How far along: 35 weeks (Jan. 12th), 36 weeks (Jan. 19th), 37 weeks (Jan. 26th), 38 weeks (Feb. 2nd), 39 weeks (Feb. 9th), and then Feb. 13th, 2012 - Judah William was born!!!
Baby size: When he was born at 39 and 1/2 weeks he was 8lbs 4oz! I had lots of extra amniotic fluid, so that was the main reason I was measuring so far ahead. He was definitely a full-term baby, which makes me think his actual due date was more like Feb. 10th or 11th like we originally thought when we found out we were pregnant.
Total weight gain/loss: +30 lbs by the end!
Sleep: Got more difficult as the weeks went by... when I got off bedrest (gradually after 36 weeks) I was feeling great during the day but sleeping was hard. When I hit 38 weeks I was just uncomfortable all the time! I was so huge!
Movement: Slowed down the further along I got... poor kid just had no room to budge! He got hiccups right until the very end though. (And still gets them now!)
Food cravings/aversions: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate... one night when I was feeling particularly discouraged that he was STILL inside me, I ate a whole bar of chocolate... one of those big block ones... yah. We tried all sorts of food to get him out... spicy Indian & Thai food, Italian (eggplant parmigian!), pineapples. The night before he was born I made a spicy Thai noodle soup... I think it worked :)
Pregnancy symptoms: The famous pregnancy waddle was definitely happening those last weeks, especially once I was off bedrest and trying to walk him out! I felt all right until about 38 weeks, and then I was just DONE with pregnancy and wanted him out and in my arms. I was huge... carrying around an 8 pound baby and extra amniotic fluid. After my water broke and all came out on the day he was born, my belly was so much smaller!
In general, I was achy and unable to move very far or very fast. The usual for late 3rd trimester! But I was SO HAPPY to be off bedrest that I went walking every chance I got. It felt so wonderful to go grocery shopping again.
At 35 weeks, on Jan. 12th, I ended up in hospital again with contractions that wouldn't slow down. At that point I could have had the baby reasonably safely, but they decided to try and stop it so that I could have the baby at the birth center (they only allow you to have babies at 36+ weeks there). I was given an IV and two shots of Terbutaline... they couldn't give me the third dose because my heart rate had sky-rocketed. The contractions had slowed down a bit, so they sent me home with a prescription for Nifedipine, which is actually a blood pressure medicine, but it also relaxes smooth muscle... ie. the uterus. I took that until I was 36 weeks.
Ironically, once I hit 37 weeks the contractions that I'd been having since 30 weeks seemed to slow down... right when I was finally ready to have the baby, my body decided to take a rest. Haha.
What I miss: Hmmm... well, from the other side... with a one-month old... I actually miss being pregnant! I loved having him inside me and feeling him move. I still get "phantom baby" kicks sometimes that startle me and make me wonder if there's another one in there... haha.
What I'm looking forward to: I was so ready to meet the little guy by the end... so I was just looking forward to him being born! I remember feeling like he was NEVER going to come out.
Milestones: We made it to full term! And 2 and 1/2 weeks beyond!
Best moment of this
Pregnancy moments with the hubby: Thomas was so good to me those last few weeks. When I was still on bedrest he was my "warden" and didn't let me get up, and made sure I had everything I needed. We moved apartments when I was still on bedrest (36 weeks) and he basically organized it all. We had lots of help from friends to pack, move, and unpack... and Thomas didn't let me do a thing. When I finally got off bedrest, he still made sure I was resting enough. He had to help me get up basically every time I sat down because I was so huge, haha. He took me on a "last" date night before baby... we went to Red Lobster and just had the most wonderful evening talking and laughing and dreaming. And when it was finally time to have the baby, he was amazing throughout the whole labor and delivery.
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