Full Term & Another Ultrasound

         Thirty-seven weeks, full-term, could-go-any-day; where did the time go??  I swear I was just typing about being tired (well I'm still tired) and morning sickness (or all-day sickness).  At my 36-week appointment our midwife said that I/baby continued measuring big and so she ordered an ultrasound to just check on baby and fluid levels.  I was at 36 weeks and was measuring 38 weeks.

        We had our ultrasound yesterday and got to see a very plump, filled-out baby, much different than the tiny, skinny, skeleton-looking baby at week 20.  We saw Baby sucking, holding on to his/her feet, and moving all around.  The ultrasound tech said our baby has an average sized head and legs, but has a big belly :-)  She also said she could see a double chin.  Guess Baby Taylor will look more like Doug did when he was a baby.  

       We got some cute pictures of Baby Taylor's face, but it put tears in my eyes, because now all I want to do is see his/her face for real! I can't stop picturing it and wanting to see it more clearly!  Everything else looks good from the ultrasound and by ultrasound Baby is only measuring about a week big. She estimated he/she was about 7 pounds.  

      Now we wait:  it could be tomorrow it could be a month from now.  Only Baby gets to decide (which is really hard for this mama).  

      We have hired a Doula Collective: they have 3 doulas that work together on an on-call basis so that way someone is always available. You meet with each one so that you are familiar with them all. We met with our third doula this week.  She was great and offered some great suggestions for laboring at home for a while to decrease our time at the hospital (where interventions would be offered).  One of the nice things about these doulas is that they will come to your house and help you labor at home. It will be a nice reassurance to know we are doing things correctly :-)  

   I have an amazing class of students this year.  They planned a surprise baby shower for me yesterday where they gave me the stroller we had registered for.  I was shocked: first about the surprise, because I literally had no idea, and second about the gift! Wow!  Earlier in the week my Dad, De, and the girls gave us our Christmas presents a little early which included an extra car seat base and stroller.  We will have to return one of the strollers, but will definitely use the money for all the baby essentials that we need (or don't even know we need yet).  

     I think that I would really like to wait until January to have this baby, for lots of reasons, but I also just can't wait to meet him/her.  I want to see who he/she looks like and if he/she really does have a double chin :-)  Over Winter Break I plan to finish up my Baby-To-Do list and sit and wait for Baby to come.  Updates to come......

    We were able to celebrate on Christmas so far with my step-mom's side of the family! We will do a small Christmas brunch with my Dad, De, and my sisters this weekend and then next week fill in all the rest :-)  Doug scored another goal in hockey last week and made a few great plays; he is getting too good :-)

Merry Christmas everyone-we hope that you can spend your holiday with all those that you love!

How far along: 37 weeks
Sleep: I haven't been feeling great the last couple of days (I'm starting to get a cold) so that makes sleep, which didn't come easy before, even more difficult.
Best Moment this week: Seeing our baby's face on an ultrasound picture and knowing everything is going just fine in there!
Miss Anything: Being able to move, especially at night.  I am so exhausted by the time I get home, just getting up is hard to do :-)  Not sure how anyone has a second kid because being this exhausted and having to chase a toddler around sounds impossible!
Movement: Yes even though he/she is running out of room!
Food Cravings: Nothing this week!
Gender:  I have switched to boy now.  I thought the ultrasound picture of Baby's face looked like a boy :-) Who knows?!
Labor Signs: I'm pretty sure I have been having a few Braxton-Hicks contractions, but since I haven't ever done this before I am not really sure.
Symptoms: Oh there are too many to list ...
Wedding Rind on or off?:  Off
Belly Button in or out: In -but I don't have much time left before I get an "outie"
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and so anxious!
Looking forward to: Christmas!

This is a picture of Baby Taylor's face! Isn't it just the cutest thing ever!

This one is hard to see, but Baby Taylor's hand is holding onto one of his/her feet!