Week by Week: 37th

(Real Time = 38 weeks today)

Started off this week with a mini self-celebration. Made it to full-term!! Then quickly came to the realization that the 40 week due date was probably more statistically probable for delivery time. What a punch to the gut for a few days.

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. 

But after a few days, I actually started to feel like I was going to miss the rumbling and rolling and fluttering around in the belly. Even the shoving up into my right ribs that somehow manages to push up and outwards at the same time, making it feel like it could snap a lower rib while simultaneously breaking open my upper belly. Am I going to remember how pleasantly surprising the independent movement can be? Hmmm.

Jamie was able to work from home on the 3rd so we made the most of the early evening. Went to a doc appointment where, by the way, the ob informed me that she wouldn't be checking dilation progress (unless I really wanted it) because it's often not an indication of how far along the pregnancy is or how soon labor will begin. It was surprising to me, but I guess makes sense because someone can rock a 2cm dilation for weeks with very little progress and that report could be discouraging. I'm ok with not knowing...for now. We're down to weekly appointments.

After the appointment, we headed over to talk a walk around Green Lake - a freshwater lake in the middle of the city -  which was packed to the gills with people who must have also either taken the day off or who had ended their work day early. Runners, walkers, dogs, strollers, people generally working out, speed-walkers on their way to the library for some last minute holiday reading material. It really felt like the place to be on the before the 4th. And then we saw this:

A beach?! In seattle?

Ok, only sort of.
Those are cement steps into the lake.
But check out all of the crazy people in the water - note: it wasn't that warm out.

The next morning, we finally made our way over to a local breakfast joint called the 5 Spot Cafe only to find ourselves smack dab in the middle of...San Francisco?

A HUGE cardboard golden gate bridge.

This restaurant changes its theme QUARTERLY and does a total overhaul of their menu, their decor, and even the waitstaff's uniform. The San Francisco theme was obviously perfect for us & we had a fantastic brunch after a very short weekend wait. Sourdough flapjacks topped with strawberries? Done. 

A hilarious text from Amy:

Colin and Anne got a new BBQ (trish, do I say "grill" here instead?) so we went and picked up their old one - huzzah! Lounged about the rest of the day before rushing to get a peach/blueberry pie in the oven for an evening back at their house to celebrate the 4th. We conveniently were able to see about 5 different fireworks shows from their balcony (a surprise as they had just moved in this time last year and hadn't seen it before). I don't have a photo of the pie, but here's a shot of an icebox cake I took over when we had dinner there the previous weekend:

fantastic dessert when, with zero air conditioning, it was 90 degrees in their home!

Saturday was just lovely with lazy housework (ok, lazy on my part, jamie was buzzing around like a madman on a mission) and an evening on Parul's rooftop patio. We grilled, drank frosty beverages,  and made s'mores. Geoff and Rebecca were in town from Chicago, Lara was in town from the bay area, so we had a mini little tuck reunion (although I had just seen G&R when in Chicago last and Lara was at my baby shower!).

I don't know why I looked so scared of the fire.
Maybe I was just appalled that I took up as much space on a chair as BOTH anne and colin next to me. 

Anne, Parul, Me, Rebecca.
Geoff in the back.

she was amazed at how much rounder i had gotten.

For the record, my fundal height is measuring right on track; where the doc takes a tape measure to the belly to identify uterine size and it matches the gestational age in weeks within 1-3cm. I think they started this at week 24 and it's been growing right on track since. At this week's appointment, I almost asked her to measure it again because it feels and looks to be growing more aggressively than 1cm a week ("do you mean feet? it's growing a foot a week? because that feels more accurate.")

6 weeks ago.

And Sunday entailed heading over to Mercer Island, the most populated island in a lake in the United States. In the map below, you can see where we live (queen anne, a neighborhood in Seattle) and Bellevue where Jamie works. That 90 bridge goes from Seattle across Mercer Island over a floating road (I think it's the 2nd longest floating bridge in the world) and over to what people call "the eastside". 

Jamie's stepmom, Terri, has a sister who lives on Mercer Island with her husband and after connecting at the baby shower here last month, invited us over for a lovely Sunday evening dinner with her daughter (who lives down the street from us), her daughter's roommate, and two of their friends. Their home was warm, inviting, and had a fantastic view of the city in which we live:

the view.

their pup, guinness or guinny.

the spread.
Fontine, their friend, hovers over the delicious salads.

the flowers we took over there.
from pike place = best deal on the freshest flowers!

 I tried taking better photos, but was also trying to play it cool while at their place. Next time, I'm going gangbusters for y'all.

And just because this is still cracking me up:

Leson sighting in Seattle.