36 Weeks and a Kielbasa Update

Today I begin Week 37. Apparently my son can be born anytime between now and 6 weeks from now- don't you love the narrow window for such a huge event? We've got the nursery pretty much arranged. It has furniture (that has been assembled), lots of toys (including two train sets JP insisted on purchasing and spent last night "testing out"), and a large stuffed Bevo (UT's longhorn mascot). There are lots of clothes that I washed yesterday and am planning to put in bins today. We ended up purchasing the Trofast storage system from Ikea over the weekend. The baby's bedding is all primary colors and we were able to get blue, red, and green bins to go in the Trofast unit. It looks really cute and seems practical- I can just toss his onesies, socks, toys, etc. in a bin. When he gets older we'll buy a proper dresser and just use the bins for all the toys I'm sure he will possess by then (being the first grandchild on both sides and all). His sheets and mobile should arrive in the mail any day. We've got two brands of bottles ready to test out. There are diapers in the diaper stacker. The envelopes for the baby announcements are addressed and stamped. I'm dividing my leftover time between staring longingly at the August calendar and enjoying my time with JP in the new apartment (oh, and working at the Firm).

My Kielbasa toes and ankles look a bit better today. Last night they were of epic proportions and I was experiencing "pitting edema" where you poke your ankle and the indention remains for a few seconds. That freaked out JP and I was ordered to call my midwife. She asked me all the preeclampsia questions and said the swelling was most likely normal "4-weeks to go + July heat" type swelling, but if I get a headache I need to come in for a blood pressure check. I remain headache free, so I'm just trying to enjoy the fact that I get to wear rubber flip flops to the office. I've gained 38 lbs., which is more than I was hoping, but I think at least 3 lbs. of it is in each foot. JP refers to "the belly" as if it is an independent thing that just happens to accompany me everywhere, and a lot of the time, that's pretty much how I feel about it. It still surprises me to look down and see it sticking out like that. It's easy to forget how "natural" pregnancy is- a lot of it is really quite bizarre.