36 weeks

It is very weird to think that this is the end and that within a month I will be holding my baby. I'm starting to get a little impatient.
I'm definitely starting to get really uncomfortable. The baby is now big enough that when he/she kicks, it really really hurts. Because it's getting so squishy in there most of the kicks seem to be directed up into my rib cage and will often take my breath away. My ND says it is a sign of a very healthy babe but it's leaving me a little sore (and slightly bruised).
I've started to get the pregnant lady waddle. My hips are widening for the birth so now I walk kind of funny and at the end of the day my hips are quite sore. I've found warm baths to be so relaxing and really help with both the hip pain and the braxton hicks contractions but I'm almost too pregnant to get out of the tub on my own. It really make me want to cry. The good news is that I think water will be a really helpful tool for coping with the pain of childbirth and we recently bought ourselves a La Bassine pool for that very purpose. I hope I get to use it (I bought it second-hand. The woman who owned it before me didn't even get to blow it up because her labor was that quick).
Yesterday we went on our hospital tour as part of our childbirth preparation class. While I thought it was important that we go on the tour because there is always the chance that we would need to transfer there, all I feel it did was solidify our plans to birth at home. The rooms were small (add a birth ball, doula, husband, and midwife and there would be no room to move about), no tubs, the showers were so tiny that if Jon wanted to stand in there and rub my back he really couldn't, and I felt so uncomfortable just standing there, I'm not sure I could relax if I had to labor in one of those rooms. Prior to the tour I was really wondering if I could do this at home with no chance of drugs so I could sleep during a long labor but now I'm just so motivated to do what it takes to birth my baby in a clean, warm, safe environment (the maternity ward at our local hospital recently had an outbreak of Strep A and is still under restrictions to prevent another outbreak).
I am officially on maternity leave now so I am beginning the endless task of getting ready for baby. I've started making meals to freeze so we don't have to do take out. I'm also making sure that everything gets washed (all the diapers, sheets, towels, etc) so I'm not trying to do laundry in early labor. The baby's room still needs some work but it's getting there. I have a few sewing projects on the go that I would like to finish. I'm hoping to make myself a couple nursing tops, a few soft toys for the babe, and mama cloths for postpartum bleeding. I'm also compiling squares for a birth quilt. Stay tuned for updates on that.
Can't wait to meet you little baby, we are almost ready for you!