week 39

Baby’s size

Your baby now weighs as much as a mini watermelon. At this point, he has shed most of that white creamy substance called vernix and the fine, fur-like hair called lanugo that has covered his skin since the middle of your second trimester.

Baby's Length: 19.96 in.

Baby's Weight: 7.25 lbs.

**from parents.com

How I am feeling

I'm feeling pretty good for being almost full term.  

Just because I'm hoping this is my last post and want to remember things:  things are that are not so fun right now are putting on my pants and socks, bending over to get things (which I almost always drop again once I'm standing up so I have to bend over again), turning over in bed, standing up after sitting for awhile, standing up in the middle of the night with a full bladder, and trying to walk through random pains that shoot through my girl parts.

My hands have been really swollen the last couple days in the morning when I wake up, so much so that I can't really make a fist.  Most of the swelling goes down within an hour of waking up though.  My lower legs/feet/ankles are still super swollen.  I've now got dozens of what look like little water blisters on the top of my right foot to go along with the swelling.

My belly is pretty itchy most of the time which is new.  I've also noticed a very faint linea nigra has shown up in the last week or so.

My mind has been in a constant state of "oh my God, I'm not ready for labor" to "let's just get this over with already."  I fully intended to get an epidural so that eases my mind a little about the labor pains.

_______________________________

Instead of the other categories, I decided to write our predictions down to see how close either of us come.

My predictions

Arrival date: September 25

Time: 8:09 pm

Weight: 9lbs 2 oz

Length: 19 inches

Eye color: blue

Hair color: dark brown

Dave's predictions

Arrival date: September 27

Time: 3:33 am

Weight: 8lbs 8 oz

Length: 19 1/2 inches

Eye color: blue

Hair color: blonde

week 38

Baby’s size

Your baby is the length of a stalk of rhubarb. Connections are forming in her brain that will help her swallow and even sleep better once she's born.

Baby's Length: 19.61 in.

Baby's Weight: 6.80 lbs.

How I am feeling

Uffda.  I think I officially hit the wall Friday afternoon.  I came home from work and was just over everything.  I doesn't help that I'm getting a sinus infection or cold or something.  I had so many pains going on Saturday night that I thought we might be heading to the hospital in a few hours but eventually everything calmed down and I went to sleep.  I haven't had much for pain today other than feeling like Baby is trying to push his legs right out of my stomach and a few cervical zingers.  I'm just feeling really worn out, again because of whatever illness is trying to start.  

I'm hoping we make it through this next week before he decides to make his appearance.  Everything considered, this should be my last full week at school.

What do I miss

Not going there.

Gender

Boy

Food cravings/aversions

The acid reflux was really bad earlier this week so I've been trying to be extra cautious of what I'm eating.  

Highlights this week 

*Had another doctor appointment on Tuesday.  My blood pressure was higher (123/83, I think) but still doing ok.  The doctor checked me and I hadn't made any more progress dilating since last week.

*Knowing that it's just a matter of days until we get to meet Baby.

week 37

Baby’s size

Your baby is as long as stalk of Swiss chard. Because he's running out of room in your uterus, he mostly stretches and wiggles, instead of delivering big kicks.

Baby's Length: 19.13 in.

Baby's Weight: 6.30 lbs.

**from parents.com

How I am feeling

Oh boy. Well, I feel like I'm carrying a 10 pound baby around inside of me.  I notice that I'm really arching my back when walking, especially at the end of the day.  The tops of my feet are so swollen now that even my flip flops hurt my feet and leave marks so I'm out of shoes to wear.  I've had a lot of pressure "down there" and had so much on Friday that I was sure my water was going to break at school.  One of my co-workers told me I waddle now when walking, which I think is probably more noticeable when I'm having lots of pressure or at the end of the day.  Sleep is not the greatest and I still have acid come up when I lie on my right side (I try not to lie on that side but sometimes it's unavoidable).  Despite all of this, I feel a lot better than I thought I would at this stage.  It's really not all that bad but I'll be honest and say I'm ready for my body to go back to normal.

Mentally I'm at a tug-of-war with myself.  I'm so ready to be done and so excited to meet this little guy but I'm still pretty nervous about labor/delivery/recovery.  I'm also kind of hoping that he hangs on as close to his due date (September 24) as possible.  If we can make it that long, he won't have to start daycare until December which would save us from paying for two weeks of daycare in November when he'd only be there for one.  Obviously in the bigger picture, that's not that a big deal but it's just a thought in my mind.

What do I miss

Well, lots of things but we're so close to the end that I'm just focusing on Baby L.'s birthday.

Gender

Boy 

Food cravings/aversions

Still really trying to avoid foods that trigger my acid reflux but at this point it seems like most foods can make it flare up.  No real craving this week.

Highlights this week 

*My blood pressure is still really good.  It was 108/68 on my appointment on Tuesday.  The scale keeps creeping up though I'm guessing all the swelling isn't helping that.

*The doctor did another cervix check and found that I'm dilated to a 3.

*Being so close to the end!  It's crazy to think that at most, I probably only have 2 more of these, maybe 3, Sunday updates to write!