I'm having a baby! Well, not just yet . . .

I'm 35 weeks pregnant now.  Last time I was 35 weeks pregnant, I was giving birth to Gwen.  Wow, I'm about to have another baby!  Hopefully Olivia will stay in there a little longer, but no matter which way you slice it, she is coming soon!  This year has been extremely eventful and we might as well squeeze one last life altering event into 2012.

I am more than excited to have this little one and am extremly anxious about not knowing when she will arrive.  With Thanksgiving and Christmas fastly approaching, I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed.  But, no one can say that I am not prepared, that is for sure! 

I have got a ton of prepared meals in the freezer just in case at some point I have difficultly cooking, I've got Olivia's room painted and ready to go even though she won't actually be sleeping in there until she is six months old or so, I've got all of the baby clothes washed and ready, I've got all of my Christmas shopping completed (but someone help me, because it doesn't stop me from wanting to continue to shop!), and I've finally finished a forty page manual that I have been working on for months which details everything I do at work so that my covering coworkers won't have any surprises.  Of course that doesn't mean that I don't still have a huge list of things that I want to do before I go into labor (haircut, car detailing, etc).  Then again, the "to do" lists don't really ever stop for me.  I can always think of one more thing to do . . .  like Black Friday shopping! 

Oh yes, I may be ready to pop out a baby by then, but that isn't going to stop me from hosting Thanksgiving at my house and shopping on Black Friday!  As long as I can still get around and I'm not literally in the hospital, I don't see why I should pass up my favorite annual shopping day.  And no, having my Christmas shopping complete is not a reason to skip it either :-)

At 35 weeks pregnant though, I am still doing pretty well.  Although I am having mucho back pain - especially in the car (oh and I feel like a HOUSE), I really can't complain.  I expect that my water will break unexpectedly like it did with both Christina and Gwen.  I am on the smaller side to begin with, so I doubt I'll get to the point where I'm having trouble getting around.  Although my recent fall down the stairs certainly didn't help things.

That's right, I fell down the stairs recently and oh.my.god, I am still in a ton of pain!  And I thought my back was hurting before, HA HA HA, that is really funny.  So, the story is that I slipped while heading down the stairs from the third to the second floor.  I completely went up in the air and slammed down onto the stairs (on my back) and then slid down about five stairs.  I was able to stop myself before falling down all of them, but the damage was already done.  The fall was so hard that it knocked the wind out of me and I was having trouble breathing for a few minutes.

After half a day in Labor and Delivery at my hosptial, the Doctor was able to confirm that THANK GOODNESS, the baby was perfectly fine.  Although my entire body still hurts with every single move I make, the important part is that Olivia wasn't hurt.  I have a ridiculously gigantic bruise and a bunch of cuts to show for it, but everything will be ok.  I am crossing my fingers that I am all healed up before I go into labor though.  It isn't going to be fun laying in a hospital bed for hours on end while in labor, when my body is already hurting everywhere.

Ok, so, enough about my clumsy, self-damaging fall.  I finally have a couple of pictures for you.  Take a look at me trying to take my own picture in the bathroom mirror . . . I am 34.5 weeks here (eight months pregnant):