37 Weeks and Nesting

I am now at 37.5 weeks and we could not be more excited about our little one's coming arrival! Here is a picture of me after church Sunday at exactly 37 weeks.

And, in order to get Daddy in on the pictures, we let Anna Kate practice her photography skills. A little crooked, but not terrible =)

 

This week has been consumed with "nesting" projects and just general preparations for a third baby! We've both done a lot of organizing and cleaning out of stuff we don't need, Luke has done lots of little fix-it projects around the house, and I was able to make 12 freezer meals last week to be used after Eleanor arrives. Thank you, Rebekah, for keeping my girls so that I could accomplish that one!

In case you're interested, here are the recipes that I used...I made two each of the following six meals.

Paleo Chicken Divan: http://onceamonthmeals.com/paleo-chicken-divan/

Bean Stew as well as Pork and Veggies from this site: http://www.lovingmynest.com/learning-activities/cooking/freezer-crock-pot-recipes/

And Black Bean Taco Soup, Chicken Cacciatore, and Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans all from the Six Sisters website: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-make-8-meals.html

The best part is that I was able to find all Caroline-safe recipes (no dairy, eggs, or peanuts) =)

Today's project was getting out and organizing all of our 0-6 month clothes. We just go ahead and go straight to 6 month clothes since I generally have 10 lb babies! It's starting to feel really real now! 

As for how I'm feeling... 

Still having a bit of heartburn, but really no complaints other than that. 

I am having lots of contractions, but nothing painful or regular yet, so we're just still waiting.

I am now going for weekly appointments with my midwives and everything is looking good as far as blood pressure, heart rate, etc. Eleanor is head down and ready to go, but may be posterior, so I am working on some exercises to get her into a little better position. We'll see what the midwife says on Friday.

We took a hospital tour of Lexington Medical's birth center last week and we were very impressed! They seem to be very accommodating of my various requests - no IV, eat/drink in moderation during labor, move around freely during labor, delayed cord clamping, no eye antibiotic eye ointment for baby, all of baby's tests done in the room and while I hold her, etc. =) I also think it was good for the girls to be able to visualize where Mommy and Daddy are going to go and where they will get to come to meet their baby sister. 

I think that's about all for now. My next project (actually it's already in process) is Big/Middle/Little sister outfits for the girls! I'm getting to use my new sewing table that Luke built me for Christmas! Pics to come soon =)