week 37 and then some

my e-mail update:
Congratulations! Your baby is full-term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. He weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.

we went to the doctor last week, and i believe his exact words were: whoa! that's a big baby. but that's all he said. so we went back this week and saw our regular doctor, and he mentioned how big the baby was again. we have an ultrasound set up for next week to see exactly how big this baby is, and to make sure that a vaginal delivery is still viable. all of this is beside the point though, because after our fist birthing class on monday night, i decided not to give birth. it doesn't look like fun. =) i will find a magical solution and have nemo without the reality of birth. no they haven't started giving me drugs yet.
it was funny, when we were making an appointment for next week to have the ultrasound and our weekly check up, it hit me that really we only have two weeks left. two weeks! that's going to fly by. where has the past nine months gone? ben and i are both getting really excited to meet this little one and bring them home to our family.
on sunday, ben's grandma had a baby shower for me and it was very nice. nemo got a lot of great things that will really help us out. especially if nemo skips the newborn size and goes straight to the big kids size. =) i mean if the doctor seems concerned at how big the baby is, this must be one big effing baby. but the goal is still a natural birth. after hearing about the pain med options, i've decided to go as long as i can without, knowing that i might not be able to do it all. and then i think an epidural will happen. but who knows, maybe i won't need anything...i'm going to remain flexible. for all of you wanting to know the date, we are still go for on time. the baby hasn't lightened or anything yet. which is good, considering we are supposed to get a total of 8 to 12 inches of snow today. on top of ice. it's a great day to stay in bed....