35 & 36 weeks

 

Forgive me again... I was too lazy to write last week.

We are nearing the finish line and all my thoughts are mostly devoted to preparing for the baby, how life will be after the baby is born, do we have a little girl or a little boy in there, etc.  We mostly have everything ready.  I have a short list on our chalkboard right now to complete and once that is done we are completely ready! 

I was looking at the calendar last week and it suddenly hit me that the possibility is there that the baby could be here as soon as next week.  Some women have their babies at 37 weeks and what if that was me?  I started panicking.  Obviously I realize I am at the end of my pregnancy but I didn't really think of the end end... you know, the part where the baby actually comes out and you take it home.  I kind of just got used to the idea of being huge pregnant and figured I'd be like that for a long time.  I mean, seriously!  I am having a baby in the next few weeks! 

Baby is doing well.  My weekly emails tell me that s/he is fully developed and is now just gaining weight.  My belly feels much heavier and my movements are much slower.  Getting up off the floor requires some work and since I love my baths so much, getting out of the tub is quite a chore.  I haven't had to yell for Max yet :)  Nighttime has become pretty uncomfortable.  I move around a lot in my sleep and it is so hard to even roll over.  I want so badly to sleep on my stomach or even my back that I wake up sometimes on my back and my legs and hips are slightly numb.  That is not good.  Too much pressure on my spine and that vein they are always talking about.  I chide myself and grunt while turning on my side again. 

My body is in labor prep mode.  My hips are spreading in preparation for birth, my boobs have gotten huge (well, for me) so they can hold all the milk my little love will need and I'm exhausted all the time again so I can store up energy for what's in store.  In reaction to the hormones racing through my system my face has broken out again.  This baby is lucky I love him/her otherwise I would have quite a hard time with the acne.  My face has also started getting plump and squishy like the Pillsbury doughboy.  This happens every time at the end so it is to be expected although not appreciated.  Surprisingly, my feet haven't swollen at all.  I can't believe it but it's true!  My feet were pretty large at the end of Dexter's pregnancy and were gigantic and cracking and bleeding at the end of Simon's pregnancy so to have my feet looking normal and fitting into all my normal shoes is quite impressive.  Go feet!

If I am going by comparison, I can tell this baby will be a bit shorter than Simon was.  Dex was 18 inches and Simon was 21 inches and I always felt Simon kicking high up in my ribs.  This baby doesn't get that far up.  S/he sticks their butt up to create lumps a lot and you can see an elbow make its way across my belly.  I will miss these movements even if they hurt at times. 

The baby gets the hiccups a lot and it really rocks my belly.  If I'm in the tub the water quakes all around me with each hiccup the baby has.  Poor little bugger probably hates those strong hiccups. 

Heartburn is incredibly frequent although not with the ferociousness of that one week.  I still crave sweets above all else and I even beat my husband in eating anything laying around that has a sweet flavor.  He has the ultimate sweet tooth and is baffled at opening a tin of bars and seeing I've already eaten most of them.   Whoops!  I only have myself to blame for my weight gain this month.

Speaking of which, my 36 week doctor appointment is on Monday.  You know what this means... the dreaded GBS test.  The test itself isn't dreaded but the result is.  A lot of how my labor will play out will depend on if I am GBS positive again and so I am praying, pleading and begging that I be negative this time.  I don't care one iota if I go to 42 weeks as long as I am GBS negative.  I suppose we will find out.  I will have another cervical check again to see if I have started dilating and effacing.  With both Dexter and Simon I was 2 cm/50% effaced at my 36 week appointment.  I'm all stretched out now because of the boys so I would have to be 3cm/50% effaced to be the same this time.  I'm excited for my appointment to see if we have some progress or if baby is happily tucked in tight. 

That's all I have for you today folks... I would rather be on the couch relaxing, watching my new chick flick I bought myself and eating something sweet.  So that is where I am headed until nap time is over :)