we’re at the final countdown!!! 10 days until the little man joins us and we are beside ourselves with excitement these days. as much as this seems unreal to think that paul and i are so close to becoming parents, the reality of things creeps in here and there. i found myself marking days off my calendar this week, and on saturday and sunday of next week i wrote “LAST BABY-LESS WEEKEND EVER” in big bold letters. that certainly gave us a reality check. i find myself asking paul, “well, what should we do?? i feel like we need to go do something that we won’t be able to do once the baby arrives.” then of course reality creeps back in and paul does landscaping for the majority of the day. ha!!! it’s great though… the moments of sheer excitement (mixed with a little bit of panic i think) and the moments of logic and reality hitting us, saying, “it won’t be long now…”

i have gotten a burst of energy within the last week that has been absolutely wonderful. a few weeks ago, i found myself having 1 good day (filled with errand running and spontaneous energy) followed by 2 days of couch-recooperation. this past week i have felt so great though, very energized, somewhat rested (though i’m hardly sleeping), and really able to enjoy each day to the fullest. yesterday in target, the cashier asked me when i was due, and when i told her “in 11 days,” she said “ohmygosh, you need to get out of here and get in bed before that baby falls out in the parking lot!!!” i cracked up but then realized that she was serious and thinking that i really needed to be bed-ridden at this point in time. this final burst of energy when i am absolutely enormous has been nice though. let’s hope it continues through next week too.

the little man had an estimated fetal weight check this week… incase you haven’t yet heard, this porker of our’s weighed in at 8 lbs 11 oz on wednesday. ha!!!! no wonder his japanese ninja kicks hurt me so much. once paul and i got over the initial shock of how big this baby will be, we decided to have some fun and started a pool with each of our families to see what the birth weight will be. there are some great guesses from low-ballers coming in with a little over 9 lbs (which he could very well be right now) to high-ballers at well over 10 lbs. i can’t help but wonder if paul’s son will beat him out, since paul was 10 lb 5 oz at birth. we’ll know soon enough, i suppose.

paul is doing well and has one week of class left. yay!!! i know the alarm clock has become his sworn enemy over the last 2 weeks, going off every morning at 4:45. selfishly, i have been so glad to have him home in the early afternoons though. it’s really allowed us some down-time together that we don’t get with his regular work schedule. he’s been such a help to me especially lately… whether it’s been fork-lifting me off the couch, emptying the dishwasher because i can’t bend that far anymore, taking care of the dog, grabbing my cell phone when it rings in the other room and i can’t get to it in time… he’s been great. i was just asking him if he thought he would rub my belly out of habit once the baby is born. he said “nah, i’ll have the little man to hold and rub on.” i thought that was cute.

we see dr. thomas on tuesday afternoon and hope to get through one last week of no action. i’ll be sure to post after that visit and let everyone know what’s going on. until then, here’s a pic of me today at 38 weeks, sporting a new haircut, ready to enjoy the summer with our baby!!!

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