36 weeks

How Far Along? 36 weeks + 5 days Weight Gain: + 23 lbs How big is baby? Cantaloupe & over 6 lbs now! WOW Sleep? Sleep has gone downhill for me a LOT lately. Between horrible lower back pain and waking up every few hours to pee, I feel like I never ever get enough sleep. Best moment this week? Going to my doctor's appt! My doctor is so great and I am so happy I chose him. He's even coming to the office next week at 8:30pm because it's the only time I could possibly go that week. A lot of people are confused about why I didn't choose an OB/GYN or midwife to deliver this baby, since that's what everybody does. But my doctor is a Family Practice resident and I feel really good about my choice and would totally recommend him to everyone. Food Cravings: Donut holes. And the best ones I've found so far are at Walmart! The sour cream donut holes, SOOO GOOD. Gender: Boy... Labor Signs: I get contractions off and on...the worst was on Tuesday when they were 10 minutes apart. They weren't that painful, and they weren't getting closer together, so I wasn't worried. I figured I was sleep deprived and dehydrated so I drank a ton of water & gatorade and ta-da! No more contractions. Other than that, I feel like baby has "dropped", as I now have unbelievable back pain all the time. I keep a bottle of icy hot on hand and seriously apply that stuff every few hours, and it helps a ton. "Nesting"? Today I was sooo excited because I got a huge lot of Bum Genius diapers for $150! I already had 13, and I got 26 more today, so that means we have 39 diapers now! And we are SET. It's nice to have that done and checked off the list, because I hear building up your supply of cloth diapers is really expensive, especially when you choose nice brands like Bum Genius (thanks for the advice, Brittani!) But we have only spent a total of about $200 on all 39 diapers, which will last our baby its whole diapering life, so I'd say we are going to save a TON of money!

I've also been going through our whole house & gotten rid of so much stuff! Giving away bags of stuff is the best feeling in the world and makes even more room for baby stuff ;)

Rue, master of the dipes. She thinks they're very comfy.

Overall, I feel really good and excited about this birth. I am a little worried about if I were to go early, since I have so much work scheduled and clinicals scheduled with my school, and if I missed them I would pretty much be in a ton of trouble and might possibly fail this semester. (My nursing school sucks and gives pregnant women absolutely no help). But THAT'S a whole different story. So if all goes as planned-which it ALWAYS does, right?!?! ;) , and I deliver on my due date, I should only miss one class at nursing school, which won't totally kill my grade. Oh, and did I mention I've been measuring a week early since I was 20 weeks?? Anyways, I hope all goes well, and even if I don't make it to 40 weeks, I doubt I will care since I get to meet our little babe early :)

Also, on an unrelated note, I got assigned my nursing preceptorship on a Labor/Delivery unit! I am SOO excited and unbelievably blessed, since a lot of girls in my class wanted this preceptorship but I was the only one who got a spot. I really had to fight for it, though. Having a great preceptorship will make it a little bit easier to leave my newborn for 12 hours at a time the rest of the summer, I hope....