Welcome to Week 37
Sunday, May 9, 2010
36 weeks pregnant — now in Week 37!
28 DAYS TO GO!
First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms (and moms-to-be!) out there. This is technically my first Mother’s Day, although I’m sure next year will be more “official,” since Baby Boy will be here in person — and almost a year old by then, wow!
Darling Husband and Little Sis gave me beautiful “mother-to-be” cards, and even though Darling Husband worked today, he made me a special breakfast (his specialty) for dinner last night.
This week is going to be an interesting one! Being in Week 37 means that the baby is considered “full-term” at the end, and could come at any time! Woohoo! I am trying not to get my hopes up, since I know most first babies are late, but … yeah, my hopes are up. Come on, Baby Boy!
It’s also my first week of maternity leave, so it’s going to feel very different, I suspect. I have a huge list of to-dos that I want to accomplish in the next few weeks. Some are important — like registering for maternity leave tomorrow, so I can get paid when I’m off — and some are just things it would be nice to do before the baby comes — like clean out certain cupboards. But I am very prepared to skip these items if I don’t have the energy.
This week will also be the start of my weekly OBGYN appointments with Dr. L, and I’ll get my Strep B test at Tuesday’s appointment. Two swabs (guess where … and it’s not in your ears), and hopefully no pain.
Since this will be the first “internal” of any kind during my pregnancy, I’m curious to see if they will be checking my cervix for dilation. Would be great to know something productive was happening in there!
Without further ado, here’s what happening with Baby Boy this week:
Baby’s size: He could weigh between 6.5 and SEVEN WHOLE POUNDS, and might measures between 19.1 and 21 inches.
Development: He’s busy practicing breathing movements, and can turn his head toward light and sound, just like a newborn would.
Appearance: Getting chunkier by the day, awww.
Weekly re-cap
(May 2 – May 8)
Symptoms: Swollen ankles and feet, leg pain, dizziness, trouble sleeping, feeling like the baby is going to fall out, pregnancy brain.
Body changes: Nothing really seems to have changed.
Belly button: Still in and very small/wrinkled. When I look at it in a mirror, I can see that there are a couple of dark patches around it (I guess from the “inside” skin now appearing on the outside?)
Baby movement: More squirming and shifting. During the day, it’s usually just the occassional movement that causes me to go, “Oof!” In the evenings, however, he can really get going and start squirming enough to make it hurt!
What’s new? I start maternity leave tomorrow! Crazy!
Energy level: Low. Bedtime is more like 8:30 p.m. now, on most nights.
Baby preparations: Still begging Darling Husband to install the carseat base. It was supposed to be done a month before our due date, so it’s the first milestone we have (ahem, he has) missed.
Cravings: Sour cream and popsicles. But not together, ew.
High point: Having less than a month to go, and getting to answer the when-are-you-due question with “The seventh,” instead of “June 7.”
Low point: Major sleeping problems. Getting me prepared for the sleepless nights to come — that’s for sure!
Five things about shopping … when you’re nine months pregnant
Saturday, May 8, 2010
35 weeks, 6 days pregnant
29 DAYS TO GO!
- A mall you have been visiting your entire life is suddenly HUGE, and walking around it on your swollen ankles/feet/legs feels like you are scaling Mount Everest with broken glass in your shoes
- Most of the escalators will be shut off for “service,” because walking up and down them is definitely more fun for a preggo chick
- All of the benches are hogged by old people, and they all think they are more entitled to the benches then your extremely pregnant self
- You will be forced to squeeze onto a bench between two old people, because EFF! I NEED TO SIT DOWN NOWWWW!
- You realize that short trips are probably best, until the baby is in a stroller … not your pelvis
The trouble with sleeping
See this pregnant woman, smiling and sleeping? She’s a liar! She’s totally faking it.
No pregnant woman smiles while they sleep, because it is NOT COMFORTABLE!
No pregnant woman smiles while they sleep, because it is NOT COMFORTABLE!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
35 weeks, 6 days pregnant
29 DAYS TO GO!
I have realized, over the last few weeks of discomfort and sleeping problems, that “sleeping in” and “feeling rested” are no longer the same thing. In fact, doing the first one means that I will not experience the second one.
As anyone who has been pregnant knows, it takes a while to get situated for bed. Pillows need to be arranged, pillows need to be untangled from sheets, pillows need to be adjusted once you’re lying down. Oh, and then you realize you need a sip of water. And some lip balm. Just when you get comfortable, you have to pee. FML.
And then comes the actual sleeping. When I sleep too long on my left side — a.k.a. Sleep on this side only or you are a bad, bad preggo! — I get sore. The weight of my body crushes my left side, and makes the whole thing ache.
Then I switch to my right side (Boo! Hiss! Bad, bag preggo!) and lay like that for a while … until that side gets too sore.
Then I am left with two sore sides. The stomach is out, obviously. So I roll onto my back for a minute (Ahhhh!) and silently curse the fact that you are not supposed to sleep on your back while preggo — crushes a huge vein or something disgusting like that.
And then I’m back to square one — the (still-sore) left side.
The pregnancy pillows — both the wedge and the boomerang — do help. But nothing takes away the ache that comes with trying to get a giant, misshapen body comfortable.
I had an especially bad sleep on Thursday night, so I showed up for my last day of work looking like ass. I had succumbed to the discomfort at 5:15 a.m., and got up at that point. I could have easily went back to sleep a few hours later, once the ache wore off, but I was at work by that point.
A perfect example of how I can (hopefully) get more rest now that maternity leave officially begins on Monday! Sleep as much as I can. Get up until my body stops aching. Go back to sleep. I suppose it will be good preparation for weird sleeping habits once Baby Boy arrives!
29 DAYS TO GOOOOOOO! Eeek, eeek, eeek!
One month! One month! ONE MONTH!
Friday, May 7, 2010
35 weeks, 5 days pregnant
My due date is ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!!!
Do you know what that means? Starting tomorrow, when people ask my due date, I can say, “The seventh,” instead of saying, “June seventh.” Because May 7 will already be gone. Genius, huh?
Of course, there is the chance they will reply, “Wow, May 7 … so you’re overdue, huh?”
Ouch.
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