Baby length: 18 inches
Baby weight: 5.25 lbs. - the weight of a honeydew melon
Bump size: 40.75 inches
Weight: +30.5 pounds (+.5 lbs. from last week)
Cravings: Salt & Sweets
Have you ever held a honeydew melon long enough to have your picture taken with it? The thing is not light. I can't believe I'm carrying that weight around in my stomach.
I had a doctor appointment this week and all is well with me and the baby. Although I will start to see him weekly now, the doctor will not start checking me for "progress" in two weeks.
Since everyone around me seems to think I will be having this baby early, it will be really interesting to see if anything is happening down there in the way of getting my body ready for delivery.
Speaking of having this baby early, I would not be opposed to that whatsoever (as long as baby is healthy). I have to be honest with you - I am about done with being pregnant.
Don't get me wrong, I realize how lucky I am to even be pregnant. This is what I wanted and I know I have had a great, easy pregnancy. Which is why I feel selfish for feeling this way. But it is what it is.
I'm tired all of the time. It is all I can do to get through the work day. I can barely keep my eyes open on my way TO work so you can imagine how tired I am by the end of the day on my drive home.
And then whatever lofty goals I had for that evening like cooking dinner, cleaning, putting away laundry, etc (yes, those now seem like "lofty" goals to me) - forget about it. All I'm capable of at that point is a nap on the couch. By Wednesday I feel like I've already worked a 50+ hour week (and believe me, I've worked many of them so I know what that feels like) even though I've only worked 24 hours.
I'm over the heartburn - I officially finished my first bottle of tums this week. I'm sick of my back hurting. I'm tired of dropping things and then feeling like I would rather pay someone $100 to pick it up for me than go through the exertion of bending over and picking it up myself. And I'm dropping things quite often.
I want the swelling in my feet to go away so that cute shoes will fit me again. I want to be able to wear shoes that actually match my outfits.Instead, I have to wear the same blue sanuks every day - regardless of whether or not I'm wearing black or brown work pants and/or anything that even remotely matches the blue in the shoes (see example on right).
But at the same time, I'm not sure which terrifies me more - being pregnant for four more weeks (or even worse, the thought of being late) or having this baby (literally - the labor and delivery process) and then taking care of it.
As much as I'm complaining about being pregnant, I'm no dummy. I know that incubating this baby is way easier than taking care of it will be. I complain about how tired I feel now and yet, I'm still sleeping through the night. I can't even imagine how tired I'm going to be when I haven't had a full night's sleep in weeks (or months... or years - shudder).
So that's where I am. Stuck somewhere in between I can't wait to be done being pregnant and I'm terrified to be done being pregnant. I've always been someone that warms up to change slowly. And you would think having nine months to prepare would be considered "slow" enough.
But yet, I'm still terrified. I know I keep using this word but it's the most accurate word I have to describe what I'm feeling. Pure terror about getting this baby out of me, taking good care of it once it's here and adjusting to the astronomical life change that is coming our way.
How's that for honest?
Maternity Lessons
Someone told me this week that my butt is getting big. :( That one stung a little bit. She tried to lessen the blow by adding, "It's okay. You're pregnant." But it didn't help.
The truth is, it's not the first time I've been told I have a big butt - this baby has always had back (insert Sir Mix A-Lot song here). But the fact that it might be getting bigger (and let's face it, I already knew it was weeks ago when I had to buy bigger underwear) is not something I particularly enjoy hearing.
The same guy who started laughing at me last week and told me I keep getting bigger and bigger, asked me quite seriously this week if I was sure I'm not having twins. Since he has twins of his own, I told him "you would know what twins looks like." He responded with, "I know, that's why I'm asking."
My response to people who tell me they think I'm having twins (and I get it a lot) is that if I do, they are raising one of them. It seems to shut them up in a hurry. :)
We took our tour of the hospital this week during our birthing class. I did not enjoy it. It's impossible to pretend that you don't have to deliver the baby when they take you to the place where you will be delivering it. This is one circumstance where I choose denial and ignorance over education. Sorry.
Then we had to watch a video about what to expect AFTER the delivery. As if learning about the delivery part isn't bad enough, now you're going to tell me that I will be bleeding for 6 to 8 weeks AFTER the baby and show me elephant-sized pads I'm going to need to wear?
I'm not kidding - this is the kind of stuff they need to be showing these high school girls to prevent teen pregnancy. If that isn't enough to send them running in the other direction from boys, I don't know what is. It almost sent me running right out of the hospital conference room where we were watching it.
Baby Movements
The baby has been getting the hiccups a lot more often lately. Sometimes four or five times a day. I think it's whole body jerks with each hiccup, poor thing.
I can definitely tell the baby is getting lower because I'm now feeling movements and pressure in places I haven't before.
Symptoms
There were definitely a few days this week when I was waddling again. Even more than before. Some days my tailbone is really sore and the only way I can walk was if I waddled. And of course people pointed this out to me when they saw me walking funny because people point out everything to pregnant people.
I got menstrual like cramps almost every day this last week. Sometimes they were accompanied by Braxton Hicks, sometimes they weren't. Doctor said it's normal.
Heartburn seems to be getting worse (see rant above). Maybe our baby won't be bald after all?
My feet seem to be more swollen this week (see rant above). I'm down to only one pair of shoes that actually fit without cutting off my circulation. Unfortunately, I may have to start disobeying our work dress code and start wearing flip-flops. Believe me, it will be a last resort. I like my feet much better when they are out of sight. The last thing I want is to draw more attention to my swollen feet. But it may come to that.
I'm definitely more tired than I was last week (see rant above) and I have no motivation to do anything. Unfortunately for me, I have tons to do at both work and home so I better get an energy boost STAT.
And my favorite new symptom is skin tags. Yes, that's right. Skin tags. They just keep popping up. My book said it's normal but what I want to know is WHEN if EVER will they go away? Luckily, they are pretty small and not very noticeable but I still think it's weird and gross that skin tags are a symptom of pregnancy.
Weight Gain
Not sure how I only gained a half a pound this week but I will take it. That gives me 4.5 more pounds of wiggle room for the next five weeks...
Gender Prediction
Pat's aunt called me and told me she went out on a limb and bought a boy outfit for the baby. I think it's safe to say she thinks we're having a boy.
My friend suggested that we buy two coming home outfits for the baby - one boy outfit and one girl outfit. I thought this was a good and fun idea since we haven't picked out any gender specific clothes yet. So I found a cute and comfortable baby girl outfit and bought it. Now the hunt continues for the boy coming home outfit.
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