Belly pic: 36 weeks

This is it, the last comparison belly picture! I never made it to 37 weeks with hilltot, so this is the last belly picture I have from 2007. Good timing too, because I'm getting more and more dismayed every time I see the difference between my pregnancies. Even Dr H makes fun of me now. In fact, she ordered an ultrasound for next week to check the growth, not because she's worried the baby is too small, but because she wants to see "just what we're dealing with here".

Anyway, today I'm 36 weeks! 9 months pregnant! One more month until my due date, and only one more WEEK until we're full-term! I even made the rest of my weekly OB appointments today, all the way through 40 weeks (even though Dr H chuckled and said, "Let's schedule all the appointments, just for fun..."). Although the way things look today, I might make it further than anyone thinks.

I had my weekly NST, where the baby jumped and poked and kicked at the sensors and generally made a loud ruckus (the monitor amplifies motion as well as the heartbeat). The other woman in the room kept laughing and saying that she felt so inadequate with her nice calm baby. Her chart was flat and consistent, while mine once again looked like the Cascade mountains. However, since I'm already 36 weeks, neither the nurse nor Dr H were worried about the massive number of contractions I was having.

I had a cervical check as well, and Dr H told me that she'd expect me to be around 2cm dilated at this point. I was 1cm dilated at 36 weeks with hilltot, and since this is my second baby I should start dilating a bit earlier. Well, surprise surprise: I'm not dilated at all. Zilch. 0cm. The baby also hasn't dropped at all (so that's why the top of my uterus hurts so darn much), although he/she is still head-down, thank goodness. My cervix is softening so I should start dilating soon, but as of now I have a fair amount of work to do before labor will start.

I was pretty happy to hear this, until Dr H said, "But remember that you went from 1cm to 10cm in less that 24 hours last time. And generally your second labor will be about twice as fast." Oh yeah.

Regardless, I'm happy that I made it to 36 weeks and it seems that babyhill is content to stay put a bit longer. I have an ultrasound next Friday, which is when we get to see just how large and in charge this baby actually is. And the baby will officially be full-term at that point!

To celebrate reaching 36 weeks, I got a pedicure this afternoon. My toes (or at least what I can see of them) were looking pretty pathetic and I wanted to try to fit in at least one last pedicure before the baby arrives. At first I felt like I should pay more for my pedicure since my feet are so fat and swollen now, but then I reasoned (with myself) that my NAILS aren't any fatter, so it's not like they have to use more polish on me. And the ladies at the nail place were very funny and nice -- super curious about the pregnancy and telling me all their own stories. They were pretty certain this baby is a girl, so I think it's unanimous: the cashier at Fred Meyer, the waiter at Giacomo, and the ladies at AP Nail Salon are all positive that I'm having a girl.

Well enough chatter. Here's my final comparison belly picture! I'll still post weekly pictures, but I'm now officially beyond comparing my last pregnancy with this one. And note that in the 2007 picture, I'm intentionally sticking my belly out to make it look bigger. Brat.