Bumpdate – 37 weeks

How far along: 37 weeks! FULL-TERM!!! Our sweetheart is welcome any time now!
How big is baby: About the size of a winter melon, or 19-22 inches long. Weight is around 6.5 pounds! (I kinda hope he stays on the small side…healthy, but small haha)
Newest baby developments: He’s basically ready to go at this point! Most of his crucial functions are well-developed and now he’s just practicing some skills he’ll need for later (inhaling/exhaling, sucking, gripping, and blinking). The longer he stays in there the healthier he’ll be, so I’m really in no rush (even though I do get more anxious to meet him every day).
Movement: I can feel his hands down in my lower stomach/pelvic area (near his head) and his feet are still facing up and slightly to the right. I don’t think he’s “dropped” yet or anything but I bet that will be coming soon!
Weirdest symptoms: Things are getting interesting around here. I’m definitely feeling more pressure on my pelvis and it feels like all of my joints are loosening up (sometimes painful, sometimes just strange). Braxton Hicks contractions are still an everyday thing, although some days I feel them every few minutes and other days I can go hours without having any. Nothing is timeable yet and while they’re more intense than they were at the beginning, they’re not strong enough to count as real contractions (although hopefully they’re working to start at least some dilation and effacement). Another weird thing this week was the fact that I spent five and a half hours yesterday morning getting rid of every bit of food in my stomach (yes, in both ways. ew.). I read that it’s often a sign of early labor (sort of like your body cleaning itself out to get ready for delivery) but it could also have been that I just ate some shady chicken haha. Either way, I’m feeling better now and trying to stay extra hydrated.
Best moment this week: Probably just the fact that I’m finally full-term so I can sort of breathe a sigh of relief that my baby is healthy enough to arrive soon. And honestly, any uncomfortable or painful symptom I’m feeling just makes me excited because I know it means I get to meet my son soon. 🙂
Worst moment this week: Well being sick all Saturday morning was no fun. But Alex took such good care of me and I’m all better now.
Cravings: Crunchy things! Ice (oddly enough), snap peas, apples, etc. I didn’t know that could really be a “craving” but I guess it is! Apparently that’s a pretty common category of things to crave at this point in the pregnancy.
Looking forward to: Really any change in symptoms that can maybe give me a clue about when Jameson will be here! I might end up waiting a whole month from now, but maybe I won’t and that’s so exciting! God’s timing is perfect no matter what.

One last thing… I realized that I’ve never taken a bare-belly photo before (probably because that just feels weird to me). But I do want to document my bump so that I can compare to any future pregnancies and also so I can remember how everything looked before my sweet boy was born. So here are a few that I took today at 37 weeks: