Dear Alex,

You are a little over 37 weeks along now– officially “full term,” meaning that although your due date is still 19 days away, you could make your grand arrival at any time now. My sources say you are the size of a “winter melon” … no clue what that is though! Someone posted that acronym– WOA– on my Facebook page, and that is pretty much what we’re up to these days… just waiting on Alex! 🙂 Dad & I also made it a point to get out and go on a little date night this weekend, since we probably won’t get a chance to do that sort of thing for awhile after you’re born. It was fun and I’m proud to say that I made it through an entire 3 hour movie (The Hobbit) without having to run to the restroom! Haha.

Physically I’m feeling as good as can be expected, I suppose. For the most part I am always pretty tired and sleep as much as I can, but do get random spurts of energy from time to time. Regardless, I’ve been making it a point to get in as much exercise as I can but am keeping it low key with things like prenatal yoga, pilates, and walking. I think you have dropped lower into my pelvis over the past week or so, because I feel a LOT more pressure in my hips & lower abdomen these days. “Dropping” is a sign that labor is coming up soon, although it could mean a matter of weeks or days. On the other hand, I still feel you wedge yourself under my ribs sometimes, so maybe it’s just that you’re getting big & running out of room! You be the judge:

I’ve been doing a bunch of things my midwife suggested to supposedly help my body prepare for labor. Who knows if any of this stuff will actually help, but I figure it’s worth a shot since it won’t do any harm either–

• Drinking raspberry leaf tea: this is supposed to strengthen the uterus and, when the time comes, make contractions more productive
• Taking evening primrose oil supplements: this is supposed to help soften the cervix
• Perineal massage: this is supposed to stretch the vaginal/perineal areas to help avoid tearing and/or an episiotomy. Honestly I tried this a couple times & gave up on it… not sure how other pregnant women are able to do this around the big bellies! As someone in my birth month group said– “I can barely wipe my own ass, how am I supposed to be able to do perineal massage?” So true. LMAO!
• Kegel exercises: also supposed to tone the perineal area in the hopes of avoiding tearing/episiotomy. Much easier to do, and actually I’ve been doing those throughout the entire pregnancy.

Today I had my weekly check-up with the mid-wife… it was sort of a mixed bag. The good news:  I actually lost a pound this week (woohoo!), your heartbeat was fine, Group B Strep test I took last week came back negative, and my fundal height (uterus/belly size) is measuring right on schedule. The bad news: my blood pressure was slightly elevated, and when I told the midwife I’d started getting headaches rather frequently over the last week & hadn’t felt you moving as often the last couple days, she asked me to go in as soon as possible for an ultrasound. She assured me that everything was probably fine, but she wanted to just double-check to be on the safe side & ensure all is well with you. So Dad & I went this afternoon for that, and thankfully you are doing just fine! They checked heartbeat, cord blood flow, fluid levels, movement, etc. and the doctor said everything looked great.  The ultrasound indicated that you are currently about 7 lbs 11 oz… since the average baby gains about 1/2 lb. per week at this point, that puts you on track to be about 9 lbs. when you’re born! Such a big boy already. 🙂 Unfortunately this creepy/blurry profile shot was all we got to bring home with us, but we’ll be seeing your face in person soon enough!

Anyway, last week I also went to visit my friend Shannon… you might remember that she was also pregnant with her first child (I posted a picture awhile back of us together at her baby shower). She had her little girl, Autumn, a few weeks ago! I stopped by to take her some food and meet the little one. It was a lot of fun spending time with them, as well as educational to hear Shannon’s take on new motherhood. But it definitely made me that much more excited/impatient to meet you! Haha. I know it will be here soon enough… in the mean time, Dad & I are anxiously in WOA mode. 😉

All my love,
Mom