36 Weeks, 3 Days

I haven't posted in forever!  I don't really have a ton to say as far as updating goes.  At this point, I'm very pregnant and tired all the time.  We have been approved for the home water birth we wanted all along and have met with the new midwife twice (I feel like we're cutting it close!).  There are still a ton of things that we need to get for the birth and I feel like we're behind!  We need to get towels, a new hose, wash cloths, cover for the bed, trash bags, etc., etc.  At 37 weeks, little baby Isaac will be considered full term which means that he could come any time!  That's Wednesday! 


We had our baby shower a few weeks ago and I actually ended up pretty disappointed.  We sent out over 40 invitations and 4 people showed up.  :-/  We still have a lot of things that we need to get and no money to do it.  I wasn't expecting a ton of people to show up and I expected to get mostly clothes and diapers, not anything that was on the registry.  I just wanted to celebrate this baby with family and friends and the only person in my family that showed was my dad.  I sent out plenty of invites and have still not received so much as a call or email from any other family members to say congratulations or anything.  I'm really hurt about it but I know that there is nothing that I can do except to just realize that family cares less than I thought they did.  Although my family didn't come through for us, my husband's family did.  His dad and step mom were the only ones that showed up to the shower but we still got a lot of congratulations from his family and his aunt and cousins that live out of state even sent us gifts from our registry.  I'm so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family.  I also had a friend show up that I haven't seen in years and got a kit to help with breastfeeding.  I'm sure it'll be a lifesaver and I'm so thankful for her!  One of the frustrating things is that another family member of mine is going to be having a baby shower soon and I've been invited.  I'm going to have to tell them that I can't go.  I know that more of the family will be showing up to their shower and I don't think I can handle that emotionally at this point. 

We have been doing a lot of things to prepare for labor and delivery including perineal stretching/massage.  I feel that it's been a huge help but we won't know until delivery time!  After all that I've been learning and experiencing, I'm considering continuing my education to be a Midwife.  I have even been looking at some doula certification courses.  I love pregnancy and I love the wonderful thing that my body is doing!  It's something that is so magical and perfect and I would love to help other women feel as empowered by it as I do.

I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions (they feel like the top of my stomach gets rock hard but don't usually hurt) and my back is in tons of pain all the time.  I've been feeling nauseated a lot and my pelvis feels like it isn't attached to my legs sometimes, especially in the morning.  Despite all of it, I'm excited and nervous and feeling pretty great.   It's all about resting until little Isaac decides to come into our lives.  <3  Wish me a fast and easy labor!