Holy crap, I've made it to 36 weeks or 9 months! My LAST month! It has felt like I would never ever get to this point. And now that its here, I'm kinda in awe. I can't believe how huge I am, how big Henry feels, how hard it is to do the simplest things, and how much I want to just see my baby (except he really has to stay in today and tomorrow - because of all of this snow, there's 15-20 inches predicted, I don't think our car would make it to the hospital).
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| 36 Weeks! Feeling and looking pretty huge. |
Over the last month, Morgan and I have finally finished all of our baby preparations. We are finished with our birthing classes, breastfeeding class, new baby care class, had our baby showers, finished purchasing all the little things, cleaned, and did laundry. We are finally at the point of just waiting. It feels pretty good! It's nice knowing that Henry could come at any point and we would be ready. Technically we do have to install the car seat, but its purchased and out of the box, so that's enough for me (at least for now). Its also pretty weird to see all this baby stuff around. Weird to have a shelf in the kitchen dedicated to bottles and bibs, and a shelf in the linen closet with baby towels and toys. And again, a baby car seat, just sitting in the living room - waiting for MY baby.
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| Car Seat - Graco Sungride 35. |
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| Aren't the little monkey's cute?! They would only be cuter around a tiny baby! |
Physically, I'm still feeling alright. I'm finding it much harder to do everyday tasks (like tie my shoes, pick stuff off the floor, or even just get off the couch), and have slowed down considerably. Henry has dropped some and I'm finding it a bit easier to breath again, and my nightly bathroom trips have gone up from 4 a night to 5 a night (ugh). I'm having a lot more hip pain and back pain, but my heartburn is pretty much under control and so is my anemia. My blood pressure has gone up slightly - up to 98/52! Haha - which is high for me, but obviously a good sign that I'm healthy!
Also, I'm starting to have a lot more contractions, and they are starting to hurt some. I've been having braxton hicks since about 24 weeks, but now they are just more intense, last longer, and include back pain. The good news is that these contractions are doing their job! At my doctor's appointment on Friday, I was 1cm dilated and my cervix is softening!! My doctor guessed that I would still be pregnant at my next appointment (38 weeks) but she said she wouldn't be surprised if I had him before my due date. So that's good news! And makes the contractions a lot easier to deal with!
The other good news from my doctor's appointment was that Henry is head-down and nice and low! I was worried that he was laying sideways, because of where I was feeling kicks/punches. But my doctor explained that his spine is tilted toward my spine, which gives him room to punch/kick to the side. But I guess, I can't blame Henry for trying to stretch out, I know its getting really really crammed in there, although a kick to the far side is really painful, and totally takes my breath away.
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| Looking pregnant in the face...ugh. |
Henry seems to be doing just great. His heartbeat was in the 150's on Friday. And he's as active as ever. All the books say that babies slow down toward the end, because they run out of room. Well Henry doesn't seem deterred by his lack of space and pretty much moves 24/7.
For the next month, we just wait - this is going to start to get really really hard. Especially when I finish work in a couple weeks. We do have a few things on our calendar, we have an interview with a pediatrician coming up, and have a meeting/class to arrange Henry's baptism. I also have to pack my hospital bag - which I'm going to try to tackle tonight.
Alright, lets all hope Henry comes soon - but again NOT tonight or tomorrow!! Hehe. I will try to keep everyone updated - I think its probably time for weekly updates since things are changing more quickly now. Now back to waiting...
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| Since I keep showing bare belly - here it is at 36 weeks - still NO stretchmarks - thanks Mom for the good genes! |
