36 (and a half) Weeks!

How far along? 36.5 weeks!! DOWN TO THE WIRE!!!

Size of the babe? Honeydew! And boy can I feel it! 

Weight gain? This is a dumb question. Yes! I have gained... 30 pounds. I haven't gained any weight at my last two appointments, which I have been happy about considering my belly is growing 1 cm a week! GAH! Baby is just packing on the pounds, and is healthy and progressing normally. 

Maternity Clothes? SO SICK OF THEM. Really I have about 1 pair of maternity pants that I like to wear, and I have since resorted to dresses. I have had success at Old Navy and H&M for a few dresses that don't make me feel like a freaking cow. Can someone just make some cute actual maternity clothes please?? Seriously I have yet to find one maternity shirt that I would wear if I weren't pregnant.. so instead I just buy normal shirts 1-2 sizes too big and hope I can wear them for awhile. It is FRUSTRATING. Mostly I am just glad I only have a few more weeks of not having anything to wear. 

Sleep? I almost feel bad writing about how well I sleep, because I know most pregnant women at this stage DO NOT sleep well.  I have about 1 rough night a week (rough meaning that I wake up to go to the bathroom more than once). Other than that, I am sleeping SO well. I feel like I am more tired than ever.. in my first and second trimester I didn't get overly tired too often, WELL NOW, it has hit me. I am pretty much always tired, but I feel blessed that I can still sleep very well. I just have to go to the bathroom right as I am about to fall asleep and then typically I am good until morning! 

Cravings?  Hmm.. nothing too fancy! My appetite has actually decreased in the last little while. I think my stomach is smashed by the baby or something so I have very little room for food! If I eat too much I get pretty bad heartburn/acid reflux. JOY. I have been craving RITA's frozen custard and shaved ice though.. so I think we are going to have to take a trip there this weekend. I also thoroughly enjoy chocolate covered raisins.  Slurpees!! I crave slurpees constantly!

Baby movement? Constantly. She is so big now that basically any little movement jabs at some part of my body.. whether it's my ribs, my hip bones, back, or pelvis. She does constantly have one little foot nuzzled right in on my right side.. I can almost always see a 'bumb' where her foot is sticking out. Little stinker!

Challenge this week? Have any of you heard of "Lightning Crotch"?.... Yes that is what it is really called according to my pregnancy app. ha! Well this is one of my worst symptoms. Just randomly when I am walking too fast or too much I get this SHARP pain shooting up inside my crotch (TMI? sorry). Basically when the baby moves a certain way her head hits really sensitive nerves down there and sends shooting pain down my legs, up my back, and sometimes I think I have peed my pants! There have been a few times i thought I might be going into labor because the pains were so debilitating and so frequent. The other day I thought for sure the people in TJ Maxx were going to have to carry me to my car because i couldn't move more than one step at a time! If you have ever had really bad sciatic nerve pain, just imagine that but down in your crotch. WORST. EVER. (and yes I am very aware that actual labor will probably be worse than these pains, but for the time being, lightning crotch is the WORST EVER).

Best moment this week? Getting the nursery ready! I finally organized all the cute gifts we received at our showers, and have put everything in order! Today I am hoping to finish up my last few projects and tomorrow I will hang everything up! Her nursery is my favorite!!!!

Dr. Appointments? I have been going in every week for three weeks now and I love it! It is so nice to be able to hear that little heartbeat and know that everything is going well. My doctor 'checks me' every week and so far.. not much has happened. I am 'thinning' but not dilated at all.. which is okay since technically i am not full term until 37 weeks. I really don't like the feeling of being 'checked' but I guess i better get used to that. NOT FUN.

Names? Can I say, names are just so tricky? When Am and I found out we were expecting, we knew we had a name if we were having a boy. BUT as soon as the ultrasound tech said that we were having a girl, one of my first thoughts was "We have no girl names....errr crap".  Ammon and I are both very picky about what names we like/dislike (and our tastes are very different), but we actually settled on 3-4 names fairly quickly. We now have it narrowed down to two names and both of them start with 'E'. The closer it gets the more we are leaning towards one of these names in particular, but we are waiting until we see her to officially decide. In my head, I secretly call her by 'her name' all the time and it gets me so excited for her to actually be here!

Things really are moving by so quickly these days. I have to mention one thing that doesn't really fall into any of these categories and that i am sort of struggling with lately. My cute sister is currently serving a mission in Peru, and i am so sad she is missing out on all this baby fun. In the past month or so it has really hit me that she isn't here to take part in all the baby adventures, and messaging her every week about the baby is HARD. i know she is sad she is missing all this (even though she wont every say anything about that), but I think I am the MOST sad. I feel guilty telling her about all the little developments and such, because I feel like it makes her homesick. (Like I said, she never lets on to feeling this way, but I can only imagine!). I am trying really hard not to get my hopes up, but we talk to her via skype on Mothers Day (one week before my due date), and I would just LOVE for her to be able to meet her little niece that day. Obviously if things aren't meant to be then that is fine, but I am praying that she comes a little early so she can meet her awesome Aunt Kali! Missions really are the greatest thing, but it is really hard having your loved ones away for so long.