week 37...an ending & a beginning

Week 37 is over and it has brought a lot of change in my life.  This week has been both an ending and a beginning for me.  The ending came in the form of finishing up school and saying good-bye to my students and colleagues as I will be on maternity leave for the rest of the school year.  This therefore has opened up a new chapter in my life of being a stay at home momma for the next eight months, which is both terrifying and exciting!

This week has been busy, busy, BUSY! The biggest thing was finishing off the school year well.  I had to finish writing up report cards, creating some more good memories with  my students including going on a field trip and having a fun Christmas party, getting the sub plans and worksheets ready for the sub, and cleaning up my classroom so that I could officially hand it over.  It was super hectic and pretty overwhelming at moments, but it is DONE.

A final picture with my students...we are just missing one.

We made reindeers and decorated cookies at our Christmas party!

Besides school, we also had lots of different engagements throughout the week.  We had our final pregnancy class that was all about nursing.  I went to my first ever Christmas Cookie Exchange and met a bunch of lovely ladies.  We had our end of term luncheon at school.  We had an appointment with our doctor and will now be seeing her once a week until baby decides to show up.  We hung out at the hostel's Christmas party.  We went to a fun Hawaiian themed Christmas party with lots of great friends.  We went to a wonderful family brunch and met up with a lot of my/our extended family.  As if all of these activities weren't enough, we also had to find time to do some Christmas shopping! Whew! Looking back on this list, I'm surprised I survived it and am definitely ready for a more chilled out week.

At the Hawaiian Christmas party! Aren't we cute?!? :)

This week also brought another surprise in the mail and it was another baby shower in a box from Hong Kong! Baby got some fabulous gifts from my wonderful friend Libby and her daughter Lily.  There was a beautifully knitted blanket and some seriously adorable onesies that I cannot wait to put baby boy in! THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH!! The three of us are definitely feeling the love.  :)

Baby boy is gonna rock these onesies! :) 

As far as baby is concerned, I am definitely in the nesting phase of this pregnancy.  I have been organizing and reorganizing things in our small space for the past few days.  I've been writing lots of to-do lists and am working on crossing things off as I have a sense of urgency to get it all done before baby comes.  I'm hoping this will wear off soon as I'd like to just kick up my feet and chill out a bit as I know life as we know it is about to change completely!

He has dropped and is currently sitting lower than before!

** Some Highlights **

Symptoms: Baby has dropped! My baby bump has shifted and lowered and he is getting into position. This new lower position is seriously so much heavier than before and way more uncomfortable.  I now feel as though I have to hold up my bump as it seems as though it could just fall off at any moment! :) This new position is also now doing a number on my bladder and I'm definitely having to go way more often, which I'm sure you all are interested in hearing about.  HA! I also experienced more swelling in my hands and feet this week, which isn't too nice as I feel as though my fingers and toes look like sausages.  I think this is a sign for me to slow down, so I'm going to try to follow it this coming up week and take things a bit easier.

Total Weight Gain: About 14 kgs

Cravings: I'm eating up a storm these days.  I feel hungry all of the time and am not holding back!

Maternity Clothes: Still doing a mix! The rubber band trick is awesome! As time is moving along, I'm having way fewer options as far as what clothes to wear.  I'm down to a few pairs of pants and not that many tops.  I'm not sick of my clothes (yet), but I'm definitely getting ready to have some more options sometime in the near future.

Wedding Ring: Both my wedding band and engagement ring are still on, but they are getting pretty hard to take off in the evenings.

Sleep: Sleep was good this week.  I'm still only getting up about once a night (if that) and have been able to fall back to sleep pretty easily.  I've had one or two restless nights, but I'm assuming it is my body's way of getting me ready for the sleepless nights I'm about to face! I know, positive thinking at it's finest! :) 

Belly Button: Outie.

Other: This week I got a lot of belly rubs from people I know and from absolute strangers.  I don't mind it and see it as love and good wishes being sent to baby. 

Fun story: We went to a fun Hawaiian themed Christmas party this week and I totally dominated in the limbo.  Sadly I had to give up at a certain point as baby is way more important than winning a game....right?!? :)