One of Those Surveys

I figured this can serve as an intro post, since I would never get around to doing one otherwise and it would be really boring because I wouldn't know what to say. The reason the blog is called XIXMMX is because I'm the worst at coming up with titles for things. Because I knew I couldn't think of a non-embarrassing title of my own, I chose my due date [11 October 2010].

Anyway, I saw one of these surveys on another blog and decided that since I won't be knocked up much longer, I might as well be cheesy and fill it out.

How far along? I'll be 37 weeks on Monday.

How big is baby? At my ultrasound this week, they estimated 18+ inches long and 5 pounds, 11 ounces.

Maternity clothes? No, I think I lucked out big time with that. I didn't want to waste money on clothes I'd never wear again unless I had to, so I have a Bella Band and that's it. Luckily, I don't normally wear supertight stripper clothes, so everything still fits [with the exception of a few shorts that won't button]. I could even button and zip up my JBrand legging jeans on Monday!

Stretch marks? Nope. Since everything I read said it's totally genetic, I decided not to even use lotions or anything. Nobody in my mom's family back to my great-grandmother had stretch marks, so I figured I'd just hope for the best.

Sleep? I'm still sleeping really soundly like I always have. The only thing is I have to deal with about 15 minutes of kicks and shifts from the baby when I lie down and then I can go to sleep. I'm hoping my deep sleeping will miraculously continue with a baby, but I'm not betting on it.

Best moment this week? My mom and husband, S, both admitted that my vegan chocolate chip cookies are better than non-vegan ones. S hates the idea of egg substitutes [I use corn starch and water for cookies] so I know he probably didn't like having to say that.

Food cravings? I have eaten the same things I ate pre-pregnancy this whole time. I was actually hoping for some weird cravings but I have always had a few strange food habits so maybe I was already ahead of myself.

Gender? We will find out when the baby gets here. I'm not sure why not knowing elicits such strong opinions from people, but it's driving almost everyone else crazy. Oddly, I generally hate surprises but I never even considered finding out the sex of the baby.

Also, strangers keep coming up to me out of nowhere and telling me what the baby will be. All of them have guessed girl so far but my mom is really hoping for a boy. There are only girls between her and my uncle and on my dad's side there are 8 girls and only 2 boys. Nearly everyone I know who has had or is having a baby this year is having a boy so I don't know what that means for my odds either way.

Belly button in or out? It's flat but starting to stick out a tiny bit. I'm wondering if it will ever stick out all the way [and kind of hoping it doesn't].

Movement: Yes. While it's stronger now that the kicks are in my ribs and the punches feel like they're going through my abdomen, it isn't as frequent as it was the past several months.

What I miss: Being skinny and having the ability to bend over. Oh and it was really cool back when I could sit at a table and not bump into it with my huge body.

What I'm looking forward to: Having the baby. It's so weird knowing it could happen at any time but not having any idea when it actually will. I also can't wait to find out how it all goes for me, especially doing it in the hospital and all.

I also can't wait to see how our 3 dogs are with the baby. Two of them [Great Pyrenees and German Shepherd] absolutely love babies and kids and the other [a Lab] keeps his distance, I think he's confused by them.

Weekly wisdom: When people are annoying you, tell them they are and hopefully they'll stop. If not, at least they'll know why you started ignoring them. This worked well for me when my mom kept referring to the baby as 'he' and then when she was harassing me about letting her find out the sex, even though we both know she couldn't keep it a secret.

Milestones: Monday will be full term, in theory. Due to my heart-shaped uterus [my mom had the same thing and had issues with me and my sister], I was worried I wouldn't make it past viability. Then, I just wanted to make it to 28 weeks. Now, it looks like everything is going to be fine so I keep telling myself that even if I go past 42 weeks, I won't complain about it.

Have a great weekend!