This is a quick drive-by. I’m 36 weeks pregnant (as of Tues!) and have been having contractions for over a week now. NORMAL people get contractions when they move around and are active, which stop when they lie down. I, of course, just cannot be normal, so I’m having them every time I try to lie down and sleep. I had a WHOLE HOUR of completely uninterrupted sleep tonight and almost couldn’t believe how good I felt compared to how I had. Yeah. It’s that bad.

After giving me a scare, Stinkerbell gave the OB/GYN a scare the very next visit–at the end of 31 weeks. She decided to curl up into a little ball so that the OB/GYN couldn’t get a good measure of her size. Fearing IUGR, she sent me to the perinatalogist, who pronounced Stinkerbell a hefty 5lbs 5oz at 32 wks 0 days. Next visit, just after 34 weeks, I discovered I was 1 cm dilated already. With the Bear, I didn’t dilate or efface a bit until I was in serious labor, and he was still a late-preterm baby. Needless to say, both the OB/GYN and I were concerned. So at 35 wks 2 days, my mom flew out. And, of course, I haven’t had the baby, despite spotting with cramping that sent me scrambling for the hospital at 3 AM Saturday night!

Now that I’ve made 36 wks, I’ve breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. At this point, I wish the baby would come or I could get some freaking sleep. I’m still afraid that this one will end up being an unintentional homebirth, though….

So, in getting ready for the baby, I want to have a freezer packed with food for a month or so. I haven’t had the chance to set everything aside and just do a weekend of cooking, but I’m getting a fuller and fuller freezer, nevertheless. How? Well, every day or two, I’m making up a single dish of a quantity that will make at least 12 one-person meals. It’s a lot slower way to build up a supply, but it works well. I did this last spring and took a 6-week cooking break when I was done. It really take almost no more time to cook for 12 meals than it does to cook for four, so I’m not devoting tons more time to the endeavor, either.

Give it a try sometime, and then enjoy your cooking vacation! You might surprise yourself with the energy that you’ll have to do other things when you don’t have to do nightly cooking. You might do more fun baking, or you might organize that medicine cabinet that’s been bothering you for months. Or you might just kick back with the kids or the DH!