Baby K - 40 Weeks!!!

August 8, 2016

Baby K is the size of a Red Panda this week! We don't know how big Baby K is, but the average size for a newborn is about 7.5 lbs and 20 inches tall. I think our little one may be a little bigger than that, but we'll have to wait and see! Baby is fully developed and we're just waiting for it to decide to make an appearance. If the little one is anything like mama, that may take a while. :-)

As I write this, we are officially past our due date! I'm 40 weeks + 3 days pregnant! Somehow, I've come to terms with the fact that I have built an entire human who is just waiting to make his/her appearance! It's interesting - in a way, I can't believe that we'll have a baby at home with us any day now, and an a way, I can totally picture the little one sleeping in the pack n play that has been set up in our bedroom for almost 2 months. We have a lunch date tentatively planned for tomorrow, that way we can have a relaxing evening at home. This way we're better rested if things to pick up during the night. This will be our 3rd "last" date before baby arrives. Haha.

We are pretty much ready. I would like the house to be a little cleaner - and I'm off work tomorrow, so I will be working on that. Between trying to prep freezer meals, keeping the house from getting less clean, and Josh spending time maintaining the yard as well as he can before baby arrives, we haven't had as much time to deep clean as I would have liked. I'm not as efficient as I used to be and it seems to take me forever to clean the kitchen I used to be able to get nearly spotless in around 30 minutes. I'm pretty hard to satisfy in terms of cleanliness anyway, so it's not surprising to me that I want the house spotless before baby arrives.

As far as symptoms go, I've had a couple of the symptoms that disappeared (or got minimal) a while ago make a comeback. My congestion is worse than it has been in quite a while and my horrible relationship with my toothbrush is back as well. My skin isn't as good as it has been for the last few months either. In early pregnancy, I had lots of breakouts. Sometime during the second trimester, I forgot to wash my makeup off a few times and I didn't wake up with pimples all over (GASP - this doesn't even happen to me not pregnant) - well, those days are over. It's definitely not as bad as it was in early pregnancy, but I'm getting a couple friends on my face here and there now. Carpal tunnel is sticking around, but it actually seems less severe this week. My left foot is numb though and it hurts really bad when I wake up in the middle of the night to go pee (which is happening roughly 3-4 times a night at this point). My side/back pain came back last week, but I went to see my chiropractor on Monday and it has improved a lot since then. 

As far as labor progress, I haven't really seen any. I've been a little crampy a couple times this week, but it hasn't stuck around for more than a minute or 2. We had an appointment on Tuesday and it went well. At the birthing center I'm going to, they don't do internal checks until I'm 41 weeks, so we don't know how dilated or effaced I may be - that appointment is scheduled for next Friday, the 19th, so I may not even make it to that point. I will also get a membrane sweep if I'm still pregnant at that appointment, just to get things going before my induction date. We have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon, so if we're still pregnant on the afternoon of the 16th, we'll get to see our little one one last time on the inside before the big arrival! 

I'm trying to stay relaxed and enjoy my last bit of pregnancy. My app says that if I haven't delivered, I may feel like I'd sell my left leg for Baby K to move out. I don't feel that way at all. I am anxious to meet our little one and I do feel ready, but I'm by no means rushing an exit. Honestly, I think most of my anxiety comes from the fact that we actually have an induction date now. I feel OK about it since it's not until 8/23, but if we start to get close to that date, I will be very ready to get baby out. Just not for the reasons you normally hear. I'm not miserable. I still sleep reasonably well - not as well as I did before I got pregnant, but I'm assuming much better than I will over the next few months or probably the next 18+ years. Sure, I get tired really easily now, but I'm under no impression that I'll be fully rested at any point in the near future, even when baby arrives. I still feel cute  - not at all like a blimp, unless I see my feet. It is frustrating when I need to get off the couch or something, but I just take humor in the situation and realize it's just temporary. I just don't want a hospital induction. 

I don't feel nervous at this point. Just ready. I don't even know when ready happened, it just did.I look forward to my time off work to bond with the baby, especially since Josh will get to spend some of it at home with me.

Josh is still super ready for the little one to make an appearance. I think he's just anxious with the waiting since he's away from me during the day most days. He said he just keeps waiting for a call or text saying he needs to get home. He still has play time with the baby at night and it's adorable. He reads to the baby and catches a kick or 2 in the side of the head as he lays his head on my belly. For this past week or so, baby has started to be really active during our TV time (I'm pretty sure this has at least a little something to do with the fact that TV time is also usually ice cream time). I get distracted and watch my belly more than I do our shows. lol.