37 weeks...and anxiously waiting!

Yay!  We've made it to 37 weeks of pregnancy, which means that she is full term and could come at any minute!  I never thought this time would come, and if I'm honest, it still hasn't really set in that I'll be a mom in just a few short weeks.  As a molecular scientist, I understand down to the cellular level exactly what is happening: how she started out as a single cell and precisely how each cell after that differentiated into an ear or arm or toe, the hormones involved, her entire genetic make-up, how the prenatal vitamins are effecting her growth and development, etc.  It's what I spent six years of college studying.  Unfortunately, all that knowledge does me no good when it actually comes to taking care of and raising a child.  Needless to say, I'm a little nervous...but mostly so, so, so excited!

Man, I'm getting huge!

Yesterday Justin took me in for my 37 week appointment.  As soon as we got in the room, our doctor was called away to assist in an emergency c-section and a short 15 minutes later came walking in nonchalantly as if it was just another day.  The baby's heartbeat was a little lower than what it usually is, 125 bpm instead of her usual 145 bpm, but still well within the normal range.  He felt my belly and said that she is around 6 and a half pounds, which is a relief.  Justin finds it very funny to continuously tell me that our baby is going to be 12 pounds when she is born and the thought makes me shudder!  He then checked my cervix and said that I am 75% effaced (what?!?) and dilated to 2 cm (whoa!!)  That was a huge reality check that this is actually going to happen and probably soon.  I've been putting off packing our hospital bag because I think that I still have plenty of time, but this news was just the motivation I needed to get that done ;)

Through the generosity of family and friends, we have just about everything we need to bring little Kalea into this world and into our home.  Her crib has been set up for a few weeks and recently was filled with a bunch of friends that are all anxiously awaiting her arrival!  Her mobile is made up of sea animals, which is perfect, because we already know she is going to be our little Hawaiian princess.

Her car seat and carrier are also ready for her arrival.  I found this super cute owl material to make the cover for her carrier.  If I knew how to provide a link to the tutorial I would, but I'm too lazy to figure it out right now.

 Her changing table, with a stockpile of diapers, wipes, lotions and all those other baby necessities!  I also made her name in the background out of wood, covered in scrapbook paper and other cute accessories.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet or not, but her name is special and has some meaning behind it.  I honestly can't recall where I heard the name Kalea before.  It is a Hawaiian name, but not particularly common and I don't know anyone with the name.  As Justin and I were making lists of boy names and girl names, the name Kalea was in my head.  It didn't come suddenly or as inspiration or anything, it was just kind of there, so I wrote it down.  We wanted to have a Hawaiian name either as a first name or a middle name so this name worked and when I looked up what it meant it said "brilliant light".  And then I knew that that would be her name (I didn't even know that we were having a girl at the time).  Earlier in the year, at our Hawaii wedding reception, my dad got up and gave a speech and talked about how I was such a bright light to everyone around me and how he hoped to have a lot of little "bright lights" running around in the future.  He seriously used the words "bright light" a bunch of times during his speech which stuck out to me.  And then when we found out the name Kalea means brilliant light, we thought it was so perfect and we just knew that would be her name.  We are giving her the middle name of Jo, because that is my grandma's name, my mom's middle name and my middle name, so it has a lot of meaning too.  So, that's the story of how Kalea Jo Wendell got her name, and we already know it suits her perfectly!

So, here I am at 37 weeks pregnant and realizing that I haven't recorded anything or kept track of anything regarding my pregnancy.  I only have a couple photos of my belly bump throughout the months.  Unfortunately, pregnancy brain did not pass me over and I don't remember a lot of things so I figure I better write them down now so I can look back in the future and remember a little bit about this pregnancy, so here are some of my stats:

Due Date: May 25, 2012

1st trimester was by far the worst, I had terrible morning sickness and was throwing up at least once a day, nauseated the rest of the day.  2nd trimester I felt totally normal, just a little on the chubby side, like I had had one too many doughnuts.  3rd trimester has also been a breeze, so many people told me that the 3rd trimester is miserable and horrible, so I guess I was expecting the worst but it really hasn't been bad at all.  I have a little bit of heartburn at night and some hip and back pain, but nothing like I was expecting.

Cravings:  I haven't really had too many cravings, lucky for Justin!  In the beginning I would crave cheese sometimes.  I crave chocolate ice cream and milk, but those are cravings that I have when I'm not pregnant so I don't think those count (I'm eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream as I write this post!) There was one time when we were still in Hawaii when I craved fry sauce (which normally disgusts me) and sour patch kids.  I didn't want them together, I just got the cravings at the same time, and Justin and I walked all over Waikiki trying to find some sour patch kids!

Food Aversions:  Bananas.  Weird since I really like bananas.  This might be TMI but during my morning sickness times I ate a banana and almost immediately threw it up and that was by far the worst thing I have ever thrown up.  Since then, anytime I eat a banana I get really nauseous, even if its in smoothies.  Hopefully that changes after the pregnancy.

Weight Gain: so far I've gained about 30 pounds...I guess that's pretty standard.  And it's been a pretty steady gain since around the second trimester.

Justin can attest to the fact that since I have been pregnant my dreams have been out of whack.

I don't remember being moody or even very tired.  But I do go to the bathroom quite a bit.  In fact, in the last week since she "dropped" I feel like as soon as I am washing my hands and about to leave the bathroom I have to go again.  It can get seriously frustrating at times!

Those are the highlights of this pregnancy, and here are the very few pictures I have as the months went on:

17 weeks

 23 weeks

29 weeks

37 weeks

I didn't realize I was wearing the same outfit in the 29 and 37 weeks pics, that's funny!