36-40 Weeks

We are here. And we're still waiting.

I have reached the uncomfortable phase. For pretty much my whole pregnancy, I have felt mostly normal. The past few weeks I've been feeling more restricted. Moving around in bed is proving interesting. I think I wake Andy up groaning and grunting when I switch positions. I'm sure my ab muscles are still pretty great considering, but it certainly makes things more difficult. I've become an expert at undressing and putting on shoes with minimal bending over because it hurts. My belly feels like it is stretched to the max. I feel like a balloon that could pop any minute. It is truly a miracle that I do not have stretch marks still.

I wake up pretty much at 4 am every day to go to the bathroom. If I can't fall back asleep quickly, then I get out of bed between 5 and 6 for a bowl of cereal. I can usually fall back asleep at some point until about 9 or 10 depending on how long I stay awake in the early hours. At this point, I have run out of things to do. This past week I've been spending a good portion of my mornings in bed. I typically get up a shower and lunch and spend the afternoon doing things (laundry, dishes, errands, etc.).  We had probably a thousand pine cones in our yard, so each day I pick up a bag full. The squatting down is good for me. By 4 pm-ish I am ready to rest again. Andy has been working later so we have been eating dinner between 7 and 8. We have been going to bed by 10 almost every night. I try to do a few rounds of squats and stretching beforehand.

I figured all along that I would go past my due date. I think it's just a part of being a first time mom to be over due. But I will be honest that at about week 37, I was fantasizing about going a little early. At that point the waiting was still exciting as I knew I could go into labor at any minute. And now I wake up every day telling myself that today is not the day. I will be pregnant for a while longer. I'm pretty accepting of being out of control, but I have certainly had my moments of insanity.

I am typically a very rational person. I run on logic, rather than emotion. I know that my pregnancy is going pretty much how I expected it to. But I kind of lost it at my doctor's appointment on Monday (39w2d). I am not a cryer, so this is very unlike me. I can count on one hand the number of times I have cried during this pregnancy. Just in the past week, I have known of FIVE babies that have been born and I think that has exacerbated my frustrations. I can't even be mad at the baby, because I know if the roles were reversed I would probably really enjoy making everyone wait for me until May. The most annoying thing at this point is the constant text messages and phone calls from people asking me if I'm labor, when I think I will give birth, if I'm dilated, etc. Everyone means well, but add them together and it gets overwhelming. This is not like a dentist appointment I can just schedule. (And even if I did know when I was going to deliver, I would still probably not tell anyone.)

I go in spurts of being nervous about delivery. It's starting to get really real that I'm going to have to do this. I know that everyone survives just fine and that it won't be a big deal when all is said and done. I try to just not think about it and go with the flow as much as possible.

I know that we will meet her very soon! (Too lazy to upload photos so I'll come back and do it later)