37 and 38 Week Bumpdates

Apparently I never actually wrote a bumpdate for week 37, and since it’s time for the 38 week bumpdate I am going to lump them into one post. As of today I have completed week 38 and officially began week 39 of this pregnancy. We are down to 7 days until little man arrives. Time has flown by and I can’t for the life of me figure out where it all went.

Week 37

Week 37 was pretty uneventful I think. I did have an ob appointment where we were thrown a curveball and asked if we would consider laboring with the midwife service rather than the OB service. We opted to remain with the OB service rather than have to fill in whatever midwife was on call at the drop of a hat.

Symptom wise, there was nothing really major to report during week 37 that wasn’t there during week 36. I am still having the same contractions and still haven’t slept. While taking my mom to physical therapy I did feel a popping sensation right above my cervix and a trickle of fluid (more on that in a minute). Other than that it was just a regular week.

I weighed in at 144.4 this week and my waist is measuring at 42.5″ around. Overall I have gained 42.8 pounds and have gained 15.5″ around.

The pictures on the far left are from week 36, the pictures on the right are from week 37

Week 38

Week 38 started off with a trip to OB screening after the popping sensation that I felt the day before led to more intense contractions. You can read about that experience here and here.

Needless to say, I was sent home again with pretty much no change from the week before. I was offered a morphine induced sleep at my 38 week ob appointment which I declined at the time so I could get some last minute things accomplished and opted instead to come in that Saturday to do it. At this point the fatigue is killing me and I bawled in the doctors office like a child who just got her candy taken away.

On Friday night, I started losing my mucus plug and decided that I would hold of on the morphine sleep in case my body decided to pick up the pace a bit and send me into active labor. No such luck. Every morning I wake up and think that today is the day I am going to get some sleep, and notice more and more of the plug coming out and think that labor is going to start that day.

Being so close to the end has really increased the mood swings. Most of the time I am fine, but I have moments where I am completely inconsolable. What the hell did I do? I’m going to be an amazing mommy, but I don’t know if I am actually ready for this…..and I know I’m not ready for my relationship with my husband to change. I am going to miss the us time, being able to sleep in until noon and go wherever we want whenever we want.

Contractions are obviously still going strong. Today they were so bad that it took me an hour to get out of my parents bed. I am to the point where I need babysitting and wasn’t quite ready to stop trying to sleep. My back and pelvis ache constantly, increasing in intensity with each contraction. I have this weird pain just above my right hip that makes laying on my left side impossible. Every time I lay on my left side it feels as if my hip bone is going to break.

I’m a puffy and swollen mess. My feet feel like they are going to split open when I walk and I cannot make a fist with either hand anymore. My legs are starting to swell well above the ankle as well. I have tried everything I can possible think of to reduce the swelling, but nothing works. At this point I am pretty over it and realize that it won’t be going away until the baby gets here.

Despite everything that is going on with me, Luke is doing amazingly well. He is up to roughly 6.5 pounds and his heart rate was steady and strong while we were being monitored at the hospital. His movements are hurting more and more and it seems as if he is trying to figure out how to fully engage in my pelvis. He still is rotating back and forth from the left to the right sides, which leads me to believe that something isn’t quite right.

I weighed in this morning at 145.8, gaining only 4 ounces this week. I am glad that the weight gain slowed down some because I am starting to push the upper limit of where I should be. I am not usually hungry but try to make sure I get some food into me for Luke’s sake. My waist is up to 43.75″ and has definitely dropped some. Again the far left 2 pictures are from week 37, the right 3 pictures are this week.

My 39 week OB appointment is on Thursday. I am going to demand an ultrasound to check fluid levels, positioning and the size of the baby. I am also going to discuss with them setting an induction date of 39w6d at night so that I am a full 40 weeks when he is born if there isn’t a change between now and then. In the meantime, I am doing as many of the safe home induction techniques as I can. I have been walking like crazy, sitting on a yoga ball and bouncing/rocking, nipple stimulation, curb walking and just trying to coax the little guy out. I guess we shall see if I have made any progress in a few days.