28 December 2011

The Belly Report :: 38 Weeks Pregnant

Tick, tock, tick, tock ... the baby girl is still baking happily away!! And as anxious as I am to meet her (and I am plenty anxious), I'm happy to have her in there for as long as she needs to be. As I was reminded at my appointment yesterday, each day she's inside me is a day she needs to be there.

38 weeks pregnant
38 weeks pregnant, y'all!

Things are moving along quite has they have been ... nothing new or exciting to report!! She's still kicking and squirming like crazy, and growing just as she should. I find myself needing to nap almost daily now (and for someone who's never really been much of a napper, this is saying something), and I seem to be getting plenty of exercising done just keeping up on things around the house (not to mention all the squatting down I do from picking or cleaning up those things I've dropped and/or spilled on the floor I just swept and mopped).

38 weeks pregnant
100% homegrown, all natural baby belly!

All in all though, I really have to say I'm feeling pretty darn good. Honestly ... I really can't complain. I mean, I do find myself dropping things all the time which does get frustrating. And it's increasingly difficult to clean up after the messes I find myself making. But I'm still enjoying the experience of pregnancy. As wonderful as it will be to have her in our arms, I know that once she's here there are going to be moments I'm going to miss the intimacy of the connection we share now.

James and I enjoyed his whole two days off together (!!) for Christmas and took the opportunity to do some more artistic-type belly shots before she gets here. We went to a park nearby our house with a blanket and a couple other little special things. Here are a few of my favorites from the day ...


maternity (37 wks + 5 days)

maternity (37 wks + 5 days)
Peace & bliss

maternity (37 wks + 5 days)

maternity (37 wks + 5 days)
Quiet and reflective

maternity (37 wks + 5 days)

maternity (37 wks + 5 days)
James' favorite

maternity (37 wks + 5 days)

It continues to be important to me to find ways to include Ewan in our family life -- especially in the arrival of his little sister -- and this photoshoot was a fun way to do that. The blanket I used was a blanket a friend of ours made while we were in the hospital with him. She would read our updates, knit, and pray. Knit and pray, knit and pray. So even though he never got to use it, it really is his blanket, all that love and prayer for him woven into every fiber, and I like to think that that same love and prayer that surrounded him then surrounds us now at the arrival of his little sister.

So I rub my belly and continue to wait until she tells me it's time to arrive. Until then, may she bake and squirm away happily, as she has been.

Love you to the moon and back again, baby girl.