Bump update: 36 Weeks

            
       I am officially 36 weeks pregnant as of Saturday and I am definitely into the not-honeymoon stage of pregnancy. I feel pretty good most of the time, but I do suffer from bouts of insomnia, breathlessness, heartburn, soreness, and lots of fatigue. My stomach feels gigantic and my hands and feet are swollen frequently. I haven't worn my wedding rings in a couple weeks. My abdomen is so full of baby at the moment that I haven't been able to eat very much at one time anymore. I haven't really gained any weight in the last couple weeks and I am still a little ways off from what I weighted when I had Owen. I have no stretch marks. My belly button is basically completely flat, though the top half likes to try to poke out a little. I do not feel like the baby has dropped yet because breathing is still difficult and it still seems like the baby's legs are crammed up near my ribs. 
       I had an ultrasound and doctor's appointment last Friday to check on the baby. According to the ultrasound tech, the baby is already about 7 pounds. This estimate could be off by a pound either way. Regardless, this means that my baby is way bigger than any pregnancy app says for 36 weeks. Everything else looked good though. My blood pressure was great as usual. I still have plenty of amniotic fluid, my placenta is in the right place, and the baby is head down. When I met with my doctor, she didn't seem worried at all about the baby's size or my ability to deliver him. She said babies tend to gain about half a pound per week at the end of pregnancy, so if I make it full term, then the baby would be about nine pounds. She even guessed that he could weigh a little less than Owen. That would obviously be fantastic, but I am not too worried about him being overly large. His heart rate was 151 beats per minute, which is a lot higher than Owen's was toward the end of my pregnancy with him. I will continue having once a week appointments until the baby is born. Here is a picture from the ultrasound.

         Things are slowly, but surely coming along at the house as we prepare for baby. Tim has been working diligently on refinishing a dresser for Owen's big boy room so that I can move most of his clothes and things over and start filling up the dresser in the nursery with the baby's things. I have already washed most of the baby clothes, but I am just waiting for a place to put them. Owen loves his big boy room so far. We haven't really tried to get him to sleep in the bed and probably won't anytime soon, but he loves having all the space to play in there. 
       I am working on preparing for baby by making freezer meals and packing our hospital bags. I started making freezer meals last week because I started later with Owen and since he came early, I never made everything that I had planned to make. So far, I have made about 11 meals. I will continue to make a few extra meals here and there over the next week or so. I also have almost finished packing our hospital bags. I am waiting on something I ordered to come in the mail and then I should be able to pack most everything. 
      Tim watched Owen for me a few days ago so that I could go get a pedicure, which was a really nice treat. So even though I can't see my toes most of the time, they do look nice!