36 Weeks Pregnant with Will

Baby’s Size: Romaine Lettuce (length)

How far along: 36 Weeks

Total weight gain: 22 pounds. I actually lost a pound earlier this week, but it came back plus its friend. Still up one pound from last week. 

Sleep:  Not good. I have officially hit that point that sleep is fairly nonexistent. I spend most of the night tossing and turning or getting up to go to the bathroom. Comfort has definitely been thrown out the window. Along with a lot of my normal pajamas. I just wear those sports bras and the shortest shorts I can find to bed. It is too hot for anything else. I feel really bad because all my movement is now starting to keep Steven up too. Unfortunately we do not have another bed for one of us to move to for a couple of weeks because we no longer have a guest room. If we did, I would be more than happy to move so he can sleep but I just can’t stay on the couch. =( I remember this with Kenzie too and know it won’t get any better. I just have to resign myself to it and know that eventually it won’t be lack of comfort keeping me awake but rather a new baby and one day (ONE DAY) I will sleep again. 

Maternity Clothes: Of course. Still stretching out those comfy tank tops. It is still so hot here most of the time. I can’t believe October is beginning next week and we are still hitting the 90s every day. Last week we had mid to high 80s as highs. Can we go back to that please? I initially worried because all my maternity clothes were summer from Kenzie… turns out that worked out just fine.    

Food cravings: I HAD to make peanut butter fudge on Friday night. It was awesome. I’ve been craving more sweets again lately. Not sure what that is about. I could really go for some ice cream today, but I don’t want to go to the store and pick any up.

Symptoms I HAVE: Heartburn. It isn’t as bad as it has been, I’m noticing. I think that is due to him dropping just slightly. Braxton Hicks are the bane of my existence at this point. I have also noticed that if I yawn really big my ribs hurt. I know that it isn’t uncommon for your ribs to stretch in pregnancy as your body changes to accommodate a watermelon sized person and I figure that is what this is. It is just stretching them to capacity. I hate yawning. Being that my sleep is so terrible though I do it a lot. Oh well. It is what it is. I have been super congested lately. I’m not sure if it is my allergies kicking back in (for the second or third time in this pregnancy) or just that normal pregnancy congestion. It is annoying but nothing that I can’t deal with. Not like there is much that can be done for it other than suffering through it for a bit.  

Stretchmarks:  Yep. I still think most of them are the old ones, but they are there.    

Doctor’s Appointment:  Yesterday we went for my 36 week appointment. I got all my paperwork to carry around with me should I go in to labor. Eek! Can’t believe we are at that point. We had to do my BP twice again. The first time it was 138/89. The second it was 123/86. It seems to be becoming more common to require two readings. Makes me wonder if I am going to go up in the next week or two and not come down again… just like I did with Kenzie. As of right now, the doc is still okay with it but we are monitoring it. I have no swelling, no protein in my urine, no headaches, etc. So, if it does go up we are looking at gestational hypertension again and likely not pre-eclampsia. It doesn’t mean that if it goes up and won’t come down that we won’t induce. That is looking somewhat likely at this point. Doc basically said our hope is that I spontaneously go into labor in the next four weeks. He seems okay if that were to happen today. While that isn’t what we want, it wouldn’t be stopped and he seems to feel that Will would be as healthy as could be expected at that point. We are hoping to make it at least 3 or so more weeks without going into labor or requiring an induction or repeat section, but we will see what happens. We did the GBS test today. Should have results next week. I didn’t have GBS with Kenzie but that doesn’t mean I can’t have it with Will. All it would mean is antibiotics during labor if I get my VBAC. It has no bearing on a c section. We had the whole talk about when to go to triage and everything. Now, we just hang out and wait and see what happens. He is still head down. We now have about a 2% chance of him turning. Ahem. Tell that to Kenzie who turned sometime between 35 and 37 weeks. As the doc told us that stat, Steven and I both just looked at Kenzie. Knowing her little personality now… it doesn’t surprise us at all that she turned that late. She is not only one active child but the kid is stubborn and smart so she likes to push her limits to see what she can get away with. Not surprising. At all. We are hoping that Will is more laid back and set in his ways. “Locked and loaded” as a friend of mine said. Let’s just hope he stays there. The further he drops down, the better I feel about my chances at having a head down baby. Oh and his heartbeat was 156. I likely won’t ask for the next few weeks. My doc isn’t huge into broadcasting those numbers as long as they are in a normal range and only really offers them the first few times we hear his heartbeat or if I ask. I also know now from my paperwork that my fundal height is always measuring pretty much spot on. Let’s say my appointment was at 31 weeks, 6 days… my fundal height was 32. This time it was 36 and my appointment was at 35 weeks, 6 days.

Movement:  Yep. He is still head down and has hiccups at least once a day. He also likes to stick his butt into my ribs still. I’m wondering if he will be long like his Daddy and his namesake (Steven’s grandfather if I haven’t mentioned that before. We wanted to name him William after Steven’s grandfather to honor him.) He definitely feels like a pretty long/tall little guy in there but it is so hard to tell.   

Belly Button (In or Out): Still in. My bet is that it stays that way.      

Wedding Ring (On or Off): On. Yet, I wonder about my decision to move forward with putting them on some days. While I have no swelling elsewhere in my body, I do get swelling periodically in my fingers. I get that even when not pregnant though and there are times (especially in the heat of the summer… which seems to be lasting forever this year in Florida) that I elect to leave my rings off. Today they seem okay but Saturday I remember regretting my decision to wear them as I was attempting to get them off before bed.  

Labor Signs: Lightening (or Will dropping a bit). I can tell not only because of the position of my belly but because of the lessening of the heartburn, the increased need to pee, and the fact that looking down I just seem a bit smaller sometimes. I am still big, don’t get me wrong but his position is making my belly flatten out a bit more (that is something I see from the top down though). I know that it is not uncommon for first time moms to have their babies drop this early and often moms that have been pregnant before don’t get that until they go in to labor. Will’s dropping isn’t full yet and it may not be until labor, but he has definitely dropped a bit. I also get “lightening crotch”. Wow, I never really thought I would use that term. Pardon the TMI of it all. It is exactly what it sounds like. I figure Will is knocking on my cervix to let me know he is prepping to come out at some point. I never had it with Kenzie because she never dropped due to her breech position. As soon as I had it the first time though… I knew that’s what it was. Not. Fun. At. All.  I’ve also started some nesting. Minor stuff. It’s always hard to tell with me what is true nesting though because my tendency to be a bit obsessive about things looks a lot like nesting and that is with me all the time, pregnant or not. I would be intrigued to know if I am dilated or effaced at all, but I understand how it has little bearing on my labor progression so I know it is unnecessary. I would just be curious. Though when I think about it… I don’t want to have it checked too much. That junk hurts.

Gender: Boy!  

Happy or Moody Most of the Time: I cry a lot. At TV shows and commercials, when someone does something nice for another person. It isn’t that I am not happy… it’s just those darn hormones. I also get irritated very easily. I feel happy the majority of the time though. I’m happy this pregnancy has progressed this well to this point and now I am getting worried about the next few weeks. I want him to cook as long possible so I get nervous, but I am happy to have made it here.

Best moment of the week: Getting Will’s room done. I’m so excited with how it all turned out and can’t wait until we have the baby to put in the room soon! Kenzie loves it too. I’m happy she approves. I also love all the moments I have with her when she randomly says “Hi Will!!” or kisses, hugs, or tickles him (or my belly rather, but you get the idea.) She seems to be getting the idea of having a brother. Now we just wait and see what she thinks of him when he is out. Steven and I were just talking last night about whether we think she realizes that Will is actually a person. We shall see soon enough.

What I’m looking forward to: Celebrating Momma’s birthday this weekend. We are going to Gatorland (Kenzie and I share a love of alligators). I specifically asked the doc if I should be okay to walk that much with the BP issues. He was fine with it and just told me not to go overboard. We haven’t been there in about 3 years so I’m looking forward to going back.   

What I miss: Still sleep. I’m tired. =)  I feel like I should mention one thing I realized I am going to miss when I am no longer pregnant… again, possibly a TMI… but I am going to miss not needing to shave every day. I don’t know if it is the difference in hormones between carrying a girl vs a boy but unlike with Kenzie, I can shave once a week and be good. I’m definitely going to miss that.