I am actually nearing the end of my 39th week, but I wanted to get this update on the blog before I actually update about being 39 weeks pregnant. Bless my heart, I look so tired in this picture.
Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 38 Weeks
Size of Baby: He should weigh about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long. He measures to be about the length of a leek.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained a pound at my last doctor appointment. I am not going to tell you what that puts me at. My blog, my choice.
Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants (other than yoga/sweat pants) and a mix of maternity/ non-maternity shirts. I pretty much wear the same thing all the time. It's very, very attractive.
Gender: Boy!
Movement: He is still moving but it's less frequent and much slower. Boy child has run out of room. I feel him the most at night.
Sleep: I've been waking up for about 30-45 minutes in the middle of the night, no matter how tired I am or what time I went to bed. I guess that's pretty normal when you're very pregnant.
What I Miss: Bending over without groaning, putting on my socks with ease, and not being flat out physically exhausted all the time. I feel like I ran a marathon most days when I clearly did nothing of the sort. I also took it upon myself to pain my own toenails. It took me about 35 minutes and I have never made such noises. I think I permanently scarred my husband. He kept asking if he could help, but NO, Pregnant Girl had to do it herself. They actually don't look that bad.
Cravings: Sweet things and corn dogs. Stop judging me.
Symptoms: Pelvic pain and being exhausted 24/7.
Best Moment This Week: My sweet and precious students threw me a surprise baby shower (with the obvious help of their parents). It was BEAUTIFUL. I was overwhelmed by gifts and we played some fun games. One of the moms made a cake out of different Little Debbie snack cakes and it was SO cute; I can't wait to show pictures. The layer of Swiss Cake Rolls were my favorite. I could put down a box of those right now. These kids are actually really good secret keepers because I had no idea. They were so excited and when I asked them how they kept a secret, they told me that "they just whispered about it at their tables a lot". That made me laugh! It was so touching and made me teary. I will miss them a lot!
I have been asked a few times to write a post on our decision to have a natural birth using the Bradley Method. I am absolutely going to do this because I've become very passionate about it, but after some thought, I am going to wait until after the baby is born to write it. My reason for doing that is because... drum roll, please... I have never given birth. I know. Shocking. I want to wait until I can add an element of experience and real advice to the post. The only thing that I know for sure at this point is that it will be hard and painful, but there is no medical reason for me to have an epidural. I underlined the word "me" because I want people to know that there is NO JUDGEMENT from me if you have had an epidural, want one, or had/ are having a planned or unplanned C-section. There are both medical and personal reasons for why I will not be getting an epidural, but everyone is different! There are healthy babies born naturally, with epidurals, and by C-section every single day and I truly believe that it is the mother's choice.
I have quickly learned that no matter what type of birth you're planning, there are people who love to make you feel bad about it. I'm not one of those people. I will talk to you all you want about why I feel natural birth is best for our family and our baby, but I won't cast stones at you if it's not what you want for your family. I also want to be clear with the fact that if my doctor looks at me and says that we need to get this baby out now for any reason, I trust him and will tell him to cut that boy out as fast as he can. There is no amount of desire for a natural birth that would take the place of my desire for a healthy baby. None.
Someone wrote to me the other day that they hoped I'd have my perfect birth. I'm not really sure what to make of that statement other than the fact that I'd like to clarify that I'm not really looking for a "perfect" birth. Yes, we took the Bradley classes. No, I won't be having an epidural. Yes, I feel prepared to have this baby naturally. No, the fact that it's natural does not mean that it will be a painless and picture perfect birth. I know that I'm going to look HEINOUS after pushing out a huge baby. I know I'll probably feel that way, too. All in all, I'm looking and praying for a healthy child at the end of the birthing process. Maybe I've been bad about expressing that, but before he is born, I want to be clear that the ultimate goal is to have a birth that produces a healthy baby who grows up to love Jesus and follow passionately after Him-- not to have a perfect, natural birth. I hope you all can see my heart in this! I'm just so excited to meet my sweet guy.
Happy Tuesday!
