Baby Mac - 38 Weeks

Yep, I'm still pregnant!  We're getting down to the final days, but Mac's holding in there and getting nice and chubby for me (he knows I have a thing for fat babies).  So many of my friends that are due before and even after me have already had their babies and I'm starting to get anxious about when our little guy will decide to make his appearance.  The not knowing is definitely one of the hardest things to deal with.  I'm slightly jealous of my friends that did scheduled c-sections - at least they knew when it was coming.  I'm definitely GIANT, but honestly, I'm not horribly uncomfortable or miserable (knock on wood) yet.  I'm excited about the next phase and meeting him, but I'm ok with being pregnant a little while longer.  I'm really trying not to force the issue by doing all the things that "allegedly" bring on labor like walking for miles, eating spicy foods, drinking castor oil, etc.  I want this kid to come on his own time, if possible.  I'm trying to be patient and do what's best for him.  My doctor says he's not budging just yet, so we may have a little while longer to wait.

But I know he's coming...eventually.  Sometimes I'm convinced that he's trying to get out through my ribcage and I'm constantly reminding him that's NOT the exit!  Last weekend, he "dropped" - so I can finally breathe again and feel much better.  We had our final ultrasound and we know that at 36 weeks he was around 6.5 lbs and head-down.  This past week I've started to have Braxton-Hicks contractions and am just waiting for the real ones to begin.  And I'm not going to lie...as we get closer and closer, I'm starting to get pretty nervous about the birth.  I mean, I know we'll make it through it (what other choice do we have?), but I worry that I won't be strong enough or tough enough to handle it.  Yes, I'm getting an epidural and I know I don't need to be Superwoman, but I would like to reasonably "keep it together" and not be a complete heinous bitch to everyone in the hospital or attempt to murder my husband.  I want it be a positive experience, but I'm so scared of being weak.  I've been praying for strength and grace to help me make it through this next step.  I just have to keep telling myself that women do this every day and so can I.  Of course, that doesn't really help, but I'll keep trying.

In the meantime, we're enjoying these last few weeks of being kid-free.  We've been to a couple birthday parties and a baptism, out to eat with friends, we've watched a few movies and even went to a Stanley Cup playoff hockey game (go Blues!).  Ryan started a new job this week (it's a long story), so he's been busy settling in and meeting all his new co-workers.  I've been working from home a couple days a week, which has been really nice and has allowed me to get off my feet a bit during the week.  It's also been nice to get to spend so much time with the dogs.  I worry about them and how they'll handle having a new baby in the house, but I know we'll all get it figured out and adjust.  I just hope they know how much we still love them too.

As for Mac, he's still very active and getting really strong.  He's been craving chocolate milk and ice cream these days and I'm happy to oblige him with gallons of Oberweis chocolate milk, boxes of Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and pints of Ben & Jerry's Fro Yo Cherry Garcia.  We can do some serious damage to the ice cream aisle at the grocery store these days.  Yay calcium!  My doctor's put a ban on tacos, pizza and Chinese food because the sodium makes me swell up so much, but we're getting by without them just fine.  We've been doing a lot of grilling because the weather's so nice out and we can wear the dogs out a little by throwing the ball for Sage a couple thousand times while we cook.  Sleep is getting harder and harder to come by, but that's to be expected.  I've been doing a lot of late night reading and catching up on all the episodes of Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy on my DVR.  Sage has been enjoying all the late night belly scratch sessions and Jigs has been loving attacking me on my way to the bathroom a dozen times a night.  And that's about it.  We're just waiting...