Pregnancy Update {37 Weeks}

How far along? 

I'm 37 weeks now which is considered full-term.  Alaine was born at 37 weeks, 2 days and Owen was born at 37 weeks, 5 days.  I don't anticipate this baby being born so soon, but it is certainly possible! 

For fun, I started an online baby poll. To enter your guesses, click here. 

We're trying to keep things on our calendar to keep from living on Baby Watch.  We had friends over for dinner and games on New Year's Eve.  We're planning to have more friends over for dinner and games this weekend and I have a moms-only dessert outing with a friend coming up next week.

Brian has also started painting and re-doing the girls' bedroom.  If Baby arrives before he is done, he will simply finish when we return home.

Any aches or pains?

I have the typical back aches and achy hip joints. As much as I tried to avoid it, I have the pregnancy waddle!   I'm taking epsom salt baths a few times a week to combat the muscle soreness.  Whether it is the epsom salt or daily sitting on my exercise ball or back strengthening exercises or Baby settling into a better position,  on the weekend I started enjoying a few days of noticeably less pain.  I'm feeling better now at 37 weeks than I was at 35 and 36 weeks. 

 
Getting ready for baby...

At 36 weeks, I started eating dried deglet noor dates every day. They are packed with vitamins and minerals plus there is some evidence that they help prepare the body for labor. (Note: The serving size on the first link is for a 28 gram serving; serving size for a pregnant mother is is 60-70 grams daily.)  I like the taste so I figure they are worth snacking on even if they serve no additional purpose.

Exercise:

I'm still running and doing indoor exercise on alternating days.  Between a string of rainy days and some  nerve pain and numbness in the front of one thigh, my running mileage decreased at the end of December.  Still I managed to log almost 1050 miles in 2015.  The sun is out and my leg is better now, but I still find the need to modify my running some days.  One day Brian and I went out together and did a 2 mile run/walk routine, but then yesterday I was able to run 4 miles (albeit slowly) with no walk breaks at all. I'm hoping to keep moving and staying active until Baby arrives.