ideas

I'm in the home stretch of pregnancy. I'm 36 weeks along and have been pregnant for nine months now. Seriously, I've been pregnant since July 2013. Kinda crazy to think about. I am grateful for each day that Hunter gets to spend in my womb developing, but I now understand why I've always heard that the last month is difficult. I'm exhausted much of the time and have dreamy thoughts at work of just taking a wee little nap. My back is starting to hurt on a regular basis and Hunter feels very heavy by about 2-3pm. Walking is becoming more challenging, not only because I can't breathe very well, but because I have to spread my feet further apart to move in a straight line (I've heard this is called waddling, but that sounds so awful!). I'm starving at times and feel like I've got food stuck in my throat at others. I'm having trouble getting a really good night's sleep due to shifting my weight around and still trying to get used to sleeping on my side.

However, I will admit that the attention from being pregnant is fun. Everyone talks to the pregnant lady and offers kindness. It's fun to connect with other women over their pregnancy and child birth stories. I've got some cute clothes (thanks to my mother) and enjoy the compliments on my maternity wardrobe.  

I've totally got the nesting thing going on. It sounds hokey, but it's a very real thing. I've always liked a clean, organized life, but this is to a whole new level. I want things in place, now. I was the first social worker in my department to turn in my yearly assessment and review it with my boss. I told her that I didn't want to go into labor with that task undone. Check, check, check off the list!

I go to the doctor once a week for the last month. I'm so grateful to have a flexible job and a doctor I really like.

Little change of topic here. After my Dad died, I wrote out a list of gifts we received that were helpful or insightful. At my Birmingham shower, Jared and I were gifted a tree of our choice to plant at a location of our choice along with a gift bag of goodies for us such as nice soap, lotion, and yummy snack foods. I thought it was such a great idea. We love the baby gifts and need the baby gifts. However, the gift got me thinking about fun baby shower gift ideas for the parents. So, here's what I came up with:
-a pregnancy massage for mother
-a pedicure for mother
-a gift certificate to a good restaurant/ice cream parlor/movies for the couple to have a date night before the baby arrives
-a one hour/two hour/one time housekeeper to help parents deep clean the house prior to baby's arrival
-a gift card for haircut/color for mother prior the baby's arrival
-a subscription to a good baby/parenting magazine
-a good six-pack of beer for father

Tomorrow is Friday! We've got Zoe for the weekend for Mom, Ryan for Saturday and Sunday nights for Warren and Jackie, and are feeding Brad and Jen's dogs and fish. This is what happens when you can't travel far from the hospital any more!