35 weeks, and the fetus is still a fetus

Woo hoo!  I haven’t given birth yet – this is officially the most pregnant I have ever been. 

The baby moves position several times a day.  One minutes she’ll be head down in birthing position, then suddenly she’ll decide she wants to hang out by my ribs again.  My belly shape is constantly changing.  Tim and I get a big kick out of watching an elbow (or knee - who knows?) move from one side of my belly to the other.  I have decided that she is doing swimmer’s kick turns in my belly.  It’s the only explanation for the sudden and drastic changes in position.  We’ll have to take her to the pool when she’s done doing time in the womb and test out my theory. 

Squiggles is getting ready for the new baby.  She loves to lift up my shirt and say, “Hi, Baby Sister” in a high, sing-song voice.  It’s adorable.  But every time we see a cute toy or outfit in a store and I say, “Should we get this for Baby Sister?” she responds with, “No, mine!”   Ha ha… we’re in a for an adjustment period, I can tell already.

I have been feeling utterly exhausted the last couple days.  Yesterday I felt like I completely crashed, and today hasn’t been much better. I have a feeling my iron is really low again – I don’t seem to have enough energy to walk from room to room, and every time I sit down, stand up, or even sneeze or cough, I see stars and feel like I’m going to faint.  We got steaks for dinner and I’ve been popping iron pills, so hopefully things will improve.  We got gym memberships and I’m dying to go swimming.  I haven’t been for a couple weeks and I need to get back in the water – it feels so good to swim laps.

Also, it has been in the high nineties the last few days, with nearly 100% humidity.  This weather is a special kind of hell for this eight-months-pregnant gal.  :-)

But… it’s going to be over soon.  Can’t wait to meet this little kick-turning, sleep-stealing butterball baby.  I love her so much already, and I know it just gets amplified a thousand times after birth.

33 weeks

I went in for my 33 week checkup this week (the doctor wants to see me much more frequently now because I gave birth early with Squiggles).  Dr. MacKenzie often has medical students working with him, and this week, he had a new student:  a friend of mine from my PhD program (she recently finished and is back in medical school).  It was fun to have her be my “doctor” for the visit.

Everything looked great, except my fundal height was measuring bigger than expected.  Dr. MacKenzie had me go to the hospital the next day for some ultrasound scans just to make sure everything was okay. 

I haven’t spoken with the doctor yet, but I requested a copy of the scans to be put on a CD, and showed them to Tim when he got home.  He said everything was in a “normal” range. 

However… drumroll…

The baby is estimated to already be 6 pounds!  Ahhhhhh!!!!  I’m so glad she’s healthy, but I’m a little terrified to give birth now.  Squiggles was born at 34 weeks, and she was barely 5 pounds.  Most of the baby’s measurements were average for somebody who is about 36 weeks along (they print the averages on the scans).  This baby already weighs as much as Squiggles did when she was about 7 weeks old. :)  D’oh!  Long labor ahead.l  I’m a little relieved because if I give birth early again, at least the baby will be in good shape to start out in the world.

32.5 weeks

I can’t believe this pregnancy is mostly over. It seems like I’m going to pregnant forever and ever.  I sometimes have a hard time conceptualizing this baby ever being anywhere other than my belly (more specifically, sitting on top of my bladder).  I am so, so, so, so, so excited to actually hold this baby… in my ARMS.

Next week is the dreaded 34-week mark!  I am having a baby shower at 34 weeks, 2 days… exactly how far along I was when my water broke with Squiggles.  I’ll be happy when that day comes and goes… hopefully with only the baby shower to count as an exciting event.

I’m totally smitten with the baby already.  She sticks her bum against my abdomen right above my belly button, so I pat it and sing her songs.  This seems to encourage her, and she sticks her bum out even further. If I feel her back, I rub it, and she sticks it out further as though to say, “More, more!”   Maybe this baby will actually enjoy cuddling!

We have been going on walks to the pond almost every day, and I try to swim and lift weights at the gym a couple times a week.  I keep trying yoga, but I start having contractions whenever I try to do any core exercises / stretches (downward dog, plank, etc.). 

I am so uncomfortable in so many ways that I have stopped keeping track.  The other day, one of my professors (John) asked me why I was limping.  I honestly hadn’t really noticed.  I shrugged my shoulders, and he said, “Just another pregnancy thing?”  (He has two kids).  I said, ""Yeah, I guess.” 

My uterus is taking up the spaces formerly reserved for not only my bladder, but also my diaphragm, stomach, ovaries, intestines, and probably lungs.   I have to pee every hour, preferably every half hour, and I’m constantly wheezing because I can’t catch my breath.

But I know it is all worth it.  Like I said, I can’t wait to meet this baby.  I’m so excited I could pee my pants.  Literally.