This is the part of pregnancy I never really believed would come. I have been feeling oh-so-cute and cuddly-adorable... until now. I never realized that after nine months of pregnancy I would still have a few more weeks to grow. And grow, I do. It's gross, really. I am almost 37 weeks along, which should equal nine months, if you divide by four weeks, and I still have about three weeks left to grow. Yuck.
Last Friday, I went on my now-weekly doctor appointment and was appalled to view a large number on the scale. I was careful to only have light food before my 1 o'clock appointment; some oatmeal, some yogurt, a banana. I was saving my lunch for after my appointment, to be sure I didn't weigh extra because of it. Well, lo and behold, I saw a rather eery red number on the digital scale. Yup, 190. I am ten pounds shy of 200 pounds. That has to be some sort of cruel joke. I swore the nurses were playing a trick on me. Nope, they weren't. I'm just growing.
I have read in a few books that this is the time frame in pregnancy where the mom will stop growing so much. I guess we just run out of room in our stomachs for food because of the ever-plumping baby. I don't know if that's a fact for me yet, but I do know that breathing has been more of a deliberate event than it was previously. I struggle to gain a full breath and feel a bit asthmatic lately. It's rather uncomfortable. I guess that goes with the territory as well.
Supposedly first-time mommies can feel a "drop" when the baby starts to descend into the pelvic area. I'm still waiting for that. I want to breathe again!! It's really kinda fun to feel every thump (and I do mean thump, there is nothing butterfly-like about Brady's movements now) and know that he could be born and survive. At 37 weeks, he will officially be a full-term baby. I will be 37 weeks this Saturday. Just a few more days. Kyle and I have been walking about with goofy grins on our faces. Every twinge I get, I sit and wait to see if it might be a contraction. I tell him when I feel more pressure on my pelvic floor. If I make any weird sounds in the bathroom, Kyle will inquire if my water broke. Ha! I know it's wishful thinking that Brady will come earlier than later, but I have reason to believe that I am not alone. Most new moms wish and hope that their whale-existence is over after they reach the full-term mark.
Kyle and I tried to reflect on what it was like for me to be around without being so a-round. We can't remember me without a belly. That's how long this pregnancy has seemed. I know it will be over soon, and that gives me great relief. I just wonder when. It feels like Christmas is just around the bend. We don't know what date Santa will drop in to bring our presents, but we do know he is coming and he will have the best gift ever!
So enough of being mushy about our baby. Let's get to the real deal. Pregnancy after nine months is cruel. It's cruel to look forward to being nine months pregnant and still having a few weeks to go until the baby is born. It's mean to feel like this is really never going to end. I count down the days like the date will be unchangeable. I've learned from friends and family that the due date isn't in stone. So to have a countdown to a date that might not be a reality is really just setting myself up for disappointment. I just have a feeling he will come a week late. Just because he is his mother's son.
I don't fit in any of my maternity clothes. I look like a fat girl trying to fit in her little sister's clothes. It's not pretty. People approach me with apprehension that the buttons on my shirt will fly off and cause optical injury. I get the "you look like you're gonna pop" exclamation a bit more than I would like, as I know I look that way. I feel that way. Can my skin get any tighter?? Can my veins be any more pronounced on my belly? It looks like a road map through the Northeast.
Ever since my doctor told me might weight gain has been on par and really good, I regret to admit that I took it as a license to eat. I think my total weight gain has been about 36 pounds or so. Maybe more or less, as I didn't record my starting weight. I think I'm on my way to at least 40 pounds. Which I know isn't a horrible weight gain. I guess I am just tired of gaining weight. I want the baby to come out so I can begin losing weight again. I want to be able to suck in my belly and actually see it go in. I joke that I should go to a gym and request a personal trainer to help with my growing belly that won't go down. Pretend that I don't believe I am pregnant. That should be a hidden camera scenario. Yup. I'm sick in the head.
I had my strep B test (I think that's what it's called?) the other week. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was more afraid to get naked again, as I hadn't in months since my first prenatal exam. My buddy and I joked that we didn't want the doctor to go to our butt first then our vajajay. So we chanted "no contaminay the vajajay" before my appointment for good measure. Luckily that was painless and quick. I don't believe I have any more tests before the due date. That's just wonderful news. I asked about when they start to measure for dilation and the doctor said they start around 38 weeks. I was kinda hoping he would have started at the 36 week visit so I could be "pleasantly surprised" that I had started dilating. But, again, wishful thinking. I've got to stop that.
I had some Braxton Hicks contractions yesterday morning. They were mildly painful and I did wonder how long they would last. I think the total length of discomfort was about two minutes. I wondered if we would luck out to have a St. Patty's Day baby (wishful thinking). But then, the tightening in my stomach was over about as quick as it began. Part of me was relieved that it was just practice, and another part was a little bummed it wasn't THE day.
If anything, it did inspire me to pack my overnight hospital bag. It's pretty sad that all I have in it so far, is a camcorder with a new DVD, some grannie panties, new spare toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and my camera battery charger. Yeah, I'm not ready. But there are things that I would want to bring that I use on a daily basis. So, that's my practical side saying that I can't get too ready. Besides, I live just ten to fifteen minutes from the hospital. Kyle will have to go home to feed and let out Monkey while we are at the hospital anyway. He can get my mascara then.
So, while my baby probably is planning on being on time or even late, I will sit here and feel sorry for my ever-growing self. I will just plop on any surface than can hold my weight and wish away the end of this pregnancy. I am so excited to meet him, and I am trying to hold back my wishful thinking he will show early. I know that God has a plan and I will just sit back and wait. I will just tell myself that I am growing a thirty pound baby, and that is why I'm gaining so much weight. And I look forward to the new boobs I've been promised since the day I realized that the day God said "breasts", I thought he said "rest", and sat on a curb and waited.
Last Friday, I went on my now-weekly doctor appointment and was appalled to view a large number on the scale. I was careful to only have light food before my 1 o'clock appointment; some oatmeal, some yogurt, a banana. I was saving my lunch for after my appointment, to be sure I didn't weigh extra because of it. Well, lo and behold, I saw a rather eery red number on the digital scale. Yup, 190. I am ten pounds shy of 200 pounds. That has to be some sort of cruel joke. I swore the nurses were playing a trick on me. Nope, they weren't. I'm just growing.
I have read in a few books that this is the time frame in pregnancy where the mom will stop growing so much. I guess we just run out of room in our stomachs for food because of the ever-plumping baby. I don't know if that's a fact for me yet, but I do know that breathing has been more of a deliberate event than it was previously. I struggle to gain a full breath and feel a bit asthmatic lately. It's rather uncomfortable. I guess that goes with the territory as well.
Supposedly first-time mommies can feel a "drop" when the baby starts to descend into the pelvic area. I'm still waiting for that. I want to breathe again!! It's really kinda fun to feel every thump (and I do mean thump, there is nothing butterfly-like about Brady's movements now) and know that he could be born and survive. At 37 weeks, he will officially be a full-term baby. I will be 37 weeks this Saturday. Just a few more days. Kyle and I have been walking about with goofy grins on our faces. Every twinge I get, I sit and wait to see if it might be a contraction. I tell him when I feel more pressure on my pelvic floor. If I make any weird sounds in the bathroom, Kyle will inquire if my water broke. Ha! I know it's wishful thinking that Brady will come earlier than later, but I have reason to believe that I am not alone. Most new moms wish and hope that their whale-existence is over after they reach the full-term mark.
Kyle and I tried to reflect on what it was like for me to be around without being so a-round. We can't remember me without a belly. That's how long this pregnancy has seemed. I know it will be over soon, and that gives me great relief. I just wonder when. It feels like Christmas is just around the bend. We don't know what date Santa will drop in to bring our presents, but we do know he is coming and he will have the best gift ever!
So enough of being mushy about our baby. Let's get to the real deal. Pregnancy after nine months is cruel. It's cruel to look forward to being nine months pregnant and still having a few weeks to go until the baby is born. It's mean to feel like this is really never going to end. I count down the days like the date will be unchangeable. I've learned from friends and family that the due date isn't in stone. So to have a countdown to a date that might not be a reality is really just setting myself up for disappointment. I just have a feeling he will come a week late. Just because he is his mother's son.
I don't fit in any of my maternity clothes. I look like a fat girl trying to fit in her little sister's clothes. It's not pretty. People approach me with apprehension that the buttons on my shirt will fly off and cause optical injury. I get the "you look like you're gonna pop" exclamation a bit more than I would like, as I know I look that way. I feel that way. Can my skin get any tighter?? Can my veins be any more pronounced on my belly? It looks like a road map through the Northeast.
Ever since my doctor told me might weight gain has been on par and really good, I regret to admit that I took it as a license to eat. I think my total weight gain has been about 36 pounds or so. Maybe more or less, as I didn't record my starting weight. I think I'm on my way to at least 40 pounds. Which I know isn't a horrible weight gain. I guess I am just tired of gaining weight. I want the baby to come out so I can begin losing weight again. I want to be able to suck in my belly and actually see it go in. I joke that I should go to a gym and request a personal trainer to help with my growing belly that won't go down. Pretend that I don't believe I am pregnant. That should be a hidden camera scenario. Yup. I'm sick in the head.
I had my strep B test (I think that's what it's called?) the other week. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was more afraid to get naked again, as I hadn't in months since my first prenatal exam. My buddy and I joked that we didn't want the doctor to go to our butt first then our vajajay. So we chanted "no contaminay the vajajay" before my appointment for good measure. Luckily that was painless and quick. I don't believe I have any more tests before the due date. That's just wonderful news. I asked about when they start to measure for dilation and the doctor said they start around 38 weeks. I was kinda hoping he would have started at the 36 week visit so I could be "pleasantly surprised" that I had started dilating. But, again, wishful thinking. I've got to stop that.
I had some Braxton Hicks contractions yesterday morning. They were mildly painful and I did wonder how long they would last. I think the total length of discomfort was about two minutes. I wondered if we would luck out to have a St. Patty's Day baby (wishful thinking). But then, the tightening in my stomach was over about as quick as it began. Part of me was relieved that it was just practice, and another part was a little bummed it wasn't THE day.
If anything, it did inspire me to pack my overnight hospital bag. It's pretty sad that all I have in it so far, is a camcorder with a new DVD, some grannie panties, new spare toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and my camera battery charger. Yeah, I'm not ready. But there are things that I would want to bring that I use on a daily basis. So, that's my practical side saying that I can't get too ready. Besides, I live just ten to fifteen minutes from the hospital. Kyle will have to go home to feed and let out Monkey while we are at the hospital anyway. He can get my mascara then.
So, while my baby probably is planning on being on time or even late, I will sit here and feel sorry for my ever-growing self. I will just plop on any surface than can hold my weight and wish away the end of this pregnancy. I am so excited to meet him, and I am trying to hold back my wishful thinking he will show early. I know that God has a plan and I will just sit back and wait. I will just tell myself that I am growing a thirty pound baby, and that is why I'm gaining so much weight. And I look forward to the new boobs I've been promised since the day I realized that the day God said "breasts", I thought he said "rest", and sat on a curb and waited.
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:) Love that last thought... as for the hospital bag... I made a list and crossed things off as I put it in the bag. At the end I just threw in what I thought I had to have or was still using on a daily basis. I think the list just made me feel better about procrastinating on packing the bag. ;)
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