Symptoms: Unpredictable ravishing heartburn. Braxton-Hicks contractions almost every time I walk or move very much, starting from the moment I step out of bed. Fatigue, naturally. Floating rib. Inflammation in between my ribs. Some random numbness and tingling to the inside of my  mouth and lips, although the jury is still out on whether or not that’s pregnancy-related. Nothing serious or unbearable, just normal stuff that is making me very ready and excited to have this baby.

Medical stuff: I am 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced. I know that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but I’m glad that at lease something is happening.

Movement: Nearly constant. Mostly pressure but sometimes kicks that hurt me. I can really feel his little hands and feet sometimes now! So cool. And his head is down so he is in position!

Clothes: Same stuff. Scrubs are getting kinda tight and I desire maternity pairs, but it’s not worth it to buy them now. I pretty much wear the same outfits over and over because at this point even a lot of maternity tops are too short.

Preparation: We have done some things! We have a new dresser for our room, the old one is moved to the guest room, and I finally went through all of Meredith’s clothes so that half of the dresser in her room has baby boy stuff in it. The rest of the nursery is reorganized too and now there is room on the shelves and in the closet. I would still like to make the room a little more gender neutral but that probably won’t truly happen until maternity leave when I have a bit of time. We decided on a name. I have commissioned my brother to make a birth announcement template so that I just have to plug in details, photos, and then have them printed once he arrives. And I guess that’s all we’ve done, but I feel like we could bring a baby into the house at this point and be fine (except we don’t have any newborn diapers yet). Still have a few things left to get in order.

Also: My doctor is going out of town on my due date for four days, so we are going to do everything possible to have this baby before then. I’m sure her partners are great, but I have never seen anyone except her and she got me through the craziness of Meredith’s birth so I’d really rather have her there.