38 weeks - and a plan

This is officially our last week of pregnancy. We are being induced a week from today, Tuesday, June 25th, at 39 weeks exactly...provided my meds don't let us down and force an earlier delivery. Unbelievable!

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How Far Along: E2 is 38 weeks today. He's ready to be "on the outside"!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Hmm. As of yesterday, an ungodly amount - an extra, and unexplainable, 4 lb gain over last Monday's appointment. Not good. By my calculations (pre-pregnancy), I'm up 45 pounds. By Dr. M.'s, more like 40. I'm noticing that I'm not peeing as much (volume-wise) and am having more trouble with perma-swelling of my feet and right hand, so I think a lot of it is fluid. (Must be, because I truly haven't been eating as much lately as before. It's actually harder for me to stick to a schedule being home than it was at work.)

Maternity Clothes: Yes. My pants are more snug in the hips than ever before, which makes sense based on how painful my hips, pubic bone and lower back feel. I'm pretty sure everything down there is spreading out in anticipation of delivery. Now I'm starting to wonder what I'll wear after he comes. :)

Movement: This kiddo's knobby bits are getting uncomfortable. I think the biggest culprit is either his heel or his knee, and boy, does he ever like to jab me with it!

Sleep: Pretty hit and miss. One night over the past week I got no more than 4 hours of sleep. I just couldn't. It really sucked.

Gender: A baby brother for Aliya and Bennett.

Belly Button In or Out: Out.

Freak-out of the Week: None, really. Lots of daily tears. Last Thursday's NST at the hospital didn't go well. This time it wasn't me, it was E2 not participating. He slept soundly through the first half of it, so they gave me cranberry juice to wake him up. That worked a bit, but instead of showing the necessary 15 beat-per-minute increase in heart rate each time he moved, he either showed little increase or a decrease. Um, HELLO!! Not cool. The nurse was great, and decided a biophysical profile was probably in order. She called Dr. M., who concurred. I had to wait for the transport guy to fetch me from L&D with a wheelchair and whiz me down hallways, up a level in the elevator, and down another long hallway to the ultrasound room. Baby did fine during the BPP, although he waited until the last few minutes to practice breathing for the required 30 seconds. He did do it, and passed the BPP with a score of 8 out of 8. Until then, I was really starting to wonder whether we'd be induced that day. Thankfully, no.

Looking Forward To: Hopefully having a good NST on Thursday and making it to induction smoothly. And, obviously, meeting this baby boy and seeing who he looks like. I'm ready to get this show on the road. My pubic bone and hips hurt enough that I grimace every time I

stand up from a seated position and try to walk. I'm sure recovering from childbirth will be no picnic, but I can't imagine having *this* pain continue to get worse every couple of days like it has been over the past week. Also, having the nursery and guest room done, the furniture put back into the rooms (or assembled in the room for the first time, in the case of the nursery), so I can have my house back. :)

Miscellaneous: This week has been filled with helper angels. Our sister-in-law's older sister has come over twice to paint in the nursery and has done a beautiful job. I love the color. My poor colorblind husband can't really see it so thinks it's white (it's not, it's a pale aqua), but I love how it changes as the light changes. It'll be perfect with the fabrics I bought for the nursery. We're waiting on carpet installation, and then we can put everything together. Yesterday, Paul's sister surprised me with a visit and spent the entire day weeding our overgrown yard, which, as you know, has been a sore spot for me the last while. She brought a pick axe (!) and put it to good use. I feel such relief, and I know Paul does, too. It's not lost on me, though, that once this baby is here, we probably won't care WHAT our property looks like, nor will we have time to. :)

E2 at 37w6d with his hand by his mouth (and chubby cheek).

The belly at 38 weeks. Dropped much?