35 Weeks

I look enormous in this picture!

I can't believe how quickly the time is passing. Five more weeks...crazy!! And yet, I'm starting to understand what people mean when they say that by the end of pregnancy, you don't care how painful labor is going to be - you just want the baby OUT! Yes, I'm excited to meet her - but I'm also starting to get cranky-pregnant. And I do not like that!

Examples, you ask? Well, let's take yesterday. No, let's back up to the weekend. This weekend we worked like dogs to accomplish several big projects. Taylor worked much harder than I did, but because I feel so bad when I'm not "contributing," I found my own ways to stay busy. While he and our neighbor put in three new windows, I spent two hours cleaning out the garden, weeding, and watering our backyard. Near the end of my gardening, Natalie started moving/kicking like CRAZY - she was definitely saying, "MOM! Sit! You are moving too much and I can't take it!" So I did...but then I ran errands for 3 hours, mostly in hopes of finding curtains for the baby's room (FAIL). Feeling exhausted, I sat on the couch for the afternoon while Taylor began painting the side room. Feeling guilty, I got up to dust the bedrooms, which were covered in drywall dust from the windows being removed. I then vacuumed the bedrooms, which were covered in debris. Maybe it was nesting, or maybe it was just the general dirt, but I then decided all our curtains needed to be washed - so I did that, too. We fell in to bed early - 9:30 - because we were so tired.

One window in process...

And the new one!

The next day, Taylor worked on installing the ceiling fan and finished painting the trim and walls in the side room. I took it easy for the afternoon because I was so sore from the day before. But then, about 4pm, I just got so excited as everything was coming together, and as Taylor moved things back in to the side room, I dusted and vacuumed the main areas of the house, and I began moving smaller items. (I guess I neglected to mention that for the last 5 days all of our furniture has been clumped in the main area of the house; believe it or not, I did not spaz out about this!) I am so, so pleased with the changes we've made. But, it took us until 11pm to (mostly) finish the tasks. Again, we fell in to bed, exhausted.

Part of the side room pre-remodel: I'll post the finished pictures as soon as the room is complete.

Okay, so maybe anyone would be exhausted after such a physically demanding weekend. But I feel like I'm 50 years older than I am! Yesterday we went to Home Depot to pick up a few small pieces to finish our projects, and this is always hard for me. I can ignore feeling tired/sore as long as I'm doing something, but there's not a lot for me to do at Home Depot when I don't understand the electrical projects. (Yup, Taylor's doing those, too.) My back hurt, my belly hurt, my legs hurt, my feet hurt, my hips hurt, I was tired, and I couldn't breathe easily. Nope, it's not serious - it's just that baby is big enough now that my lungs can't expand as much as usual, and I have to take these big sighing breaths to catch up, which make Taylor think I'm really annoyed with him (I'm not!). So hence, last night=cranky pregnant.

Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly, given how active I have been during the day), I am still sleeping fairly well. I've divided my nights in to "trimesters" - 10pm-12:30am, 12:30am-3am, and 3am-6am. I get up to go the bathroom between each trimester, and then I fall right back asleep. :) It doesn't really bother me, and I figure it's good preparation for the feedings I will soon be doing in the middle of the night. We don't have a plan yet for if we'll both get up. Most likely, Taylor will do his best to get up and change the diapers, but he's pretty dead to the world in the middle of the night. He's initiated conversations with me in the middle of the night of which he recalls nothing the next day. But, a crying baby could change his alertness level...we'll see!

Today, however, is better! Natalie is supposed to weigh up to 5.5lbs this week - wow!! However, we have no trouble believing this, because she is moving so much and so obviously. We love it; it is such a miracle. On one hand, I want her to stay safely inside me forever, protected from the world; on the other hand, it will be wonderful to finally meet this person whom we already love so much.