Baby #3: 36 weeks

6.10.14: The end is near, my friends! Less than one month to go.





The good: Last week was a successful one for regaining a sense of normalcy after two hectic weeks of visitors. I felt extra productive with getting caught up on our never-ending laundry, organizing the kids' closets, sorting through the attic, cleaning out our bathroom cabinets, spending some time on the blog (lots of MMIW posts are prepped, I made a blog FB fan page finally--come and find me!), and we had an epic Target trip where we bought a few final things for the baby. Just buying new Aden and Anais swaddle blankets, a new trash can for diapers, and ordering a new diaper bag online one night all made me feel absurdly happy and on top of my pregnancy game. Plus I started laying out my clothes and baby's clothes for the hospital bag, making a list for the last minute items that will be thrown inside. Nothing like checking items off a To Do list to make me feel ridiculously happy. Can we say 'nesting'?

We also had a particularly fun day at home on Thursday which included a zoo trip, McDonalds, and then a picnic dinner with Nate at a playground. Blog post to follow. But really GOOD days like that are always a highlight when they happen. Weekends in general are also simply awesome, as always. Sunshine and warm weather sure doesn't hurt either! Pool days, zoo days, evenings spent outside with Nate after the kids go down, watching Tru and CC play nicely together in our backyard...all priceless and obviously a function of great weather and not pregnancy, but still.

Along with a productive week, great weather, and family time? I've been highly emotional when I think about how incredibly fortunate we are to be in this phase of our lives. As in, I could seriously cry thinking about how excited I am to meet this boy. The anticipation is nearly palpable around here. I love my bump, enjoy feeling him move around, and constantly day dream about what this little boy will be on the outside. Pregnancy is just so cool and I never want to forget the humbling emotions of carrying our (likely last) child. I love it all so much and usually think, 'Thank you, God,' throughout the day when the reality of this pregnancy hits me.

But it's not all puppy dogs and roses, my friends...

The bad: I feel like I'm hitting 'the wall' already. Plain old exhaustion and the feeling of being 'super pregnant' are no joke at this stage of the game. (I still love pregnancy but let me complain a bit...I'm tired, man!) I even had to nap not once but twice over the weekend, both times passing out for over an hour. MUCH needed. I'm sleeping alright at night but I'll toss and turn a lot more and it doesn't seem to be the most restful sleep. The amount of effort it takes to climb stairs or convince myself to gather the energy to stand up from a patient's super low 1950s couch is ridiculous. I feel like I'm kind of lumbering around, stomping with every step, and it's easier to leave something on the ground than it is to pick it up. That's a milestone of sorts, right? Work days are fine as I move through them but holy hell in the evenings? I'm worthless. Too much in/out of my car and sitting/standing, I guess. And finally, I have to pee all of the time when I'm awake. Such a chore that takes so much motivation to actually walk to the bathroom. Rough life, I know.

The worst/scariest reportable event from last week would have been Friday night and alllll day Saturday when I had regular, semi-painful contractions like clockwork every 8 minutes. Not good. I had a busy day at work on Friday and felt sort of 'off', and had to lay down for awhile after work. We ate pizza and went over to the playground and after that I started timing contractions---every 8 minutes and much more noticable than I'd like. That night I didn't sleep very well and remember waking up twice with back pain and more contractions. Saturday morning, more of the same---very regular and uncomfortable contractions that seem to be more than 'just' Braxton Hicks. I mean, I realize that as long as they don't turn into actual labor it's fine and my body is just getting ready. But there were a few panicky moments in there like, 'Holy crap, I think I need to call the office. This doesn't feel right.' I actually forgot what my OB's guidelines are for when to call at this point, and how many contractions are too many. Mostly I just wanted them to go away and obviously I'm still pregnant, but I'm timing contractions right now, too. So whatever. It's not like this is my first rodeo and I know that contractions do not always mean The Real Deal. But it's earlier, more painful, and more consistent than any of my other pregnancies. Thus, scary. I will relax about it after 38 weeks, I think---not sure why two more weeks seem so important in my head, but they do. I just really don't want baby boy to come too soon and want him to be fully baked. So the regular contractions are not welcomed just yet, body!

The belly: seems to have grown last week along with my appetite. I cannot get enough fruit, water, and sugary sweets after a few solid weeks of being very 'blah' about food. Love it all again, very much! Plus my bump now feels very, very heavy. I just noticed that if I physically pull up on my the bottom of my belly (so weird to have an underside to my belly now, it rests on my lap when I sit!) it relieves a lot of my discomfort. Maybe I need a support belt or something? Maybe he is just dropping and hello, I'm 36 weeks pregnant carrying a six(ish) pound person around inside of me...so of course my belly is uncomfortable at times. I still claim this to be my biggest bump yet, super round, and very compact. He is still my most active baby and is not slowing down with his acrobatics in there; in fact, the organ punches can be downright painful at times, little man! So.Many.Hiccups. So much pressure in the girlie region--yikes. I attempted to shave my legs the other day and it was a comical site but the alternative of sporting a small forest was no longer acceptable.

Strangers still love to inform me that I'm 'small' and I take that as a compliment without batting an eye anymore. Best comments of the week: "Why are you still working in your condition?" and "Are you doing alright? You look really, really tired today." Ah, working in patient care is always so much fun when pregnant (and always).




For as 'big' as I claim this bump can be, it nearly disappears from the front depending on my shirt, right?


But oh, wait. There he is! There is a baby in there, you guys.


The comparisons:

At 36 weeks with Truman, I was knee deep in urine jugs and pre-E testing. Apparently I had some light brown spotting and was hoping that I'd go into labor before having to be induced and for some reason I thought I might get a good sleeper with Truman, since he was pretty chill during a non-stress test. Hahahaha. Oh, Julia. I was really struggling to continue working full time--both physically and mentally. Totally superficial but I think I look really pretty/glowing in my pictures from that week, too. And young. I look really freaking young and happy---so odd to think I wasn't a mom yet!!

At 36 weeks with Cecelia, apparently I had a scare with regular/painful contractions that had me freaked out about pre-term labor? What? I just wrote that entire paragraph up there about how this time my contractions were so 'early' and new to me, but oops. Maybe it's not anything out of the ordinary for me at 36 weeks, huh? Everything else I wrote about in CC's post is spot-on for this time, too: getting tired, crampy, lots of movement, loving sweets, etc. 

Picture time!

Third trimester this time around:



Bare belly with Truman at 36 weeks, versus baby number three. SO round now!



And Cecelia's pregnancy versus now---not the best comparison shot but still fun!



Aaaaaand, all three baby bellies at 36 weeks.


I think that's pretty much it. A little scare with some 'this could be it' contractions, lots of nesting, and feeling like we are nearing the end of this pregnancy. I have my 36 week appointment on Thursday with my first internal and am now going every week until baby boy comes out. INSANITY!!!