35 Weeks Pregnant with Will

Baby’s Size: Coconut (I’m really starting to wonder about the people that came up with this fruit system… I think they are confused…)

How far along: 35 Weeks

Total weight gain: 21 pounds. Another pound gained this week.

Sleep:  I don’t think anything is going to randomly get better about this area of my life any time soon. For now, I get up quite often to pee. In no more than about 6 weeks (plus perhaps a couple of days at most), I will be up likely every two hours to nurse a baby, if not more. Maybe having to go to the bathroom so often at night towards the end is nature’s way of preparing you for the lack of sleep you will get once baby is here. No…. nothing could prepare you. I can’t stay on one side too long still so I rotate a lot (which also contributes to my wakefulness). I have also been waking up soaked in sweat lately. I get so very hot at night despite the fact that the house is cool and I am not using any sort of covers.

Maternity Clothes: Yep. I tend to wear tank tops more often than not though and honestly, those are not maternity. They just stretch and I love them.   

Food cravings: Not a whole lot. I have really been liking buffalo sauce lately. I have a container of it and have had chicken nuggets dipped in them for lunch a couple of times this week. We had wings on Sunday night and I tossed them in another kind of buffalo sauce. Maybe it is the spice.

Symptoms I HAVE: I almost want to rotate the heartburn with the Braxton Hicks this week and mention the BH first. They are irritating and making an appearance more often than I would like. Still mostly manifesting as the crampy type ones. I just wish they actually meant a whole lot. At least let me know it was causing dilation or something. Not that I want to go early (I don’t know why anyone would. Having a 37 weeker myself and wondering if everything would be okay when she was born was tough… my thought is to suck it up, deal with whatever you are given and you will meet your baby when they are ready… or late enough that a doc wants to induce you…. Okay, off my soapbox now.) I had a bit of swelling again on Saturday, but I think it was contributed by all the standing I did on Friday because it went back down fairly quickly. It really only shows up in my ankles too so I figure it is normal pregnancy swelling and not my BP doing weird things most of the time when it occurs.

Stretchmarks:  Still have the old ones darkening. I hate those things, but they are what they are. I know they will fade quite a bit but waiting on that to happen stinks.   

Doctor’s Appointment:  Weekly appointments have started because we want to monitor my BP so I went again yesterday. BP was 127/85 so about where it has been for most of this pregnancy. Doc is still okay with that. He still thinks last week was a fluke. Will’s heartbeat was 160. He had been moving around a bit again before it was taken so that accounts for it being a bit higher. He is an active one. He is still head down. Yay! Though of course there are no promises he stays that way. Next week we will do the GBS test. I asked today, out of curiosity, when he would start checking my cervix. We likely won’t do that until 38 weeks or so. I asked because I remember hating that experience last time. Haha. He told me that the national expectation is usually to check for the last month or so each week but they do not do that because your dilation has no bearing on when you may actually go in to spontaneous labor. I had read that but it was nice hearing it too and knowing why they don’t. I actually don’t mind waiting. He explained that I could be 0 and go in to labor later that day or I could walk around for weeks at 4 or 5 and still require an induction. The only reason they even check late in the pregnancy is to prep and determine if I will be a candidate for induction. Works for me. Again, not a pleasant experience. Honestly, hearing people explain that they are 3 cm dilated and just KNOW they are going into labor in the next week or so always sort of annoys me. Pregnancy hormones make it annoy me more. I was 2cm at 37 weeks with Kenzie. I had likely been there a little while and never even knew. Had we not needed to deliver her, there is no telling how long I would have gone. I really feel like if my BP hadn’t climbed that she would have been overdue. I feel like Will (if my BP stays down) will be really, really close to his due date if not an induction. We shall see though. Again, I prefer him to be as close to his due date as possible. I can stick it out another 5 weeks. I’ve made it this far.

Movement:  Of course. Still getting feet and butt in my ribs and lungs. He has dropped some though so it’s not quite as uncomfortable. The downfall is that his movement of his hands and head makes me have to use the bathroom way more often.  

Belly Button (In or Out): In. Counting down the weeks and wondering…     

Wedding Ring (On or Off): Still on. I think I kept it on almost the entire time with Kenzie and I am almost to the point that I delivered her. I have gained less than with her and I have had very minimal swelling so I’m hoping to make it to delivery day with it on. I feel weird without it.

Labor Signs: Still none. Good… and yet bad because those BH are so annoying I wish I could list them here. He did drop a bit, but I know that has little bearing on when he will show up. I just want him to engage some so his chance of flipping breech is less.

Gender: Boy!  

Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Eh. Depends on the day. I still get fairly moody. The hormones aren’t getting better here at the end. I get my feelings hurt easily about stupid things. I tend to snap quicker. I can’t wait to be done with this part. I’m just hoping I don’t have any postpartum issues. I had a touch of something very close to (if not actually) post partum depression after Kenzie. As an aside, it is a serious thing. If anyone you know (or even yourself) has to deal with it… please seek help. I was a mess for a while with what was likely closer to just normal hormones. I can’t imagine what it may be like dealing with PPD. I hear it tends to be first with first babies but anyone can get it and it can have really dire consequences.  

Best moment of the week: We celebrated our friends’ wedding this past Friday. It was an amazing time! They had a wonderful and personalized ceremony. The reception was so much fun. We didn’t dance as much as we usually do. Didn’t want to chance putting myself into labor. Haha. Just kidding, but my feet were swelling some from standing and I was a bit dehydrated so I was dealing with some annoying BH so we sat out a lot of dancing we would usually do. The bride looked amazing. The groom was all smiles. Everyone was so happy and we really enjoyed sharing in their day with them.    

What I’m looking forward to: Finally finishing up Will’s room sometime in the next couple of weeks. We have bought things slowly but surely trying to use coupons and deals as we were able to so this has been a long process. I can’t see spending full price for some of that stuff. I also won’t have his room entirely done as there are a couple of things that can wait until after he is here (like the organizer in his closet) because there is no need for it now so we want to budget to the best of our ability. Anyway, still looking forward to getting it done as much as possible. 

What I miss: Hmmm… not much I guess because nothing big comes to mind. Maybe just sleep.