Over 37 weeks!

It's kind of surreal... I know that I am getting closer to delivering but it still seems impossible that I am going to be a mother soon! Not that I am not completely ready to get this kid out of me... quite the contrary, it's just that I can't really visualize the actual delivery...

Anywho, I have some great news! The last ultrasound that I had showed that my placenta had moved enough (6 1/2 cm) so I am no longer having a c-section at this point! I honestly had made my peace with whatever decision the doctor was going to make but no one really wants to have surgery if they can avoid it. The plan as of right now is to head down to Yokosuka on the 15th and stay at the "stork's nest" until delivery. The idea with the stork's nest is that you are already down at Yokosuka ahead of your delivery date so that you don't have to worry about making an 1 1/2 -2 hour drive while in labor. I am crossing my fingers that this baby doesn't come too early because I would really like Cliff to be there.

In other news:

- My feet have started swelling in the evenings. They usually return to normal by the next morning but they are KILLING me by the end of the day. I have tried to go on walks to keep my circulation up and I am pushing the fluids as my doctor recommended. This has helped a little.

- I gained 4 1/2 lbs in about 10 days.... That was really good for my self- esteem. And of course the corpsman at the doctor's office had to point this out to me. " Ma'am you realize you've gained some weight?" "No sir, I was looking at a different scale than you were. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Oh, and I'm not PREGNANT or anything." I guess it's true what people say, that you can really pack on the pounds near the end...

- I'm back to craving salads again, but this time with blackened salmon - YUM!!!

- With the blackened salmon and just about anything else I eat comes heartburn. Yuck. Acid reflux is the WORST. If this doesn't go away after the baby is born I'm gonna... I'm gonna... hmm.... I guess just stompl my feet and complain some more... :(

- The nursery is all organized!! Notice I say "organized" and not "decorated." I still have a little ways to go with decoration, but the furniture is all where it needs to be and more importantly, it is SPOTLESS. Some wonderful ladies from church came over yesterday and did an extreme makeover on that room. I had been having panic attacks over the colossaly chaotic disaster that was that room and they had completely turned around in about 2 hrs.

- I am having a lot of those so-called "braxton hicks'' contractions. I wouldn't call them painful but they can most certainly be uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel like I've gotten sucker punched and all of the air leaves my lungs. Cliff and I have noticed that I get them more frequently when I am stressed out or upset. Did that happen to any of you moms out there?

- Lastly, my mom gets here tomorrow!!! We are driving all the way out to Narita to get her tomorrow after church!! So excited!!!!