had gained like 5? Well I'm down 3lbs again this week!  So I'm just weird.  The baby is measuring fine.  This week I measured 37 weeks, so I've been pretty consistently smaller than my actual week,  but that can be normal.

I haven't felt that last stage burst of energy everyone talks about, but then again I never lost any energy or had any of the other symptoms so why would I have that?  So I wouldn't say that I've been "nesting" necessarily, but I have been pumping out school work like a fiend.
Last weekend I put myself on self-prescribed bed rest and didn't leave my room for 2 days and was miraculously able to finish about 3 weeks of work for my classes, including discussion board posts, several shorter papers ( two 3 page papers and a 5 page paper), a couple exams, and get a jump on research for my final papers.  I.was.impressed.

I guess the possibility of going into early labor is a pretty good motivating factor.

As of today I am over halfway finished with my final 12pg paper about teen sexual promiscuity and slightly started on a 10pg paper on cognitive behavioral family therapy.... that one I am struggling with.  But whenever I get bored of researching the antics of teenagers I switch over to counseling theory..... fun.....

So the goal is finish both of these papers by Sunday night (2 weeks early!!!!) then I'll be able to focus on getting this house in tip top shape - dependent if my nesting skills kick in or not.

I may or may not go to work next week depending on how I feel and if I finish my school work.  My boss has been awesome and lenient and said I could just  decide if I want to come in.  I do want to go if at all possible because I really like my job and since Jenny has taken over my position I'm really just back up and spend the majority of the day chatting with patients and my coworkers.  Who wouldn't want to be paid for that?  and there's that whole I won't have a job any more after this bit..... aka no more paychecks. boo.

Anyway,  I would definitely say that the baby has dropped.  I can now feel my belly against the tops of my legs when I'm sitting down and leaning forward.  It's gross and I hate it, but you'll have that I guess.
I've also been experiencing some mild lower back pain and frequent "popping" noises of my back and hips adjusting..... guess they're expanding and getting into position.
And I've had a few contractions, nothing really painful, just tightening of my belly.
This baby is still kicking around and letting me know he's running out of space.  Hopefully he doesn't grow toooooo much more because I'd like to keep the belly around this size. lol. It's still manageable and (fingers crossed) stretch mark free.

I met with our pediatrician yesterday and I loved him.  He's a really sweet older man that seems to be really smart and personable.  The bad news is however, that since he's with a group in the hospital I might not actually get to see him when I deliver depending on who's on call that day, but that's fine.  It's the group of peds that Lee rotated with and he recommended them all.  One of the things I really like about a teaching hospital like St. John is that since all the doctors are also teaching students and residents they are really up to date on their info and research.  It's not like this man hasn't read any new information since he completed residency 40 years ago, he has to keep up with young guys like Lee.  Same goes for my OB, even though he's pretty young (I'd guess late 30s/40?) every time I ask a question he is prepared with the latest study or finding to back it up.  I like that.  Especially since I'm going to come home and look it up for myself anyway.

So this week I actually took a picture!

From the front it's like not that big.... (black shirt helps too though)
then I lift up my shirt and you see my weird stretch/crooked belly button and that horrible line up my belly.

THEN I turn to the side.... 

Wha Bam!
38 week belly!
I think this belly is making me look short!  I've NEVER thought that before. haha
but if you look closely you see that there is about an inch of shadow added on (yea still haven't figured out my camera... no time! it's on auto/flash mode) so object in picture appears larger than real life.
that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

How far along: 38 weeks
Total weight gain:  32lbs
Maternity clothes: yes and no.
Stretch marks: not yet.... only need to make it a couple more weeks!
Best moment of this week: getting one week closer to meeting our boy!!
Movement: yep, now that I know for sure that his head is down I know that those jabs are definitely his little feet kicking me!
Food cravings: not really, today I really wanted a donut.  But who doesn't want donuts?
Anything making you queasy or sick: no
Have you started to show yet: yea, although when I'm wearing a coat people can't tell so that's made things awkward a couple of times. 
Gender:  B-0-Y!
Labor signs: no, just preparing for labor right? :)
Belly button in or out: in!  It's not going to pop out at this point right?
Wedding rings on or off: on
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and anxious and nervous!
Looking forward to: finishing these papers and maybe getting to go on a date with Lee to the Cheesecake Factory and a movie or something before baby comes and we aren't able to do that for a while.