39 weeks

Full of energy during the day.  Exhausted, uncomfortable, and even in some pain at night.

This is life right now as I begin my 40th week of pregnancy.

Baby boy could weigh approximately 7 1/2lbs and could be up to 22" in length.  He's a full term baby at this point and physical growth is minimal. 

He's definitely head-down with his body curling around to my right side, as he's been for much of the pregnancy.  He's never given me a sharp kick nor hung around my ribs, making me uncomfortable, but his head and possibly his hands, are putting a lot of pressure on my cervix, causing me to feel these really sharp, painful, pokes, like lightening.  Not fun.  I find myself leaning over a chair or down on all fours letting gravity pull him down and away from being so low in my pelvis; it almost always works, giving me a few hours of relief.

My Braxton-Hicks contractions are random, frequent, and really uncomfortable, lasting up to a minute.  They truly exhaust me.  I'm finding that changing positions, lying down, stopping whatever activity I'm doing, and/or just getting up to walk around helps ease them but not as quickly as in prior months.  I don't have any at night, thankfully, but I do have killer heartburn, especially when laying on my left side.  Just a glass of water these days is enough to have me tossing & turning and getting out of bed for Tums.  If it's not the heartburn, it's needing to use the bathroom every 2-3 hours.  [sigh]  I'm not getting much sleep these days and that's honestly the hardest part as the weather is beginning to warm up and Emily is excited to get out and play every day.  I'm so thankful for the awesome neighborhood of friends with same-aged kids who end up in our front yard almost every afternoon. 

I'm also really thankful for my husband and his genius idea to pick up a sleeve of tennis balls a few weeks ago; I get an amazing back massage nearly every day.

I feel lucky I've made it this entire pregnancy without any swelling or stretch marks nor any morning sickness.  Linea negra never showed up and my belly button is pretty flat with just the small upper lip of it poking out a bit.  My hair is really shiny, my nails are thick and long, and my skin is really smooth & clear.  Too bad it doesn't last forever.  :)

So, what have I been doing with all my daytime energy?

Things we accomplished this week:
* Packed the hospital bag
* Arranged for overnight care for Emily as well as care for the following day, should my mom not already be in-town
* Created my birth plan
* Called Emily's Pediatrician to touch base about him also caring for this baby, as well as to discuss circumcision, which isn't routinely done at our hospital anymore
* Removed the pink fairies from the bassinet my mom bought Emily and replaced them with the black/white bears the bassinet came with
* Sterilized my breast pump replacement parts and assembled it
* Sterilized the bottles and made room in a kitchen cabinet for all the new baby feeding paraphernalia
* Prepared and froze: 2x meatloaves, 2x enchiladas, Cajun chicken alfredo, 2x turkey meatballs, Fajita marinade, chili, 2x basil pesto, 2 dozen oatbran muffins, and a loaf each of banana bread & zucchini bread AND stocked the freezer with bread, tortillas, home-made waffles, and enough beef, ground turkey, and chicken to eat for about a month.  Having food on-hand was the best gift I gave us when pregnant with Emily so, I was anxious to get started doing the same this time around
* And the biggest accomplishment was giving Emily her big sister gift: a real "big girl" room with a full-sized bed!  David and I spent this entire Memorial Day weekend cleaning, organizing, shopping, and decorating and are beyond pleased with the results.  Emily is positively giddy at her big bed and her new decor, she hardly comes out of her room!

A sneak peek:

My due date is less than a week away, according to me, and approximately a week and 2 days away according to my ultrasound dating.  No clue when this baby will arrive, though I'm fairly confident it will be a while longer as I'm not having any signs of early labor.

I have my 40th week appointment Thursday and another appointment on the 8th, where we will discuss induction.  I'd like to not go more than a week overdue, which could put this baby being born on my dad's birthday: June 15th.  :)