36 weeks

and as my mother said "so the countdown begins." and it really does!
We now have only a month left until our due date, and Baby Girl should be big and strong enough to come anytime now and not need any special care.

I have really come to a sort of peace about being on Bed Rest, and I suppose that is a really good thing. I have my little daily routine down and have finally got all my pillows in a configuration that keeps me comfy and is easy to arrange when I need to shift. It has been a little bit harder the last week or so, because it has been so GORGEOUS! outside, and all I can really do is look out my window at the gloriously blue sky and the trees gently blowing in the breeze... I try to make sure to open the patio door in the AM before I settle in if I can tell it's going to be nice, so at least I get some fresh air and can appreciate the niceness a little bit.

The Friday Evening shift of nurses in the Labor/Delivery wing at the Hospital are starting to recognize me and Kyle and remember my name (that's a good thing, right?) I am kind of hoping that we go into labor on a Friday evening/afternoon so that they can all meet the girl they have been checking on and monitoring!

Our fridge is PACKED with food! which is a good thing. Kyle hasn't had to cook anything at all this week, which makes coming home a little nicer for him, since he can start to relax pretty much as soon as he gets home. People bring us dinner and there is usually enough for leftovers the next day, and I guess we just don't eat that much or something, because we seem to be forever playing catch up, trying to clear it out before the next meals are coming! It will be good for the weekend though, since we have nothing scheduled to be brought.

We still haven't heard anything about Kyle working from home yet, that is frustrating. We do joke about it though, the latest one is that by the time we finally hear if he can work on stuff from home that Baby Girl will be 3 months old. "oh, really? thanks! that's great, but you know, we really don't need that anymore... no worries." ^_^ We are however looking into if he can still take his Paternity leave retro-actively, which would be awesome and make summer travels much easier! We are going to Oregon in the summer to see Kyle's maternal grandparents and some his aunt and uncle and their kids to introduce Baby Girl to them (Oma and Opa don't travel anymore really, so it is better if we can go to them). Because his Paternity leave doesn't kick in until you have worked at the company for a year we are having to take Vacation and Family Care sick days so he can be home with us for the first couple of weeks after Baby Girl comes, but it is going to deplete all of our saved up vacation days, bummer! But if he can take the Paternity leave retro-actively then we can still have a decently long-ish vacation without having to rush back and use up all the vacation days this summer as soon as we build them up again!

One of my girlfriends was saying that if she were me at 36 weeks right now and on bed rest she would start doing everything she could to get that baby out sooner and get off of bed rest. While I see her point, I told her that I figured we were made to have a 40 week gestation period for a reason, and I am going to try to keep Baby Girl in there for as long as possible! I know she might come early, and that is okay with me (lots of babies come before their due date, it's just a fact of nature!), and I know I might get induced, and that is okay with me too, but if I am healthy and she is healthy then I think we will hang tight. Like I said earlier, I am starting to have a peace about the whole bed rest thing... that doesn't mean I don't push my limits and try to be "up" more, or that I don't take longer than 5 minute showers (seriously! who can take a 5 minute shower?!?! I can barely wash my hair in 5 minutes! and then you have to dry off, and I hate lying on wet hair, so I have to blowdry it too... crazy people...) but I do know my limits and I can tell sometimes when I have been "up" too long and really need to relax back into my little nest on the couch. For the most part I am really a good girl and stay glued to my couch and only get up to eat and pee and refill my water bottle, and I will continue to try to be as healthy as possible so that I don't endanger this precious little girl growing in me.

PS. It sucks not being able to go to church!!!!! I think this will be 4 weeks straight that I haven't gone now! At least we host Bible Study here so I get to see people and get that fellowship and "food"