Hmm, 37 weeks: that means I am now considered term, though early term. Baby really could arrive any day now. I have had a baby at 39 weeks, 38+5 , and 38+2. So 37 weeks isn't all that big of a stretch. I have a little theory about that though. It has to do with the fairisle blanket I am knitting, which is only half done. I am kind of afraid that I won't go into labor until the blanket is done. If that is the case, I either need to really get knitting on it, or I may have a very overdue baby. Of course I know that babies will always come when they decide to come, but in the back of my mind I have a to do list (the blanket is just one of the items) that I feel like I won't be able to relax and have the baby till the things on it are done. It's a list of silly things, like the blanket, putting all the supplies together in one corner of the bedroom, talking to my friends about watching the kids when it's time, ordering herbs for an herb bath afterwards, getting a couple extra flannel blankets, pick up one more cotton baby cap; like I said, silly things that will take about five seconds for me to do (except the blanket: definitely not a five second job). But mentally I don't feel quite ready yet to go into labor. Maybe I'm just in denial that little Seven really could come so soon.
On another note, no pregnancy log of mine would be complete without my mention of my favorite activity in the final weeks of pregnancy: a warm bath and a book, made even better with tea, once in a while candles lit, and, today, the penultimate luxury: a rainy afternoon outside the window. When I was about ten or so, I read a phrase in a story, about a mother who liked to take a warm bath to "soak away the cares of the day." I began to use that phrase jokingly way back then, which my own mother found quite funny, but little did I know how much I would enjoy that warm bath in the future, as a mother myself. Yes, a daily, or almost daily bath, is a must for me in those final few weeks or days before the baby arrives (though I love a bath anyway, no matter what), and one would think that I would be an ideal candidate for having a waterbirth, however, water during labor doesn't actual appeal to me all that much, oddly enough. Maybe this time, though. We'll see.
Speaking of water, boy have we been getting the rain here. It has been glorious. I have enjoyed every single cooling rainstorm that the afternoons have brought for about the last five days in a row. It is only supposed to get up to 72 today, with rain off and on throughout the day. Lovely. I am thoroughly enjoying this week of rain, though I am glad to live in an area where week long rains are the exception, and where I know there are many days of sun right around the corner. When it's so sunny and hot I long for the rain, but in reality I do I prefer our sunny, dry climate, with the sun making its joyful appearance 300 days out of the year.
