McRae... Party of 5 + dog: 36 Weeks and A Fun Little Comparison

Here I am at 36 weeks! I feel HUGE. I can't believe that Baby B could be here in 2 or 4 weeks. I'm hoping for 2 so I can meet her. I know 4 is better so I'll be more prepared. I've been working on her nursery nook the last few weeks. I finished the quilt and pinned the binding on, only to discover that I still needed about another 9 inches of binding. So it's off to JoAnne's...again. I also decided to make a mobile for the crib out of the left over fabric from the quilt. It's super cute and all I need to do is assemble/hang it. I have a few more projects to complete the nook and I think it'll be a really creative and unique nursery nook.

Besides getting the nursery nook ready, I've been doing a few other pre-baby arrival things like: packing my suitcase, installing the carseat, prepping the cloth diapers, washing/putting away baby clothes, and trying to arrange child care for Pip when I go into labor. Everything is coming along smoothly...except for the child care part, but Pip is allowed to be at the hospital so if all else fails, Bob will have to wait with her out in the hall for the "pushing" part. Not the ideal situation, but that's what happens when you are new to an area and you have no one to help you.

At my doctor appointment this past Monday, the doc checked to make sure I wasn't dilated since I mentioned that I had some contractions and cramping. Unfortunately, it was a no. Then I was informed that I had to have another HIV test (in Texas they require all pregnant women to have one at the end of their pregnancy). I had one in Indiana ( state law says all pregnant women must have one at the beginning of their pregnancy). The "blood taker lady" left a nice bruise on my arm. Rest assured I do not have HIV. Everything is looking good as far as baby is concerned. As for me, I'm very uncomfortable and dizzy on a daily basis. I'm EXTREMELY hormonal. It's an emotional roller coaster that Bob has not been willing to ride. I can't promise it'll get any better once the baby comes. Baby B still sits on my sciatic nerve. For anyone that has not had the pleasure, it's incredibly painful and at times immobilizing especially if I've been sitting or laying down for a while (nightly runs to the bathroom usually result in nightly crawls or hunched over waddles). On the bright side, my belly is so robust that my stretch marks have actually disappeared.

Since the 36 week shot will most likely be the "last" staged shot before labor, I decided to create a collage of both pregnancies just to see how my belly looked between the 2. For the most part, the images are pretty spot on in terms of weeks/months starting at roughly 3 months and ending at 36 weeks. It's interesting to see how my belly shape, weight distribution, and overall face puffiness differs. I wish that I was facing the same direction in all the pictures and I tried to be consistent with outfits (as you can see, I failed in both respects).