Week 39 Update

Lauren (my 5 year old niece, greeting me at my parent's house)- I want to see your baby.
Me- The baby is still in my belly, but you can say hello.
Lauren- (nuzzles up and gives my belly a kiss) I want to see the baby come out of your belly.
Me- Hmm no one really wants to see that, how about we call you to come meet the baby as soon as he/she is ready for visitors.
Lauren- Ok....can I name the baby?
Me- Well Uncle Chris and I were planning on naming the baby. But you can make a suggestion if you'd like.
Lauren- Ariel.

Still Pregnant!
It's Saturday, I'm due on Tuesday.  I'm sitting out on the deck right now, it is gorgeous out. At this point we are trying to stay close to home and close to the hospital. Chris is playing tennis with a friend in our Condo's courts because he doesn't want to leave my side :) We'll venture out today but definitely chilling, it's so nice out I want to be out and about but at the same time I know I should be resting up. 
Feeling good this week, no Braxton-Hicks yet, my energy level is still pretty much the same but I am still catnapping here and there when I can. I sleep on the recliner for a few hours in the night to give my hips a break and that seems to really help. It allows me to wake up in the morning without being in pain. I'm still getting out walking, the low back is still trouble but lots of ice. 
Went to the doctors this week, met the fourth doctor in the practice, again really like him as well as the other three- I have no preference really as to who ends up delivering. They are all really nice, seem to enjoy what they do and explain things really well. I like that this practice is what I call a little crunchy-granola, one doctor a few weeks ago mentioned that they want to intervene as little as possible and just let things go the course. I like that. 
I'm really in no hurry, I want to know what the gender of the baby is definitely and I can't believe we are going to meet the little one soon but otherwise as with my entire pregnancy I'm just try to enjoy everyday. 
Got to catch up with some friends this week so that's good, I know the next time I'll see them I'll be sleep-deprived and out of it. I did some reading up on the nursing this week, I know I am a hands-on, trial and error learner but I found it helpful to read some information. I'm not sure I'll remember any of it for that first feeding but I know that's what the nurses are there for. Then I think as additional feedings occur and as the nurses mention tips and tricks I'll remember reading it and that should help me. I really just want to focus on learning how to nurse while I'm in the hospital, I'm not going to worry about anything else- visitors, etc. As far as I am concerned all of that can wait but establishing a good nursing routine is critical. I hope it all works out for me and the little one, but we will just have to see how it goes.
I'm also reading Harvey Karp's 'The Happiest Baby on the Block' it's been helpful. I don't want to become one of those people that reads one book and takes it as gospel but I appreciate that he is a Pediatrician and am definitely drinking the Kool-Aid a bit with the whole missing fourth trimester theory and that recreating the womb as much as you can is what will soothe the baby. Based on his book and the information I have read from the AAP and other sources on nursing it does seem like there is no scientific basis for spoiling the baby when it is a newborn. Feeding around the clock, holding the baby lots, and nurturing him/her for the first few months is really the job at hand and isn't going to spoil the baby. But with everything it's just a wait and see situation. 
I am still doing a few things in the baby's room but just organizing, nothing that needs to get done before he or she gets here.  I think at this point we are all set up to give the cloth diapers a try, we have a starter kit, as well as a cleaning system in place. We got the sprayer that hooks up to the water on the toilet for easing solids removal and we also got a bucket with a lid to make up a water/Bac-out solution to store the to-be-washed diapers in. I figure the first week or so we'll use disposables then try out the cloths for during the day. If it goes well I think I will invest in a second set of the cloth diapers (currently have 6 but 12 is the recommended amount). But my motto is just see how it goes, like with some many other things.