36 Weeks

I am making a ridiculous face in this bump photo but since I literally could not stand wearing this outfit for one more minute, I only allowed one take.  This dress was the one I had originally wanted to wear to my shower this past weekend, but it got vetoed because it was too short.  After wearing it to work today, I can now verify that is is, in fact, too short.  Lucky for me, no one can really notice when I'm sitting in my cubicle.  I like the dress so much I bought two of them and plan to wear them post-delivery, yet walking home in the sweltering heat today made me hate the thick interior lining.

Yes, that's right.  It went from low 40's last week to over eighty degrees today. And it was SO muggy.  I'm glad I only have four more weeks of pregnancy left because I am not cut out for being hugely pregnant in the summer. I think I would show up to work in a tank top and boxer shorts every day until I got fired.

But speaking of getting fired, I GOT MY MATERNITY LEAVE APPROVED! It was such a non-event at my joke of a job.  My boss called me into his office late last week and just handed me a form to sign with no discussion.  I placed said form back on his desk a few minutes later while he was away.  Today I got a copy of said form signed by the Powers That Be.  I guess no one has anything to say to me about transitioning my work to another attorney, notifying the clients I'm responsible for about my planned absence, or my offer to start back on a part time basis?  Well okay then, see you in late October losers!  Eighteen weeks of freedom!  Oh and taking care of a newborn.

How Far Along: 36 weeks. Officially nine months pregnant.
Size of baby: Baby is the size of a honeydew.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: No change.
Workouts: I returned presents and did some shopping today at Buy Buy Baby and nearly passed out.
Maternity Clothes: If I must, though it's officially too hot for pants so I'm just trying to wear dresses now.
Gender: It's a boy!
Movement: Yes he's pretty active lately.  He gets pissed if I don't eat at the usual times.
Sleep: Sucky.  I go to hang out in bed early in the night because I need to stretch my joints and end up falling asleep and being wide awake later in the night and unable to get back to sleep.  Also getting out of bed to pee is really hard now.
What I miss: Not peeing ten times a night.
Cravings: Food is gross.  I would just like to drink water all day long and maybe have soft serve ice cream.
Symptoms: Ankles of doom!
Anxiety Level: Only a one or a two this week.
Best Moment this week: My shower!
Reading: I'm working on Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds.
Dad is: Nesting a little.

This weekend was my shower thrown by my mom and sisters.  It was pretty awesome.  My mom rented a room at an Italian restaurant in my hometown.  The food was so yummy and she decorated the room with baby pictures of DH and I, plus a handmade diaper motorcycle and other jungle accessories to match the theme we chose for the baby's room/office.  

We got almost everything we need for Gizmo's arrival, minus the swing I purchased today and some other miscellaneous things.  Now we just need to put everything away, wash the baby's clothes, hang up some shelves, get the car seat installed and hire someone to do a deep cleaning of the apartment.

New in pregnancy symptoms this week is the demise of my ankles.  It all started a few days ago.  I had a busy night at a charity event and then came home and was running around.  I went to put pajamas on and wanted socks because my feet were cold.  All of a sudden my sock wouldn't fit on my foot.  I freaked out!  DH took my blood pressure and it was a little high.  The next morning I went to the nurse at work to show her my ankles and have her take my blood pressure.  The latter was totally fine and she said the swelling wasn't so bad.  It gets a tad better if I elevate my feet for ninety minutes but I pretty much haven't seen my ankle bones since then.  I was so looking forward to not being a big bloated mess at my shower but I guess nature finally caught up with me.

Oh well, at least my hair looked fabulous!