38 Weeks Pregnant with Will

Baby’s Size: Leek

How far along: 38 weeks! Wow, wow, wow! I have made it farther than I did with Kenzie. My BP has held out long enough to (hopefully) continue to allow Will to decide his birthday. I must admit, as each day continues to pass I get a bit disappointed. I so want to meet this little guy but I know what is best for him is to stay in until he is ready. So… we wait. And wait. And wait. I guess one plus to my situation is that I KNOW he will be here by the 24^th. He has no choice. Kenzie keeps asking/telling him to come out, but he just isn’t ready yet. 

Total weight gain: Still 23 pounds. I didn’t gain anything this week. That seems sort of remarkable because I have eaten everything I can get my hands on. I guess Will is just using it to beef up and I am not using any of it. Granted, if he is gaining… technically I am losing weight. I will take it. Haha!

Sleep:  Not good. No point in talking about it really. It is what it is. I have so much trouble getting and staying comfy. Then, once I do… I have to pee. It’s a never ending cycle. I’ve started getting some really vivid labor dreams lately too. To the point that I wake up wondering if they are a sign that it is time. They obviously aren’t… but that would be nice. I am also having other vivid dreams. I had a terrible one on Sunday night about Kenzie being taken away from us. It seemed so real that I woke up and cried about it for about 20 minutes. Hormones and vivid bad dreams are not a good combo.   

Maternity Clothes: The majority of the time. This past weekend we had our first Florida “cold front” which basically just meant it was time to break out the capris. The problem is that I don’t have any maternity capris that aren’t dress pant type things. So, I had to put on a pair of non-maternity capris. The plus to only gaining weight in my belly this time is that they fit. Granted, I couldn’t button them because he is too low but I could zip them and wear a long shirt. It worked for what it was and the temp is going back up so I shouldn’t have to worry but if we have many more chilly days before Will arrives… I am in trouble. Or you will just have to see me in a lot of yoga pants. 

Food cravings: I still like red meat. We had steak on Sunday and it was amazing! I wonder if my love of red meat will continue once Will is out. We shall see. I used to HATE steak so this is a big thing for me.  Today I am also wanting a burger. I have no idea why or where that came from… but I would love a burger right about now.

Symptoms I HAVE: Heartburn. Still. No surprise there. I’m exhausted too. Also no surprise.   

Stretchmarks:  No new ones. I’m so surprised about the lack of new ones this time around. I was convinced all my old ones would darken (which they haven’t all done yet) AND I would add new ones.      

Doctor’s Appointment:  Yesterday we had the 38 week appointment. One I wasn’t sure I would see at some point. It was quick and to the point. My normal doc is on vacation on Friday so I saw the other doc. If I go in to labor this week then the other doc will be there. As long as someone is there… I don’t care. My BP raised just slightly and is now about 143/88. It wasn’t a huge jump and isn’t over 140/90 so they weren’t concerned. It isn’t uncommon for BPs to raise as pregnancies progress. The hope is just that it raises slowly and not shoots up (like mine did with Kenzie). I had a few headaches this past weekend but we have pretty much decided that they were more weather related than anything else. My fundal height was 36.5. It is a bit lower. I have heard that basically is because baby is starting to drop and settle in so fundal height often lowers towards the end. Doc said mine was entirely normal. Will’s heartbeat was 130. It has slowed down some (again, normal) so I’m hoping that means he is prepping to greet us in the outside world. They didn’t check my cervix again. I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, I don’t care. I know it means nothing in the grand scheme of things since we are waiting for labor to occur naturally. On the other, knowing would give me an idea of if we are looking at me being a candidate for an induction should it come to it. It would also let me know if I am close to the point that I could be admitted should my contractions start. I believe I have to be around 4cm to be admitted most of the time. At least that’s what it was 2 years ago when Kenzie was born. If I knew where I was, I would know a bit more about if I would be admitted easily (say I was already 4cm…) but if I’m any less than 4 it doesn’t necessarily mean much. I think we will check next week. He said we would the last couple of weeks so I figure that means they start at 39 weeks.

Movement:  This kid is crazy. He has been moving like crazy in there. I know he is in tight quarters but holy cow. The stretching is killing me. A foot in my ribs and head pressing on my bladder all at once. It doesn’t feel so great.     

Belly Button (In or Out): In.      

Wedding Ring (On or Off): Still off but still able to wear my Claddagh.    

Labor Signs: This past Sunday I had two of what Steven’s has decided to nickname “big boy contractions”. They were the ones that literally stopped me in my tracks. I had one in church and one later in the day. Other than that, I am having more and more crampy type contractions. Some include back pain, others don’t. I have been feeling a lot of low pressure between all those lately as well. I have a constant feeling of pressure for the most part. I figure he is just low enough to be pressing on everything down there. Randomly I get lightning crotch. This kid is punching me, I think. I also had a major bout of nesting over the weekend. I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I wanted to mop the bathroom floor. I was able to hold off for the night but once I woke up… it was all over. I cleaned every floor in the house three times, cleaned all the glass in the house, cleaned the kitchen including in the microwave and all the cracks on the stove (but not in the oven), spot cleaned the carpet in the living room, did 3 or 4 loads of laundry, organized some of Kenzie’s toys and clothes, cleaned the shower with a toothbrush, cleaned the shower caddy, and some other things I don’t remember now. I haven’t had the energy to do any one of those things at one time in weeks so this was definitely something crazy. I haven’t had that kind of energy since either. It was a one time thing apparently but at least I got some stuff done. I’m hoping that if I don’t go in to labor this week that I get another surge of energy like that this coming weekend because I am not feeling up to doing anything right about now but would like the house to look that nice again. Haha!

Gender: Boy!  

Happy or Moody Most of the Time: I have quite the mood swings going on right now. Not fun.

Best moment of the week: Our first (and last for a bit) cool day over the weekend. We spent on afternoon down by Lake Eustis and another at the park. I love days like that. I’m hoping for more soon.   

What I’m looking forward to: Will showing up… at some point.     

What I miss: Still sleep. And energy.