i carried a watermelon?

Just call me Frances Houseman.

That's right, Baby MooHoo is officially at her biggest fruit comparison on the charts: a watermelon! At our last appointment, my midwife estimated she's around 7 pounds, and according to all the books that's right on track. She should be measuring about 19 inches, which puts her in the category of the biggest, juiciest fruit of them all. At this point, her major organs are fully developed (aside from her brain, which will continue developing until sometime in her 20's), and all that hairy, cheesy coating that's been keeping her warm and cozy in my uterus is mostly gone. It's kind of disgusting to imagine her eating her own lanugo hair and vernix caseosa, but I guess that's what she's supposed to be doing.


I'm doing my best to remain positive, and enjoy this last portion of pregnancy. At least I've had someone to commiserate with at work! My co-worker, Caitlin, is 29 weeks pregnant (she's got a squash!), and we decided it was time to get some belly photos of us together before MooHoo decides to make her grand arrival and it will be too late.

We're thinking of submitting them to Awkward Family Photos, which has featured some great examples of strange pregnancy pictures. You'll note that I dwarf my less-pregnant officemate, which the kids we work with have had no problem telling me every day (as in, "Why are you so big but Caitlin's so little?!" to which I reply, "Never say that to a pregnant woman or you may not make it home from program alive," or something along those lines).

Most of my time these days is spent waiting for any signs of labor, and as yet there have been none. Mike says the baby has dropped, and I've been examining this picture closely to see if he's right. She definitely feels lower, and I am now able to make it up the stairs at the end of the night without gasping for air. Other than that, though, I've had no indication that labor is imminent.

I'm exactly one week from my due date, so Mikey and I keep saying, "It could really be any minute!" and my body is feeling quite ready for that minute to arrive. I'm actually feeling much less tired and achy than I have been during the rest of my third trimester, but I have had my fill of waddling around and watching my stomach continue to stretch and contort to accomodate a growing person. I've started trying out some of the completely unscientific labor inducement techniques to try to move things along, but, so far, no luck. One box of raspberry leaf tea, about three whole pineapples, spicy chili, Chinese food, lots of walking, pressure point massage thanks to Mikey, and on and on.

So, what else can I do?? When will she get here?? I'm open to all suggestions and will take all predictions seriously :)