Home Stretch

• I'll be 38 weeks pregnant on Sunday - meaning we have made it to full term! Wahoo!
• The kiddo is moving both more and less. His movements are much more jarring, but I think he's pretty squished in there, so he doesn't seem to move as much as he did a few weeks ago.
• He now gets the hiccups 3-4x a day, and sometimes they last for 10 minutes at a time.
• His head is still down (thankfully!)
• My belly seems to be literally growing by the minute. I look at myself in the mirror and think, "When did I get this big?"
• The belly had become quite the hindrance. Not only do I forget that I can't "squeeze" past anyone anymore, but it's also eliminated my lap. Reading a magazine? Typing on the computer on my couch? Yeah, not really an option anymore. I also can barely fit in some booths at restaurants (and I really feel like, in the grand scheme of things, I am not that big!).
• My blood pressure is normal. I've gained about a total of 20 lbs until now - will maybe gain a total of 25 when this is all done. I'm happy with that number because I plan on breastfeeding as long as I can so hopefully it will all come off!
• In case you couldn't tell, I've now passed into the "uncomfortable" phase of pregnancy. I'm not sleeping super well, I can only sleep for a few hours at a time, and I require a ridiculous number of props to be able to sleep. I toss and turn, too, which I know has been hard on Alex. I find that, mostly, I just can't get comfortable, no matter where I am or what I am doing. 
• My muscles are always sore now. Even when I do yoga, or give myself a couple days off, muscles are sore, tired and stiff. I can only assume this means that, with all this extra weight, my body is working hard to keep me all upright. Or maybe I am just tensing up all my muscles all the time.
• Movement and doing things are becoming harder and harder. Walking gets tiring quickly, and I've definitely slowed a lot (which drives my husband crazy, as he never does anything slowly!). Yoga is getting harder and harder and I find there are some poses I just can't do anymore. I find this somewhat frustrating, as it seems to have happened all at once. I am just trying to accept it and move on with my life.
• I'm experiencing both nesting and exhaustion. Some days, I have a ton of energy and I can get lots of stuff done. Other days, there's not much I can do other than use all my energy to get one or two things accomplished. This hit-or-miss inconsistency is tough on the psyche.
• I can no longer wear my wedding rings, but I don't yet have cankles. 
• The baby can now punch me in the bladder. Literally.
• I'm experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions pretty regularly now. Meaning, I get them at least once a day, usually when I wake up in the morning and I'm dehydrated. I try to actually drink water in the middle of the night, which is weird.
• I find I need about 130-160oz of water a day. This is way more than your 64oz they tell you to get daily. Since everything else is normal (blood sugar, blood pressure, etc), there are no concerns with requiring this amount of water. However, it's kinda a pain to make sure I have water AND a bathroom close by.
• I think this will be my last week of work. My work schedule has become more and more erratic as I get more and more uncomfortable. I hate to take the time off, but I have to be honest with myself and my body. It's no longer feasible to be working as hard as I do and to have as long hours as I do. Plus, there are a million things I have to get done around the house. 
• I both can and can't imagine having a baby. I have some anxiety surrounding the labor and delivery part, and then there's this great, big black box associated with caring for an infant.