37 Weeks & One Last Shower

I am: 37 weeks pregnant (I am now considered full term!)
Size of Baby: Stalk of swiss chard ~ about 6 and 1/3 pounds and a tad over 19" long. At our appointment last Tuesday, the sonogram showed Parker weighs about 6 pounds and 5 ounces right now, but that is just an estimate. At this point, babies can have about 1/2"-1 1/2" of hair already, but sweet Parker has only peach fuzz, which we figured. During the sonogram it was said that "well, it looks like this little guy isn't going to have much hair."
Total Weight Gained: 18 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a non-maternity shirt in this picture. This shirt was a gift from my Mom for my birthday (last Sunday). It's not a maternity shirt, but it still fit. I probably won't wear it much more if at all because I don't want to stretch it out, but I was anxious to wear it.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement throughout the day and night ~ he's active, but has his times of rest too. His room is more limited so there's not as much movement as early on, but whatever position he's in, he's definitely moving his limbs around. I feel him more on the right side and we saw on the sonogram that is where his arms and legs are. His back and bottom are on the left side so I hardly feel anything on that side. Now we know why!
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping fairly good/okay...getting worse as time goes on, but I'll be good and prepared for motherhood, right? I still have my good nights and bad. I find it hard to get comfortable and turn over from side to side. I have some leg and hip cramping and get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom. At least after he arrives I will sleep more comfortably, have my body adjusting back to it's normal size and not make so many trips to the bathroom, but my times up in the night will be to take care of him.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. Some things I am looking forward to eating ~ a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, caffeine, fried eggs, hot dogs, soft-serve ice cream, more seafood ... among other things! Of course not all at the same time and all in moderation. These are all things that I either haven't been able to have or chose not to because of certain reasons. I also miss being able to sleep on my back (or whatever position feels good). I also look forward to being more comfortable and able to bend over...oh the little things. But it hasn't been too bad and has been so worth it! I know I will really miss being pregnant for several reasons too.
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have and what I miss.
How I'm Feeling: Pregnancy wise, I'm feeling good and have been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy! I do feel bigger and less comfortable each week. I am having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...etc. Aside from that though, I'm feeling great. My biggest complaint through my whole pregnancy is heartburn. I've had it pretty bad, especially here toward the end and it doesn't really matter what I eat or don't eat. But if heartburn is my biggest complaint then I've had it pretty easy. Non-pregnancy related, I have been battling a cold since probably Saturday. I felt it coming on on Friday and was hopeful it would be a minor cold and not last long, but it's still hanging around. It hasn't been fun, but I've been trying to take it easy and rest as much as I can, but it's so hard to do when there are so many things I want and need to do before Parker's arrival. Unfortunately, I was pretty sick on my birthday, but still had a nice day. (I will do a post later on our birthdays and anniversary). John's been a fantastic helper, as always, while I've been under the weather.
Best Moment last Week: Our Dr. appointment and one last shower. Everything looked good at the last Dr. appointment. We had a sonogram and met with the Dr. I was dilated to a 1, but barely. I will go back every Tuesday for a check-up until Parker makes his debut. I also got my hair cut last Thursday. It's not a drastic difference, but she did cut off about 3". I hadn't cut it since last Spring and wanted it trimmed up before Parker comes and I don't have time to go.

Here I am at 17 Weeks and 27 Weeks.Last Saturday morning, a couple of women at our old church hosted a little baby shower for me in the Fellowship Hall. We left this church at the end of 2010 and have since found a new church, but we still stay in touch with many members from there and as you can tell by what we received, we are very loved by the members there.

A special thank you to Roxanne for writing down all of the gifts and gift givers and for sweet Julie for folding up all of the tissue paper for me. I hate to see tissue paper go to waste and there was so much fun tissue paper so she folded it all up for me to keep. I think we are good on tissue paper for a while. We have quite a pile! Again, there were lots of pictures taken (thank you Kim!), but here are just a few highlights. It was a wonderful shower, I just wish I would have felt better.

Here are all of the gifts we received...WOW!

We did manage to get all of this put in the floor of Parker's room, but we still need to get it all put up and in place. Thank you so much again to the women of First Christian Church who came to the baby shower and showered us with so many wonderful gifts. I am also very grateful to Jana (who's battling stomach cancer ~ please pray for her) and to Dianne for hosting this shower. I appreciate your time and hard work spent in making this time so special. We are thankful and blessed. Parker is one loved little boy and I can't wait to tell him how much!

Until we meet again...
Riley