How far along? 37 weeks.
Total weight gain/loss: According to the doctor's office, I gained one pound, so I'm right on track there. I'm definitely retaining more water, though. While I'm not sure how much of my overall weight gain is fluid, I'm about a pound away from my last recorded weight while pregnant with Elle and will likely surpass my highest weight ever by a pound or two in this pregnancy. I'm cool with that, though. More on my appointment below ...
Maternity clothes? I wish my rear wasn't expanding faster than my belly, and I'm really looking forward to not having to squeeze in to maternity clothes.
Best moment this week: Surprise baby celebration at work - we got spoiled (and got yummy cake!).
Symptoms: Itchy, cranky, tired, peeing a lot, swelling, feeling fat, heartburn, nausea. It's peachy. One good thing is that I'm nesting like crazy - I'm scrubbing base boards, reorganizing cabinets, making lots of trips to the trash can and Goodwill, cleaning the microwave, buying toiletries to last for months, etc. I have a weird energy for it, but it feels good to get each project done or pile of stuff out of the house.
Movement: I didn't work out much again this week. I've been trying to do more stretching, but in terms of cardio, the Florida summer heat is kicking my butt, and our schedules haven't allowed for me to get to the gym much.
Food cravings: Baked ziti - we're loving this recipe, which gives me leftovers for days :) As part of my nesting extravaganza, I also made several dozen muffins to freeze for the next few weeks, including these and these.
Aversions: Large meals. Ugh.
Gender? IT'S A BOY!
Sleep: I'm sleeping decently but struggle to get to sleep. I also wake up an hour or so before my alarm and have to decide if I reaaaallllyyy have to go to the bathroom or not.
What I miss: Being able to get off the couch without mega effort. Wearing shoes without trying to figure out if they'll fit over that particular day's swelling. Wearing clothes that fit. Eating normal meals and having them taste good. Being able to paint my own toenails (I had to get a pedi last week because it just wasn't happening on my own).
What I am looking forward to: My last day of work (coming this Wednesday!). And this baby's arrival, particularly when and how. The cramping I had last week was pretty non-existent this week, and I was disappointed to hear that I was only finger-tip dilated. I really thought that the pain I felt last week was more productive than that, and I'm not really feeling like much progress has been made since my appointment. I keep reminding myself that I didn't show many signs of being dilated or effaced before Elle came, either, and then all of a sudden I was in triage, already dilated 6 centimeters, and we had a baby four hours later.
During my pregnancy with Elle, Dr. S. was very concerned about her size - we had several growth ultrasounds and discussions about the possibility of a c-section if she was just too big. This time, he's been way more laid back about it, which has been cool. Until now. Because now we're at the same point we were at with Elle - big baby, late in pregnancy, the chances of needing a c-section greater as Wesley continues to grow in the Easy Bake Oven that is my womb. Just because we're all aware and accepting of the fact that I grow big babies and my body has birthed a big baby doesn't mean that the size/c-section factors are moot points this time. So this week he asked what my thoughts on the delivery were, and I said I'd like to go in with the same approach as last time, and if I can deliver vaginally without an epidural again, I'm all for it. If circumstances dictate that we need to re-evaluate those plans, so be it.
He asked if I wanted to schedule an induction. I said that I'd rather not unless he thought that it was medically advantageous (i.e. because of the baby's size or other factors). He said the baby certainly isn't getting smaller, and again, the larger the baby the more questionable a vaginal delivery would be, but the earliest he'd induce would be 39.5 weeks. Scheduling an induction would certainly make things easier in terms of knowing when we'd need someone to watch Elle, which is my biggest stress right now. It would guarantee that I wouldn't waste a lot of time on maternity leave sans newborn. But I also don't want to be induced. I don't want to choose my baby's birthday. I want to go through things naturally - let the contractions start on their own, let my body work through the early stages of labor, etc. Now that I KNOW my body is capable of and responds fairly favorably to labor, I don't have the fears I did last time. But I also don't want to have a 12-pound baby or a c-section.
We agreed to discuss it this coming week after we see if I've made any progress. I was scheduled to be induced with Elle, too, and I wonder if my body was just waiting to finish work and knew that the end was near and finally was just ready to have that baby ... maybe the same will be true this time? My last day of work is July 3, so after that, maybe Wesley will sense that all major obligations have been fulfilled and my body and mind can relax?
Weekly Wisdom: The end is near, the end is near ...
Milestones: Fulllllllll terrrrrrmmmmm. Still no major complications, my blood pressure has been stellar and I'm not feeling terribly awful. All in all, not a bad way to wrap up a pregnancy.
My pregnancy with Elle - week 37 update here. Comparison photo here:
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