Pregnancy Update - 37 Wks

I know - bad blogger! I wrote a 36-week pregnancy update, but hadn't posted it yet because I was waiting to take some belly photos. By the time we actually got around to taking pictures, I was 37 weeks. Then I had the pictures, but had to write an update for 37 weeks. So, now here we are... two days shy of 38 weeks and I haven't posted anything yet!

Well, it's a good thing blogging isn't my job and is just a little hobby, because I stink at it lately! But, before you go pointing fingers at me... I need to say, I blame you partially too! I write for me...  I write to get ideas out of my head and onto paper (well, virtual paper anyway), I write to document my life at this point and the goings-on of my family - who we are right now, what we're interested in, what our struggles are, what our successes are, etc. But my real motivator to write, is YOU! Yes, you! Whoever might be reading. If you're reading this, and you're thinking "she's not talking about me, she doesn't even know I'm reading this" then you're exactly who I'm talking about. You see, I WANT to know you're reading it... because it gives me motivation to write. I want to know that you read an incredibly boring post about what it feels like to me to be almost 38 weeks pregnant. I want to know that you read about Gavin's old red barn and thought it was neat that he is playing with the barn his grandpa made 30-some years ago... or that you read about it and thought "boy, these people are hicks! Who puts an old barn and granary on their front porch!?"  I want to know. If you read about our walks in the woods or evenings at the park and thought "I love that they do family walks in the woods!" or "I wonder what park that is?" I want to know. Even if you read a post and have no thoughts about it - nothing to say at all, I want to know that you read it. I want to know that someone besides my Mom and my sister are reading what I'm writing. It motivates me to write. Just click the comments button, choose Name/URL and put your name in there, and say something... anything. I get so excited when I see that someone commented. It makes me want to write more!

So, since I really AM behind on writing and can't blame you entirely, I am going to write. I'm going to sit here with my stretched-to-its-limits belly and my aching legs and my sleepy eyes and my hiccupping baby inside me, and my wild 80's lionness hair that I just pulled out of an up-do and is frizzy and kinky and sticking out all over... and I'm going to write. It's 10pn and I really do want to go to bed, but the fact is, I can't sleep anyway, so I may as well stay up. Cliff's out in the garage working on duck calls and Gavin is asleep and the house is quiet and dark and I'd MUCH rather write than watch TV. So... I'll write.

Well, first I might go out to the freezer and get some ice cream...

(5-minute pause)

Yep! That's more like it! Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Sundae - yum!

...and now I have chocolate in my hair. Nice. Yep, I was sitting here enjoying my ice cream and I set the spoon in the bowl to type and we have really heavy-handled silverware. The spoon flipped out of my bowl and onto my chest - so there is now chocolate ice cream in my hair and on my chest. Nice. Really classy, I know.

So... about being 37 weeks and... 5 days pregnant. My point-of-view depends completely on what time of day it is. At 10:15 tonight, I am saying ouch. I feel like there is someone kicking my cervix from the inside. Maybe he or she is, but I'm 90% sure the baby is head-down, so I'm unclear how this baby can possibly be poking at me with it's head. But ouch. At midnight, 1:30am, 3:00am, and 4:30am when I've just gotten up to pee for the 3rd or 4th time and can't go back to sleep, I wish I would just go into labor so that I don't wake up having to pee anymore. Then I remember that once the baby is here, I will definitely be getting up every 2-3 hours anyway, so I should just relish in these last few weeks. That's the extent of my complaints.

Really.

I like being pregnant. I really do. I think I'm going to miss it! I missed it when Gavin was born. I really missed it. I was sad to not feel that baby moving in my belly anymore. I think I will be this time too. Right now, I know the baby is safe and warm and protected and well-fed. Once baby is here, I have to make a concious effort to make sure he or she is safe and warm and protected and well-fed. It won't happen automatically like it does now.

Baby has the hiccups right now for the third time today. I like it when baby has the hiccups - it's like a little reminder that baby is a normal, real person... who gets the hiccups.

At my 37-week appointment last week, all was well. My blood-pressure was good, I have no swelling in my joints, my fundal height (that's the belly measurement from the top of your pelvis to the top of your uterus) was right on. The measurement in centimeters should equal the baby's gestational age. My belly measurement, or fundal height, was 37 cm - perfect for 37 weeks. Baby's heart rate was good at 140.

My weight was down a pound from my last appointment a week prior, but my doctor wasn't concerned. We'll check my weight again in a couple of days. She didn't check to see if I was dilated at all since I haven't had any contractions or cramping, but we'll check at my appt this week. I'm going to assume nothing is happening, since I don't feel anything and that's pretty much how it went when I was pregnant with Gavin too. I hadn't felt anything and sure enough I didn't start dilating until we were at the hospital being induced via Pitocin at 5 days past his due date.

Regarding my weight, it's hard for me to know what to do about that. I'm certainly not watching my weight and I'm eating pretty much whatever I want. The problem, I guess, is that I'm just not all that hungry. I've actually tried eating some more "fatty" foods, but I can't come up with much that is fatty and also nutritious. I just don't feel like fat without nutrition is doing anything good for the baby. As a general lifestyle habit, (even when I'm not pregnant) I don't eat anything labeled low-fat or fat-free, just because I don't like the taste of those things. We eat foods packed with a lot of nutrition, vitamin-rich foods, etc., lots of dairy and grains, lots of fresh and frozen veggies and fruits, just not the low-fat stuff.

I think I'm eating less at a time than usual, just because there is less room in my belly for food. I've also had a little heart-burn when I lay down at night, so I'm trying not to eat too much acidic food at night. There is really only one other thing my body is doing to tell me it's getting close to time. When I had Gavin I breast-fed him for 9 months. I had a lot of milk! When I pumped I would get 10 ounces every few hours. I leaked milk all the time - I went through boxes of nursing pads. I was leaking colostrum before he was even born. This time is no different. I'm washing bras every day. I'm not leaking a lot, because my real milk hasn't come in yet, but I am leaking a little bit. TMI? I'm sure it is, but hey, it's life and it's real! It happens to the best of us! Welcome to the joys of pregnancy and how our bodies work!

Gavin is getting more and more excited and we've been having more conversations about what to expect when baby comes. He is very aware of the baby in my belly most of the time and has started hugging and kissing my belly instead of me when I drop him off at preschool or at bedtime. It's pretty stinkin' cute.

These pictures were taken late in the evening after a long day, so please forgive our wrinkly clothes and tired faces! It's life at our house!
 

Gavin likes to listen to baby and thinks he "hears the baby crawlin' around" in my tummy. He is really, really sweet whenever I tell him that I need to rest or that my tummy is a little sore or something, he says "I know. The baby." and he rubs my tummy or rubs my back. He's such a sweetheart sometimes!