37 weeks

Officially full term at 37 weeks pregnant, moving into my 38th week!



At this point, baby boy could weight approximately 7lbs and measure up to 21" in length.  He is getting ready for his big day; vernix and lanugo continue to shed from his body and his lungs continue to mature as more and more surfactant is secreted.  All systems are almost ready to go as he begins to descend into my pelvis.

I can officially say that I have reached that "uncomfortable" point in pregnancy in this last week.

There have been so many noticeable changes!


My pelvis and surrounding ligaments are so loose, my legs "give out" frequently and I experience sharp pains at random while walking, sitting, and standing.  My skin is very tight, the top of my belly button has popped out, and it feels like it just won't stretch any further and the weight of my belly is pulling my spine forward, causing some dull back pain throughout the day.  Because he is so low, I feel a lot of pelvic pressure and have to use the bathroom a lot more often to take the pressure and pain away from my bladder.  Even though he is so low and his position hasn't caused me any discomfort or trouble breathing, it's the top of my uterus constantly pressing up on my lungs which makes me feel uncomfortable when driving or sitting for prolonged periods of time, laying down without being propped up, taking baths, and when bending over/squatting.

Also, my Braxton-Hicks contractions are much stronger, last longer (up to 3 minutes!), come on much more frequently (some times 4-6 in an hour), and catch my breath at times.  They are so annoying and after 20 weeks of them, I'm just over them.

I'm not having any swelling but every day activities and errands exhaust me much more quickly this week and sleep is a precious commodity.  Rolling over to get comfortable at night is nearly impossible without waking up David for help and getting out of bed to use the bathroom 2-3 times per night makes a good night's sleep difficult.  I have also had two leg cramps this past week and found myself lying awake at night wondering why I'm lying awake a few nights.  I guess they call that anxiety... pregnancy insomnia.

I do still have a great deal of energy and the drive to do things (like taking Emily to play dates and swimming, Bunco, Girl's Night Out, grocery shopping, cleaning/organizing, etc.), my body is just getting in my way.  :)  Thankfully, Emily is nearly 100% self-sufficient and can do things for herself with a little instruction and David is home in the early evenings every day to take over dinner and bed time duties. 

Things we accomplished this week:
* purchased a waterproof slip cover for the Boppy my friend Kelly lent me
* cleaned and set the nursing stool at the foot of my glider
* purchased pre-fold cloth diapers to use as burp cloths and nursing pads as well as a box of wipes refills and two more boxes of diapers
* packed the diaper bag I received this week
* attended our Childbirth refresher course at the hospital on Saturday
* make and froze a lasagna
* while my mom was here visiting, she cleaned out some cabinets & drawers for us that were long overdue for a cleaning, helped wash some remaining baby items, ran errands with me to get some things I needed to stock up on (including make-up, perfume, face wash that I go to specialty stores for), took my Cars2 Movie Premiere gown to the dry cleaners, and spent countless hours entertaining Emily so I could sleep in and rest every afternoon.

Comments

  1. you sure have been busy!

    and you look adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Seriously, are we the same person? I could have written a lot of the same points you did above. We also had our refresher course, short of breathe and having BH contrax too!! Mine are a bit painful this time too... our course instructor told us with 2nd + babies to be careful because they can change to real contractions without really being noticed. Guess it's bound to happen within the month, right? :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts