Am I done yet? Do I want to be?

My belly button is officially inside out. It looks bizarre... and it reminds me of those plastic button things that pop out of the turkey once it's done cooking. So if my belly button is any indication, I'm just about done, too.

My due date is still 4 weeks away, and the general assumption is that first babies tend to come late. If genetics play any role, that won't be the case--my mom's first baby, my older brother, arrived 3 weeks early. So if I follow in her footsteps, that would put me on course to go into labor next week. Hmm... now that it feels so immediate, I'm not sure that I'm ready after all!!!

Shower time!

Yesterday was baby shower day at work. Fun, fun! It's nice to have celebrations like this thrown in at the end of pregnancy when things are getting tough in a hurry.

Although this was a small shower, it's such a relief to have a few basic baby essentials at home now since we haven't really bought anything ourselves yet (except for the occasional moose outfit, which we just can't seem to pass up). And our church is throwing us another shower on Feb 6th, so I'm thinking we'll be pretty well prepared for Perrin's arrival by then (prepared in the sense that we'll have the necessary items to care for the baby; not necessarily in the sense that we'll know exactly what to do with said items).

The countdown begins

At the risk of sounding whiny and ungrateful, I have to admit that I'm ready for this pregnancy stuff to be over with. My ribs and back hurt, my belly is huge and awkward, I'm officially waddling instead of walking, I'm so sick of going to doctors appointments, and I've started experiencing heartburn for the first time in my life. (Want to know what gave me a bad case of heartburn yesterday? Water. That's right... water. Why oh why would WATER give me heartburn??)

The good news is I only have 6 weeks to go (less if Perrin comes early), and only 4 more weeks of working. I'll hang in there. But I apologize in advance if I get really crabby.

Registering

Because some wonderful ladies at my work are throwing me a shower in just a couple weeks, Trey and I finally got around to registering over the weekend. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a little overwhelming. Do you know how many different shapes, sizes, and styles of bottles there are?! And how are we supposed to know what kind we need? I started thinking that I really should have dragged a friend along--someone who already has a baby and could give us some tips. But since I didn't, we had to wing it.

Another issue: Trey insisted that he be the one to control the scanner thingy. (Sort of like the unending remote control battle at home). I relented, but when I got online later to look over our registries, I had to do some editing. (Baby butt paste, really, Trey? What the heck is that?)

Anyway, now that we've gotten that out of the way, we're one step closer to being ready for Perrin's arrival next month. Next month!! I can't believe we're that close to the finish line! Or rather, the starting line.

I sure miss breathing...

Being 32 weeks pregnant isn't exactly easy... add a cold to that, and it can be downright miserable. I've had this lingering congestion and cough for about a week and a half now. And there's just not much in the way of medicine that I'm allowed to take to make it go away.

The good news is that Perrin is completely unaffected by my gushing sinuses and barking cough. He's wiggling around as much as ever; his heartbeat (which I got to hear today at my prenatal appointment) is strong and steady. Glad one of us is comfortable, at least.

So now I have an aching back, a gigantic, awkward belly, a runny nose, and a cough that could wake the dead. Sooooo sexy.

That's a weird place for a stomach

I don't know if this is a normal pregnancy thing; in fact, I don't know if this is even possible... but I think my stomach has moved. Like, the actual organ has moved to a new location.

It really could just be my imagination, but I'm telling you... things feel different in there, and my stomach seems like it's about 5 or 6 inches north of where it should be. I know my insides are getting a bit crowded now that Perrin is a good 16 inches long and nearly 4 pounds. Is he perhaps kicking my organs around to make room? I really don't know. I'm not really concerned... even though it feels weird, it hasn't caused discomfort or kept me from eating. And I have to say, even if he did shove my stomach upwards, it's infinitely preferable to those moments when he plays kickball with my bladder.

How much can we cram into one month?

It's almost Christmas! Most years, the typical Christmas festivities (parties, decorating, baking, etc) are enough to keep me busy. But no, this year we're doing all of that PLUS setting up a nursery and remodeling our kitchen. Are we crazy? I'm beginning to think so.

Here's the plan: Over the next few days, Trey and I will completely unload all of our kitchen cabinets and drawers and pack everything into boxes. Then we will do demolition on the kitchen this Saturday. (Yes, we are having faith in ourselves that we can accomplish this in one day). Then, contractors will do some work for us on Monday-Wednesday of next week to take care of some plumbing and electrical issues. They will do the work flawlessly and on time with no "surprises." Then although we will be without a kitchen for over a week, we will have a holly jolly Christmas with our families, then install our new kitchen cabinets, counter top, sink and whatever else goes in a kitchen in the week between Christmas and New Year's. It will look perfect and magical and won't cost more than we're budgeting. Sound good? Yes. Sound plausible? We'll see. Just pray I don't go into labor early.