Pregnancy update: 36 weeks

36 weeks! That's almost done! Now I am officially freaking out over how much I need to do and how little time I have. Like deep clean the entire house, including dusting. Yes, I really do need to dust. Between cutting marble tile and sanding drywall and trimming cement board with an angle grinder, there is dust everywhere.

I am super anxious to get all of the renovation materials out of my bedroom. The bathroom is really coming together. I finished painting yesterday, and we hooked up the water lines this evening. Everything works! We filled up the jacuzzi and the kids and I had a nice hot bath together before bedtime. They were splashing everywhere. It's pretty exciting to have a real tub after using rubbermaid bins in the shower for 2 1/2 years. We didn't see any leaks in the tub, so the leak seal and Plast-Aid must have done the trick. Things left to do in the bathroom:

• hook up all of the switches in the outlet boxes
• install framless glass shower door
• cut holes in antique marble-topped washstand for the sink & faucet, and then install it. (Later on this spring, once the baby is born and it's warm enough outside, I'm going to strip and refinish the whole thing.)
• install pencil-edge marble pieces around the tub tiling
• install & repaint all baseboards & door trim
• put up towel bars and toilet paper holder

I even have a big stack of super soft, fluffy Egyptian cotton towels. Rich, deep red. I haven't had new towels since I got married twelve and a half years ago. The old ones will go upstairs and be "new" towels for that bathroom. The old upstairs towels will become birth towels. And the old birth towels have already become renovation towels. That's how we recycle at the Freezes.

My pelvis is starting to come unhinged. It's especially bad when I get up after sitting for a while. I hobble around like an octogenarian and laugh at myself when I'm not wincing. Yay for relaxin.

I sewed together most of the birth quilt. I'm missing one square and am holding out for my friend to get hers done. But I can't wait forever, because it has to be put together with the batting and backing in time for my blessingway on February 5th. Speaking of blessingways, I'm hoping to hold a virtual blessingway for all of you who'd like to take part but can't be here in person. Gina (aka The Feminist Breeder) mentioned a virtual blessingway last week and I thought it was a great idea. More later once I figure out the details.

I've been sleeping well thanks to the neti pot and nasal strips and canceled the sleep study. The baby's been switching back and forth between ROT and LOT. I've had some practice contractions this week that were definitely crampy, just enough to remind me what's coming...

...which makes me a bit nervous. Nervous and excited. I've done it twice before and know I can again. But still, I have to do it. No one else can for me. I'm not sure if I feel any more or less confident about labor even though I've done it before. Every labor is different. You never know how long or short it will be, or if it will be mega intense or slow and putzy, or if you'll have something funky like a malpresentation or nuchal hand. I don't want to get too cocky. But still, I also know that I can do it.