Week 36 - 9 Months

I am now in my 9th month of pregnancy!!! In the home stretch. Emile things I'm going to give birth in two weeks; I'm thinking it will be more like 5 weeks. Very soon we'll have our little girl home with us!

I've decided today that I no longer recognize my body -- I don't see remnants of the non-pregnant me left. I'm getting ready to finish being pregnant not only to hold our daughter but to be able to bend over to put my shoes on and go for a run! It's hard to see around the big belly, swollen feet, hands and calves, and skin rash on my neck and arms. Not being able to get out of bed or up from a chair easily. The constant waddle due to aching. I miss the old Rachel. Of course, the outcome makes it all worth it -- I just wish I still saw me in the mirror.

I visited a pediatrician's office on Wednesday, Growing Child Pediatrics, and was pretty happy with it. I've heard great things about the place and it turns out our neighbor, Tippy, takes her son there also. We're looking for a place that will work with us on the vaccination schedule and that is helpful for encouraging successful breastfeeding. So far this place seems to fit what we're looking for. So we've pretty much decided to go with this office. We don't choose our actual pediatrician until after the birth -- the doctor on-call will be the one who comes to the hospital to check her out the first day etc. After that we'll get a chance to decide if we want to stay with that doctor or go with another. I'm glad to finally have this item marked off my list of things to take care of before the birth.

I've started packing my bag for the hospital which I hope to have finished by tomorrow. There are a few things I want to pick up at the store like non-slip socks to walk around in. Emile and I will be putting the car seat in my car and ordering our video camera tomorrow. Now, if we could only decide on a name.

She's been moving around a lot the last few days -- I can actually now distinguish more of her body parts. It's pretty neat to see and feel.