Full Term! And a bit...again...

So the 37 week mark arrived and passed without much ado. Unless you consider the excellent graduation parade we attended last week. It was long, and it was crowded but when James' class marched into the hall and stood in front of us, I couldn't help but cry. Quite a bit. I was so proud of him and so thankful to God for having brought us this far in a year. And while I know that he has completed this type of training and graduation before in England, I was proud to have been a part of his experience here in Canada. Knowing how hard he worked, how much he longed to be home and what sacrifices had to be made in order to get to this point - married, living in Canada, graduating again and about to become a father - made me all the more proud to call him my husband.

I felt lovely in my dress and had a few unknown (to me anyway) graduates exclaim that they'd love to "rock pregnancy" in the way I was. Nothing like an ego boost at full term!

So here I am, 37 weeks and 4 days. Last night, I thought I was going into labour. I woke up at around 3 in the morning with terrible nausea and tingling all over my body. I broke out into a full body sweat as my lower back and belly cramped. In my half-asleep state I reconciled to myself that I felt unwell because I was likely about to start that time of the month. It took a few minutes to remember that I was in fact pregnant and therefore, having a period was highly unlikely. The pain didn't come in waves (as they say it does) but it just remained for a long time. I got up, had a glass of water, went to the loo, opened the bedroom window and tried to get some sleep. Since it didn't feel the way contractions are supposed to feel, I assumed I was good to relax a while.

Unfortunately, my brain panicked. As in, freaked.out. i realised that I wasn't prepared for the baby to arrive yet. I still have too much to do! I wondered if I could get my mom to order the christmas gifts online in the morning if I was in the hospital and couldn't do it. I wondered if I should get up and blow dry my hair in case labour started properly before the morning. I worried about our camera charger's disappearance and how we'd record our baby's arrival. I worried over not having staples in the house for dinners when we arrived back. I worried about not having packed my hospital bag or purchased necessities from the pharmacy. I worried because the downstairs powder room wasn't painted and would have to remain horrendously blue during Christmas. After about half an hour I rolled onto my back and massaged my belly until I fell asleep.

I woke up utterly relieved to not be in labour. Being fearful of labour and delivery is pointless since it's going to happen - one way or another. However, I am absolutely panicked about the 2 page long  "before baby arrives" list we wrote up last night. I've now ordered all Christmas gifts online, booked the dog in for a groom before Christmas, started the mounds of laundry that was waiting, pulled out the hospital bag and written down the list of things that I need to pack as well as starting to prep the powder room for painting.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and need to pick up the rest of my Christmas gifts at 3 stops on the way home. Please Lord, Please do not let this baby come tonight. Tomorrow is pay day and I need to pay our bills for the month! I am so not ready. My house is a mess, I need a clean house! The thought of coming home to a messy house is creating a serious amount of anxiety.

Anyway, today I feel different. The aches are different and the baby's movement feels different. My heart rate is definitely up. I'm just trying to power through the list as quickly as possible. I wish I had a maid. That'd be AWE.SOME. My instinct tells me to get my butt in gear. Yes I know that pre-labour can last for weeks. Yes I know that while every pregnancy is different, there are typical signs to look out for. But my philosophy throughout this pregnancy is that my pregnancy is unique to me and my body. And my body does not feel like itself today. So we'll see. Maybe I have a few weeks of feeling unnatural while my body prepares for labour. Maybe a few days. Either way, I'm going to spend less time reading (though my book is SO good) and more time cleaning and prepping this evening.

Until the next update! Oh shoot, I really should've done that super cute "hold your belly" pre photo so that I could do a "hold your baby where he was in your belly" post photo. Tomorrow!

P.S. (Can you do a p.s. in a blog?!) I did not crop my husband out of the photo out of vanity (he looked so lovely and handsome) but out of protocol. No pics of uniform allowed on the web and all that.