My belly button is stretching out... I cant bend over cuz Hayden had dropped and so now I cant really do anything with my stomach, it is just in the way. And my belly button is stretched all tight... He has taken to punching my cervix, and it hurts. Or sometimes instead of punching, he scratches at it, like he is trying to escape and he knows the way out, he just cant get it to open. And it happens at very awkward times! LOL. SO I know we are getting pretty close. My BH's are still painless so I haven't had to deal with that too much yet, but I feel like I am always just finishing a hard workout, like my energy has just been zapped, and all I did was go to the kitchen for some milk! Though I must say, if Matthew isn't around to help me, getting off of our couch is quite an endeavour!.

I told Mary yesterday that I wanted to go down to 4 days a weeks. She didn't really respond, I don't think she is too happy about it, but I don't really care at this point. I only have a couple weeks left, I'm going to be missing more days anyway because I have appointments and classes coming up. And I just cant do it anymore. I almost passed out yesterday, I got so light headed and woozy... and every time I went to the salon to sit down and just work the phones, Marie would come in and tell me that I needed to go out to the floor and help. I'm sorry, but these girls need to get used to me NOT being there. They need to start working, and solving problems on their own. I'm not even a freaking manager, well, I should say I'm not being paid to be one, but that is what I am! And I am done. I cant keep picking up the slack all of the time...And yet there is this overwhelming guilt that I have that I am NOT working as hard as I could be, and that bothers me a lot. Damn this work ethic. Where the hell did this come from?! Oh, who am I kidding? When it comes to actually working at a job, I am diligent and obsessive. But I have more than me to worry about now, and that is what I have to remember.

35 Weeks

Your pregnancy: 35 weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How your life's changing:Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

Grrrr.... I kew this was going to be a problem, I just wasnt expecting it so soon! I made up Hayden's bed last night, put his matress in and his freshly washed sheets... and it is now Jackie's bed. She thinks we made it for her. I dont really know what to do about it. I dont want her thinking that she can be in there. They make these crib tents that you can put over the top of the crib, but they are like $45, and that just seems like a bit much for it, but it might be worth it to keep the kitties out of Hayden's crib. I'm already going to fight with them running in every time I open the door, and at 2 in the morning, with a crying infant, I am going to get sick of that fight real fast... I dont know what to do. They think the house is theirs and that isnt going to change!

I do believe our boy is starting to drop. My stomach is starting to change shapes, its getting rounder. I hope my belly button doesn't pop out... It hasn't yet and I am hoping I have enough padding to prevent it from happening at all. It just creeps me out. Anyway. I will take pictures to document the changing of the belly shape. Mom says its good and sounds like I am right on schedule. I hope she's right. If he wants to come a little early I wouldn't be opposed to it, just not too early!!! I only have 18 day of work left. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! Then I can start taking naps in the afternoon. It is just so hard to stay awake during the day, when you aren't getting any sleep at night. Last night I didn't too to bad at all, I only woke up twice. Once at 12:30 and again at 3:30. I think I was just so exhausted that I had to sleep... He is moving less... It kinda freaks me out. I am still getting my 10 movements in an hour, which is what they want you to have, but it takes him a lot longer. I realize that there is a lot less room in thee and he is busy getting ready to be born and stuff, but it still worries me. It used to take less than 5 minutes to get ten movements... Stop worrying about it Emily, its not helping anyone!!!!!

Hayden's Blankie from Grandma Whitmer

Opening the present....
Sweet, garbage bags!!!

Careful....Careful
Matthew didnt want to touch it since he had just gotten off work...

Oh, how adorable!!!

And there is even a present for the Jackies!!!!

Dont touch Jackie's paper!!!

I am going to miss being pregnant. I am going to miss feeling him move the most. Its just the most amazing feeling, even when it hurts. I love when he moves, I wish that he would move as often as he used to, but I know he is too big, now. Yes, the having to pee and the being exhausted and the not really being able to move stuff kinda sucks alot, but I am going to miss all of it. I realize that I will have my baby and that will be a different and just as wonderful a happiness. But still...It hasn't been horrible at all... I will miss it.

I guess I am starting to really think about the coming weeks now, namely what is going to come at the end... I don't really know how I should be feeling. I am a little nervous, maybe but not like I really think I am supposed to be nervous. And everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous. Why am I not? Am I supposed to be? I know what has to happen. I know what could happen. I know that I will be in pain, but that doesn't scare me. It never really has. I am not afraid to be a mom. If I was I wouldn't have gotten pregnant. I know how babies are born... Why does everyone ask that question? "Aren't you scared?" No. I'm not.

Funny Story

(As told to me by Connie, who witnessed all of this) So today there were a couple of older ladies shopping in the China Glaze finger nail polish aisle. And the one lady has so many different colors of the China Glaze that the only way she can remember which colors she has is to read the names out loud. So she is going through and reading the polishes she thought were pretty and got to one and says, "Sex on the Beach. i have Sex on the Beach. Oh, no, I HAD Sex on the Beach, but it all dried up." And the lady on the other side of the aisle just absolutley cracked up and then her friend did, and it took a bit for the woman to realize what she had said, but it had the whole back of the store in stitches.

34 weeks

Your pregnancy: 34 weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

34 weeks (sort of)

Ok, I know I am a day shy of 34 weeks, but at this time I don't care. Here I am in all my pregnant glory. The heartburn has returned, even though I am still taking the Zantac twice a day, I am sure its because he is squishing my stomach, cuz I cant eat much either. I had mentioned to Tara at work that I wished that I had brought some Tums with me to work for some temporary relief till I could take my Zantac again, and this lady come over and chastises me for taking Tums. "You KNOW you shouldn't take Tums. They cause constipation. ESPECIALLY when you pregnant." Look lady, I am 7.5 months pregnant, I haven't slept in weeks, I am puking up stomach acid, if you want to talk to ME about how I SHOULDN'T take the one thing that gives me some relief then you'll be talking out your butt since that's where I will shove your head. But I just smiled politely and said "Oh really, well, I have never had a problem with them and they help me." Bitch. Its none of your business anyway. Man, I need to get some quality sleep before I DO go off on some nitwit at work. I almost did last night too. It was 5 minutes past 6 (when we close) and I was locking the door, and this lady walks up and knocks on the door asking if we were closed. Duh,m lady the lights are off and I locked the door. Before i could get the door completely latched she yanks it open and says, "I just need to get a perm." "Were closed, ma'am." "Oh really? The door was still open." "yes, because you yanked it out of my hands. Hurry up." I was so not nice. What cajones she has. We were obviously closed!!!! Oh, I was pissed. I hated people before I was pregnant, I tell you what, I despise them with the hatred of four lifetimes when I AM pregnant.

Oh, how I miss sleep. tossing and turning, getting up to pee. the last couple nights I slept for four to five hours at a time, but last night i was right back to up every two hours. That is apparently how long it takes my body to process the couple drinks of water I had the last time i was up. So stop with the water, I think. Yeah, that worked out well. My mouth was so dry my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. It was so gross and kinda hurt to "un"stick it. Maybe I am more tired today cuz its my Monday and I know that I have a whole week ahead of me. A week of people calling in to work, of not knowing what time I will get off that night, cuz I don't know who is (or isn't) showing up that day. So I go in at my scheduled time 9;45am... and more often than not, end up staying till close. I just don't understand why people cant just come to their job! Maybe it was the way I was raised, seeing dad go to work everyday... I just don't understand, for people who complain that they don't have any money, and then call in all the time... why do you think you don't have any money?!!! And I hate that I cant make plans because I don't know when or if I have to put in extra hours. On top of that, I don't think I( can for much longer. My feet hurt. My knees are starting to hurt. My back KILLS me by the end of the day... I cant keep filling in for everyone else. BUT I only have about a month of work left. I want to stop working around the 19th of April. That's two weeks before my due date. I figure I will be horribly uncomfortable and tired by then. But if I have to, I guess I can keep going, if we cant afford it. Actually, right now I don't feel like we could afford me taking ANY time off. And it makes me feel kinda guilty that I wont be working... And it doesn't really help when Matthew comes out at random times and says "I don't know what we're going to do when you stop working. I guess I need to get another job." I know he doesn't know I feel guilty about not working, but it is just a jab at that, you know? Cuz there isn't really anything that I can DO about it. I cant exactly work through the pain. But I guess I could hold on for a bit longer before I stop, and I would have ABSOLUTELY NO problem with that, if I knew I would be in the salon for that time and not 8 1/2 months pregnant forced to stand behind a register all day... Dilemma.

33 weeks (YIKES!)

Your pregnancy: 33 weeks

How your baby's growing:This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

As your baby fills out even more of your belly, lots of things might start to change: Whereas before you were sashaying, you may find yourself waddling. Finding an easy position to sit in — let alone sleep — is becoming more of a challenge. And bumping into chairs and counters is par for the course.

Raspberries

So we had a fun moment last night. Matthew was blowing raspberries on my tummy and Hayden kicked him right in the mouth!!!!! LOL. It was so funny, Matthew jerks back and I'm just like "Did you feel that?!" And his jaw is still open, laughing,"Yeah!" We got a good kick out of that.

So updates, I haven't really been updating cuz Matthew has been tying up both computers lately with this Terminator show, he is completely obsessed. He says he isn't, but he is. So anyway, I cant wait till I don't have to work anymore. If it hadn't been for this stupid car thing, I would prolly have cut my weeks down a day, but we cant do that now. SO instead I am simply looking forward to not having to go anymore. We had a girl call in again on Saturday. I was so pissed. Why is it always Saturday? I know that answer to that, but it makes me so upset, cu that leaves us down a person on a VERY busy day. But I am expecting April 19th to be my last day. Mostly because I think by then, i wont even want to get out of bed. That is getting more and more difficult already! I am getting some swelling. Mostly when I spend all day on my feet, or I am really hot, my hands will swell. And sometimes when I wake up in the morning my feet are swollen. But not too bad. I have had a few leg cramps mostly at night...

I am starting to get nervous. Not so much about the birth part again, but about when he is actually here,and I am actually going to be responsible for another person, my little baby person... And then I start worrying about stupid stuff. Really stupid. Like how I am going to keep the kitties from running into the baby's room at night... Anyway...

Nothing real big going on here. It is officially Break Up season (that's spring to most of you). But it is so nice to be able to FEEL the sun again. Gotta get out there and up my Vitamin D levels before Hayden decides to arrive! Well, that is pretty much it for now. I have some stuff to do today, so I'll try to do a better job of posting my updates.

32 Weeks

Your pregnancy: 32 weeks

How your baby's growing:By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Just when you thought you were gaining ground...

We will starting to feel sogood about of situation. We were getting things figured out and budgeted and we were starting make head way. And then my car craps out. Saturn called and basically says that one of my computers is completely fried. $506 to fix. Ok, thats do-able, I guess, I dont like it, but what are you going to do? I need my car. And I need it to be safe. But on top of that GEICO called and said that since it was mechanical , they arent going to pay for the tow. And no one told us there would even be a possibility that we would have to pay for it. They are still going to pay for the rental car. I just feel like we have started to get our feet back under us, and here comes another wave to knock us over. I suppose this is life. I am just so sick of life crapping on us...