bébé numéro deux | 36 weeks

progress & countdown: 36 weeks down & 28 days to go. 9 months pregnant! again, don't get me started on the whole "pregnancy is nine months" business. i am 9 months now. and not finished yet, folks. 

baby size: the length of a head of romaine lettuce.

food & drink: trying to keep things healthy and light with room for fun meals out and splurges on the weekends and/or special occasions. my appetite is pretty mild throughout the day but by dinnertime i am ready to eat EVERYTHING. baby boy likes a hearty meal to finish his day. there has been lots of kombucha and green juices and fruit and veg. and dinner is whatever sounds tasty. bread and grains have been in heavy rotation. i suppose i am in "carb up" mode for labor. yup, we'll call it that...

bump stuff: growing like mad. it sure feels like things have doubled in that area in the last few weeks. a solid ball of baby. and man, does he move and stretch like crazy. officially trying to bust his way out, i think. 

highs: seeing the belly grow as baby boy grows.

lows: feeling the belly grow.

new developments: baby is packing on the pounds at the rate of about an ounce a day! yup. i have noticed that. i seem to be greeted by a bigger bump every morning. this is the ridiculous part of pregnancy when the baby just takes over... he now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18.5 inches long. baby is shedding most of the downy hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa (the waxy substance that protects the skin during the nine month bath in amniotic fluid). baby swallows these substances along with other secretions, and they form a tar-like black substance called meconium, which baby passes in his first bowel movements. oh meconium diapers...i remember you well. lovely stuff indeed. at the end of this week, baby will be considered "early term". and baby is in the head-down position, getting ready for birth!

meaningful moments & hormones & feelings: i am trying to re-read my baby books and re-read my infant elinor journal and make notes to myself as reminders. those early weeks are so hazy and wonderful and bizarre. i wonder how it will feel the second time around? better because i know a bit more about what to expect? not better because i know a bit more about what to expect? which parts will be the same and which will be completely unfamiliar territory? i can't wait to see what this little guy has in store for us...

superficial stuff: i have been blessed with two healthy and happy and pleasant pregnancies so far. not much fuss. no complications. pretty uneventful. i have had things pretty smooth and easy in the preggo department. BUUUUUT, that doesn't always go hand-in-hand with the feelings of "oh pregnancy...i want to pregnant forever...i just love what it does to me and what i feel...". and i know some ladies really truly feel that way, which is a blessing all its own. do i think it is incredible the way God created the female body? YES. do i marvel at how my body grows a baby and changes and accommodates and then births and nourishes? ABSOLUTELY. however, by this point, i am also really looking forward to wrapping things up and moving out of the pregnancy phase and into the birth and newborn and postpartum phase. i remember feeling the exact same way during my pregnancy with elinor too. that last month, man. i know it is such an important month for baby but it makes mama crazy antsy. you know, like...get this show on the road! and not because i am miserable or sick or anything, just because my mentality does a major shift! i am looking forward to giving birth. i am SO excited to meet our little one. i am ready to shift from growing a baby to feeding a baby (breastfeeding junkie). and i am definitely ready to get into our new groove as a family AND get my groove back too. in spite of my best efforts to do everything i can to feel like "me'" during pregnancy, that last month feels a tad out of control. the bump is in charge. but i am going with it. i am embracing it. and i am definitely enjoying the experience because this might-be-could-be-quite-possibly-is my last. so i am trying to savor these final weeks. but hey, i am also ready to sleep on my belly and to have the option of wearing high-waisted pants again!

looking forward to: wearing high-waisted pants again. but seriously, i am looking forward to weekly appointments from here on out (well, i am kind of looking forward to that. i guess it passes the time...but, it seems excessive...but it does mean home stretch!). at this point, i am looking forward to meeting our little man!