36 weeks

Technically this is a picture taken about a week ago, just over 35 weeks. Today I am 36 weeks 3 days. I had my most recent appointment at the doctor's on Monday. He said my blood pressure was up a little, although it still seemed normal for me. However, I had lots of kidney problems when I was younger and so the doctor thinks I'm prone to hypertension (which I think is just a fancy word for high blood pressure) during pregnancy. So, he said that I should lie down on my left side whenever I can. And since I am done at work now and don't have much to do that is a lot. My next appointment is on Monday so we'll see how the blood pressure is doing. I've also been having bad cramping pain in my lower belly which is usually accompanied by severe back pain. If I lie down the pain is usually manageable, or goes away completely. The baby is still as active as ever so the doctor said he can live with the pains if I can. So that's where we are and we'll see what happens in a few days at the next appointment.

In other news my sister had her baby two days ago, on the 23rd. She was a whopping 10 lbs 1 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. I can't believe how big that baby is! My poor, rockstar sister was in labor about 38 hours. Her labor slowed down in the middle, or maybe she just took forever to dilate all the way, but the doctors/nurses didn't want to help her along so she suffered through it! I think she was in labor for maybe half that time before she got an epidural but once she got it, she felt a lot better. Anyway, both mom and baby are doing great and I think they are going home today. Chloe sleeps a ton so hopefully she's keeps that up once they're home.