Eighth in the Hole

It's hard to believe that our 8th month is almost over. That's right, buddy, you're now well into your 35th week of growing in your Mom's belly and, come Saturday, your Mom and I begin our 9th month.

That means that the end of pregnancy is nigh and that a new beginning is just around the corner. You're going to be born in approximately 32 days! (Although, some people are rooting for you to be born in as little as 13 days so they can win the chocolate bar bet!) But your Mom and I are hopeful that you'll make it to full term, and be born sometime in March!

As we're settling into the last month, you may be settling into place: head down. With your head down toward the cervix, you're in primo position to be born. In fact, we're pretty sure that you spend most of your time upside down now, since your Mom can feel you kick BOTH sides of her ribcage simultaneously!

But, don't worry, your kicking isn't really the sole culprit for your Mom's growing discomfort. She and you are both just getting so big that your Mom's belly is just plain cumbersome. You may have reached your final birthlength, estimated at around 17-20 inches, but you haven't reached your final weight yet. As the weeks go onward you're just going to be packing on the pounds, adding some girth and adding discomfort, (though it's unintentional).

In fact, just a few days after I re-earned my place sleeping in bed and not on the couch after my surgery, your Mom has taken to moving to the couch in the middle of the night. Apparently the firmness of the couch allows her more support to prop up her heavy belly. We tried propping up the belly on her body pillow- but it's "too tall" to get the belly on. We tried propping it up on one of those airline neck pillows- but that's too small. And last night, your Mom went into your nursery and grabbed a wedge pillow and tried to wedge her belly up with that, but it just didn't work, apparently.

I know this because when I woke up this morning, your Mom was sleeping on the couch.

A few more nights of this and, perhaps, your Mom will become one of those people rooting for Febraury 15th after all!