Baby bump - 36 weeks

Woo hoo - I've entered the 9th month! According to the baby countdown widget on this blog, I've been pregnant for 252 days.

The painful sciatica is always present. I can feel my hips widening and the cartilage loosening up. Seems to be harder on my right side than the left for some reason.

D and I attended a 4-hour birthing education class last Saturday. It was a good session and we learned quite a bit. Saw 3 videos of actual births and I do feel more comfortable with the whole process now. At one point the instructor showed a diagram of the internal organs of a pregnant vs. non-pregnant woman and I turned to D to say, THIS IS WHY I HAVE TO PEE EVERY 15 MINUTES! Everything is squished into oblivion by the growing baby.

This has been one of the snowiest winters that I can remember - the term "snowpocalypse" has been used quite a bit. Cordova and Valdez are in states of emergency because of the FEET of snow they've received in just the last few days. It is crazy out there in Prince William Sound, but the rest of us in Southcentral are getting dumped on too.D is constantly outside shoveling the driveway and sweeping the porch.

At the end of our driveway - that's our black mailbox to the left, peeking out from a mountain of snow.

Drift taking in the winter wonderland.

36-week ultrasound

Had our very last ultrasound of the peanut today. He is growing wonderfully! His heart looks fine - as do all of his other organs. Pretty perfect, according to the ultrasound tech. Heartbeat was 143. He is estimated to be around 6 pounds now, which means if at full-term (40 weeks) he could run between 7 3/4 and 8 1/4 pounds.

It was impossible to get a good photo of the whole body and downright difficult to see the baby's face since his head is nestled down there near my pelvis. But that is a good sign - he's in the right position for birth, although no lightening or "dropping" yet. Lots of movement during the appointment - he was definitely pressing back against the ultrasound wand!