39 Weeks!

Any day now.

What a dangerous little phrase to get lodged in a pregnant woman's head. The eager anticipation and downright impatience has taken hold. What a sad state it is, when we find ourselves monitoring every twinge, hoping that it turns into something stronger. We await that wrenching abdominal sensation on the edges of our seats. And even knowing that there could still be weeks before the grand debut of the newest family member doesn't stop the crazy yearning to have him in our arms.

And this is how it feels to be 39 weeks pregnant. Along with feeling like I have arthritis. While people mentioned aching joints, no one warned me that not only would my hips and pelvis feel like they're about to fall apart every time I move, but my ankles, toes, knees, elbows and fingers would all feel achey and painful as well.

So, Friday was my 39 week appointment. At 8:30 that morning I actually had an interview at OU for a Federal Intern position out at Tinker. I don't know what I was thinking there, but it went better than I expected. I'm glad I scheduled it early because I was a little more cognitive than I normally would have been. Anyway, I got to the midwife's office about 45 minutes early for my appointment. As I waited, I noticed my feet beginning to tingle and looked down to find them swelling. I was wearing black flip-flops which I'd thankfully remembered to bring so I wouldn't have to walk in my dress shoes. By the time I got back to the exam room, my feet were gigantic. Kind of like the look you get when you blow up a surgical glove, only with much shorter fingers. My calves and ankles were about the same size (no small feat - I have large calves.) Thankfully my blood pressure was fine, so Ann assured me there was no need to worry.

Ethan seems to be growing. At almost 39 weeks, the Fundal Height measurement was 39. Up to this point, the measurement has been a week behind. (For instance, when I was almost 38 weeks he was measuring 37, and it's been that way consistently.) So I suspect he's putting on some serious weight.
Heartbeat was in the 140's as usual.
I weighed 174 lbs, but Ann did say that it was likely that most of that was water retention. Gaining 4 lbs in one week is kind of unlikely. (Plus, I think I'd have noticed. My clothes are still fitting.)

My feet have been swelling off an on since Friday. Never quite as bad as Friday, but I did a fairly good job of keeping them up over the weekend. They're already swelling this morning at work so we'll see how today goes. There's no harm to come from the swelling itself, but it's amazingly painful to walk once everything begins to swell so I hope I can keep it under control. I guess this is nature's way of encouraging us to sit down, huh?