8 Months (One to Go!)

For the most recent "31 Days of Baby" posts, click here!

I hit the eight-month mark yesterday, and am so excited that it is now October and we have just one month  to go until little Claire's arrival! And... since it's October 1, a new blog-carnival is starting today that some pretty cool people are participating in. It's called "31 Days of..." whatever. Every day in October, bloggers will be posting about whatever they decided merited 31 days of blogging about. When I heard about it, I immediately thought, "31 Days of Baby!" since that's what will obviously be big on my brain this month. Then again, I'm exhausted and have a lot to do before Baby's arrival... but I may try to participate as much as possible, sharing the wall art I'm doing in the nursery, sister gifts for/from Kate, and other baby-related things!

Now, on to my 8-month update!

We had our 36-week appointment yesterday--the last of our biweeklies before going every week now! I seemed to be measuring small on uterine height, which the doctor suspected could be because Claire's head is so low that she really couldn't feel the very bottom of my uterus. Still, at three centimeters short, she thought we should do an ultrasound just to check on things, so that was a nice surprise!

The ultrasound confirmed that Claire's head is indeed extremely low, and all her bones and head and all that measured right on target. The tech estimated her weight at 5 lbs, 15 oz. right now. She also checked my fluid level, since that can make one measure small too, but that was normal as well. We also confirmed the gender, since at our big ultrasound in June, the technician seemed to barely pause when checking and announcing that it was a girl. (On one hand, that showed confidence in what she'd seen so briefly, but also made us a little nervous. Remember the whole "It's a boy... no, wait, it's a girl" thing with Kate?) So, we got a good look for ourselves today and it is indeed a girl.

I have been pretty tired and uncomfortable this month, which I don't remember being with Kate. Matt says he thinks I was at the very end, but the truth is, it was all so different just not having another child to worry about already! If I was tired after work, I could rest on the couch all evening and it was no problem. Now, it's constant up-and-about, fetching sippies and snacks, carrying, crouching, and all manner of exertions that leave me feeling wiped out. Plus, 2 1/2 is seeming to be a rather trying age, so I'm mentally/emotionally wiped out too some evenings. (It's just a phase... It's just a phase...) I've been much less patient with Kate lately, and I feel really bad about it.

Also, I had a sinus thing for a while this month, which just compounded all that. For a couple weeks, I was back to throwing up every day. I thought I got sick a lot with Kate. I think Claire has officially passed her in that tally. 

But enough of that. One month to go (due date Oct. 30), and so much to do, both at work and at home. I'm refusing to expect her to be early (after saying "any day now" with Kate for the whole month of January, only to have her be born on the 28th, five days late) but I do wonder, with her riding so low, if she's banging at the gates! The ultrasound tech said that really has no bearing on when one goes into labor, but then again, I was already one centimeter dilated, so who knows?!