Today I am...38 weeks pregnant.

Time marches on... Here I am. 38 weeks pregnant and I remember celebrating week 7 like it was yesterday. Each day brings different aches and pains and pressure on different body parts. This week I had a doctor's appointment and got my cervix checked for the first time. It wasn't too fun...fairly uncomfortable but nothing I couldn't deal with. But I found that I was 1 centimeter dilated. Of course, this means nothing really. But, at the same time, I guess it's encouraging that things are progressing. Not sure that news was worth the spotting I got for the next day, but, I'm not a doctor. (of medicine....just a doctor of hollywood trivia.) We also had our first little scare at the doctor's office as the doc couldn't find the lil' guy's heartbeart very easily. It was the first time it had been a problem and, of course, I didn't react well when I saw the look of concern and puzzlement on her face. She decided to hook me up to a fetal monitor for 20 minutes so she could make sure everything looked okay. So I got to strap on these sensors on my belly and watch a little print-out with every heartbeat of the little guy. Thank goodness that John randomly decided to attend the appointment with me after not going for weeks. Turns out the trickster was fine. I think he was just in a weird position at first. And I think he's big so it's tight in there for him. But he stayed between 140 and 160 bpm and the doc assured us all was good. So home we went with instructions to come back in a week.

The good news is that I got a hair cut this week and we also assembled all the remaining baby stuff. See? Here I am with my new hair and awesome pack n' play. Of course, my hair didn't look like that the day after and won't look like that again, but it was nice while it lasted.

And now, for the weekly stats:

How far along: 38 weeks

Baby Development: My newsletters are getting a bit boring because there's no new fruit and vegetable comparisons. He's big (around 7 lbs and 20 inches) and he is fully prepared to come out at any time. But I give him another 2 weeks at least.

Baby Movement: Well, he's been moving a little less, hence the scare. But he still loves to move around a lot around 4am.

Water Intake: Utter failure. In fact, until 3 seconds ago when I saw this prompt on my blog, I forgot that there was such a beverage as 'water'.

Best Moment this Week: I think all of the 'real' dinners I got to have with John this week. He got off work pretty early every night so I actually had the chance to make proper dinners and eat at the table. Sounds crazy but it's definitely not the norm for Hollywood employees!

Current baby/pregnancy worry: Is he moving enough. The doctor really got us scared and now I'm doing kick counts. That and worried about all the billion genetic disorders that don't kick in until a child is 12 months old or so. That just doesn't seem fair.

Symptoms: Just more of the same. Some heartburn. Pressure down there and on my bladder. Lots of waddling. And nowadays John offers to help me up off the couch. Wow, that's pathetic.

Sleep Quality: Okay, so I may have made a slight breakthrough. But it requires THREE non-head pillows. Two between my legs (including my awesome body pillow), one getting hugged at my chest and then two under my head. And if I twist my body just so, I can get a good stretch of sleep in.

Food Cravings: Tostada salads. Weird. But if this kid doesn't like Mexican, I don't know what else I could have done.

What I Miss: Popping up off the couch or jumping out of bed. There is certainly none of that. In fact, I'm lucky if it doesn't take a grunt to get out of bed.

I'm Looking Forward to: Fun weekend with the hubby, Leigh, and the SAG awards. Good times.

Trying to Get Done Before Baby: We may be crazy, but we're trying to redecorate and PAINT the guest room. Yeah. All in the next week before baby. Ridiculous? Yes. But we've been meaning to do it for 3 years. I'll let you know if this actually happens.

John's POV: “It was flat out good luck that I had a lull at work and could sneak out for Lisa's appointment. I hadn't been in a few weeks, and all I was going to do was kill time with a Staples run and some 'Plants vs. Zombies'. (I've already 3-starred 'Angry Birds' to death.) I could see Lisa's worry wheels start to spin as soon as our doctor suggested a run on the fetal monitor 'just to be sure'. I'm surprised we ever hear anything on the heart monitor she usually uses. Looks like something Texas Instruments made in the 80s. But the fetal monitor made the lil' trickster sound like John Bonham. Boom-boom-boom-boom. But even if the little guy had launched into 'Moby Dick', Lisa would have still been a little shaken up. We'd gotten accustomed to 'Everything sounds great' and 'See you in a week'. You'll get these unpleasant splashes of cold water in the face every so often, where you're reminded of the fragility of the situation. Keeps you on your toes at best. Scares the crap out of you at worst.”