Weeks Pregnant: 37 Weeks and 2 days

Symptoms: Heart Burn continues... especially if I eat anything chocolate or with red sauce. I've had some hip joint pain this time that I didn't have with Reaghan where if I step or sit funny it feels like my hip is out of socket. So weird! and not fun! Pubic bone pain. I had this AFTER I gave birth to Reaghan and the Dr called it osteitis pubis, its pretty painful sometimes but stretching my adductor muscles help. I've definitely had some contractions and cramping over the last 2 weeks! Getting closer!

Fitness & Weight Gain: I weighed 171 at my last appointment. Thats not too bad, I thought I'd be way past that point by now based on how I was gaining weight a couple months ago but if I can stay under 180 for this pregnancy I'll be happy! Especially since I know I haven't kept up on working out like I did with Reaghan. There's basically zero exercising happening right now except for taking brief walks with Reaghan and Piper - but even those have been limited because of the cold! Hopefully I don't regret it when it comes time to labor. 

Cravings: Peach cobbler. Man have I been wanting some Peach Cobbler. They way my mama makes it! And pretty much all comfort foods like waffles, chicken n dumplings, mashed potatoes, soups - I don't know if its the recent snowy weather or my pregnancy though! :) I have been eating a lot of oatmeal recently too!

Aversions: Hamburgers for some reason. They just don't sound that appetizing to me right now!

Best Moment this Month: Getting all of the baby stuff out of the attic after Christmas! I bought Dreft detergent and washed all the newborn clothes and *sigh* I can't get enough of that sweet smell. We set the swing up in the living room and the rock n play up in our bedroom. Reaghan is using them both for her baby dolls right now and I love how she keeps talking about her baby sister coming soon.

Baby Movement: She's not as crazy active as she was last month and the month before but still feeling her regularly. My belly obviously moves with her movements as she's getting bigger. The other night I thought she was trying to bust right out of my belly. She's a lot lower now, feeling sharp pains down low every so often when she moves.

Looking forward to: Her Arrival! Only 3 weeks to go! Hopefully she comes in January and isn't a week late like her big sister was.

Sleep: Probably waking every 2 hours to use the bathroom. Thankfully heartburn hasn't been keeping me up if I take tums before I go to bed. I was getting excited that she might come soon until the other night when I was remembering back to that last week or 2 with Reaghan when I was really miserable! I remember hating going to bed at night because I knew I wouldn't sleep or be comfortable. I'm not quite at that point yet with this one so I think she's staying in a couple more weeks atleast.

Reaghan's Thoughts: She loves to put her hands on my belly and say "I feel her coming" "She's coming soon." It's adorable. Whenever we go shopping she will pick out clothes and say "Oh this would be toot for baby sister." And when she helped me wash and fold all of the clothes and blankets she kept saying "is this for baby sister? Oh okay. Thats good." She's going to be the sweetest! We've had lots of talks recently about whats going to happen when the baby comes and keep reading her her "new baby" books. She know that mommy and daddy are going to go to the hospital when its time for baby to come and then Grammie is going to bring her to the hospital to meet the baby where she'll get to hold her. Hopefully she'll be fine when we actually drop her off with Grammie, but she's had a few sleepovers already so it should be fine. I did start worrying the other day about how she's going to react when she has to LEAVE the hospital after visiting and it made me so sad. I know it will be fine, but my hormones are already making me tear up at the thought of her crying when she has to leave mommy and baby at the hospital.

Preparations: Just packed my hospital bag today! I need to buy a few toiletry items and a coming home outfit for baby girl but I'm glad that I've got a few things in there in case a surprise arrival happens sooner than we think. We are still working on the nursery! Yikes! But she'll be sleeping in the basinet when she first comes home anyways so no big deal. I need to pack Reaghan's sleepover bag and get some size 1 diapers and I think we'll have all of the necessities. :) 

At my Dr's appointment last week (36 weeks appt) I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced! I knew with all of the contractions I'd had that I had to be on the scale somewhere! I was excited at first but I was the same way with Reaghan - I looked back and I said was 3cm and 60% effaced at 37 weeks. I'm remembering how my body labored long and low with her. Long as in over the last 3-4 weeks of the pregnancy and low as in low intensity until my water broke and then BAM she was here in 5 hours. I remember being really frustrated having contractions almost every day that never progressed past 8-10 minute apart and would fade away after an hour or so... but this time I know what my body's doing and I'm respecting the process. I'm really trying to relax into the contractions and cramping that I'm having here to encourage progress and not tense up and fight it. I'm really curious to see if my water will break again or if I'll have to go in based on contractions alone. It's exciting!!

My mom and sisters are throwing me a baby shower this Saturday with just some family and close friends and I'm so grateful and really excited to have a little get together before the baby comes! 

Just for fun - a little compare and contrast with Reag's pregnancy and this one!

I actually think I look smaller this time around! 

It sure doesn't feel like I'm smaller haha maybe the winter clothes are just more slimming in pictures. ; )