36 weeks & 1 day summary
Size of Baby: Romaine Lettuce ~18.5 inches from head to heel, 6 lbs.
Maternity Clothes: I’m limited to a handful of clothes now that I’m so big. I’ve got a lot of hand me down maternity clothes which have come in SUPER handy! Now that I’m home…I’m looking forward to lounging around in comfie t-shirts and my lounge pants.
Gender: I just can’t wait to find out now…and I’m so proud of us for being so patient and not finding out. So many people are impressed that we decided to keep it a surprise because it’s not so common anymore.
Belly Button In/Out: Can we say inverted? Anything I wear shows my overly outtie belly now…kinda annoying. I sure hope it goes back to it’s normal innie self!
Stretch Marks: Yes, they have shown their ugly faces. Boo. Not so many but I do see some streaks!
Movement: This baby is always on the move. My stomach takes really interesting distortions as baby shifts, swims and moves in it’s current home. We’ve got some really good video clips of this too. Earlier this week I also had an incident while I was driving even though my seat was very much reclined and pulled back as far as I could possibly have it. Basically, Baby decided to jab me and bulge out of one side of while I was driving. It made it a VERY uncomfortable ride home considering I could not shift or move to help Baby reposition. I’ve also had a few times where I squeal because Baby moves into a funny position. But it’s definitely been fun at nights feeling the baby poke and jab and trying to figure out part of it’s body it must be. Can’t wait to meet this little kicker.
Sleep: Sleeping continues to be a challenge and I don’t think this is going to get any better any time soon. I had a good 3 to 4 weeks of really bad heartburn which would make it difficult to fall asleep at night. Although, in the last two weeks it feels as though Baby has dropped so my heartburn has reduced a bit during sleep time. Shifting positions at night is a pain because it’s so hard to maneuver especially if Baby is in a certain position. This makes it hard when I have to wake up to pee in the early morning hours.
Cravings/Aversions: This is still the same as before. Basically, if someone mentions something I generally want to eat that. I’m still enjoying Haagan Daaz ice cream bars every now and then.
Symptoms: Heartburn, lower back ache, swollen feet and lots of itching! Heartburn was related to baby being so high up and also food intake. Lower back ache I think is just normal with baby growing so much and all the pressure on my back and feet. The itching though was a new thing for me. It’s gotten a lot better the last 2 weeks. But I had about 2-3 weeks (all around my crazy month of August weddings and my babyshowers) where my hands and feet would itch non-stop. There were times where I itched it so much that it would bleed. I was concerned it was cholestasis but fortunately I was able to test for it and it came out negative. I still get the itching but it is not half as bad as it was those few weeks. What an uncomfortable feeling!
Feeling: I’m feeling anxious now. I’m ready to meet this little one! At the same time, I’m starting to get nervous about how I’m going to manage everything that’s about to come. I’ve always been mentally prepared and very well aware of what to expect (vs painting a rosy picture for myself). But as the days go by it’s even nerve wrecking not knowing when to expect the arrival of Baby. It can technically be ANY day now. And there is always this feeling of…”there’s so much to do” even though we have been pretty minimalistic about what al we need for Baby. I think it’s just a natural nesting instinct of wanting to have the house perfectly organized and squared away since all of that will become a lower priority very soon. On a different note, I’m also feeling like…”wow this is almost over”…I’ve enjoyed the pregnancy. It’s been such a special time. I will miss the feeling of Baby being so close to me, it’s such a warm feeling. I’ll also miss random strangers asking me about my pregnancy, what a great conversation starter. It’s also very sweet to see how nice people are to pregnant women. There’s an innate sense of respect which was neat to experience.
Best Moment this Week: Starting maternity leave! Yesterday was my first day and what a fun day it was. I tagged along with hubby for an outing and enjoyed being out of the house and out of the office. We also enjoyed a yummy dinner in the city. We also got to see Baby last Friday. This was exciting since our last ultra sound was during the anatomy scan. Baby is in launch position which was quite a relief!
What I Miss: I’ve been drinking chai on the weekends so that has been good! But I miss sleeping on my back! It’s been hard enough to get comfortable but now all I want to do is lie on my back and get the pressure off my hips at night. I also miss being able to quickly pop up out of my seat, out of bed, out of the car etc. I feel like such a slow slow turtle…very much out of my character! I’m more of a chop chop..let’s go type of person. But I guess this is natures way of saying…time to slow down lady!
What I am Looking Forward To: I’m looking forward to holding our little baby in my arms and finally meeting him/her. I’m also looking forward to be done with the mysteries of labor & delivery! 4 more weeks to go…
Milestones: Babyshower(s) – DONE, Crazy/busy month of August/September – DONE, Work (for now) – DONE!
Next Appointment: October 4th!
