37 weeks

Happy full term, baby! Or (to reflect my feelings) Holy full term, baby!

Baby
Baby is now considered "full term" even though my due date is still 3 weeks away. This basically means that his or her lungs are most likely mature enough now to breathe should he or she be born now and everything else is a-ok development wise. From here on out baby is just doing any last minute lung maturing and adding about 1/2 pound a week. I feel it's not even worth it to write baby's potential weight and length now because these estimates can be wildly inaccurate and my actual practitioner hasn't ventured a guess so neither will I. However, I will say that as big as I look and feel, I don't think I'll be having a 10 pounder. Yes, this may be wishful thinking on my part but I've seen woman who've had very large babies and I don't think I'm quite there, thankfully.

Me
I'm feeling both heavily pregnant and not ready to have this baby yet, as much as I would like to return to my regular size.I have a couple friends (Jess! Erin!) who have had babies within the last year that had their children 2 weeks early. This kinda freaks me out a bit because I feel decidedly NOT ready yet. Obviously if the baby comes, the baby comes and there isn't much I can do about it but if I had my choice I would be going into labor much closer to my due date (but not so far over that I have to be induced). I know, beggars can't be choosers. This is mostly related to getting things done around the house and for work. I'd like things to be pretty settled at home when we bring Baby C home so that I don't feel as compelled to clean, cook, etc when I should be resting.

In symptom-related news, I am continuing to experience the yucky acid and it seems to have taken a sinister turn. I may have mentioned this last week but it appears ice cream really irritates the acid monster now. Not cool acid monster, not cool. As ice cream is my numero uno indulgence and favorite at-home dessert (only rivaled when paired with cake) I am pitifully unhappy about this development. I've had a few times where the acid has woken me up in the middle of the night and all I can taste is ice cream. And not in a good way.

Also, the butt cramps/SI joint pain seem to be getting worse. Charlie described it accurately recently when he said it looks like I've been shot in the butt when I get one. I have a hard time standing or holding onto anything I may be carrying (terribly inconvenient when carrying a glass of water). Staying off my feet seems to be the cure at the moment, which is difficult considering my aforementioned desire to GET THINGS DONE around the house. There is only so much you can do accomplish sitting on your tush all day.

We had our now weekly midwife appointment on Wednesday and really the only big news from the visit is that I am Group B Strep negative. Group B Strep is a common infection found in many healthy adults but it has been found to potentially cause serious infections (pneumonia, meningitis) in newborns if they contract it when going through the birth canal. For this reason if you are Group B Strep positive (you have the infection) when tested prior to giving birth, it is recommended that you receive at least one dose of IV antibiotics during labor at least four hours before delivery. This greatly reduces the chances of the baby contracting the infection. I am very glad I tested negative, both for the health of the baby and because I don't want any type of IV while in labor (unless deemed medically necessary of course) so as to reduce the chances of other unnecessary interventions and to be able to move around to deal with the contractions. Plus, if I tested positive, I would probably feel the need to get to the hospital sooner that we are hoping to. Part of what the Bradley Method teaches is to labor at home for as long as possible to reduce the risk of unnecessary interventions (such as Pitocin augmentation, IV fluids, etc)* and if I was worried about receiving the antibiotics in time, we'd probably leave sooner than we wanted to, hence possibly increasing the chances of additional interventions. (Disclaimer: Since this blog is mostly read by my family and friends, I think you know that I don't judge women who have chosen different ways of giving birth- this is just what our wishes are for our birth and to the extent we can help things to go the way we'd like, we will, without being totally inflexible or unreasonable.)

*This is not to say that there are not times when Pitocin and IV fluids are not medically necessarily, such as when an induction is indicated as the best option for mom and/or baby. However, I think these interventions can also be used by practitioners to "speed up" the natural cycle of labor when there really is no medical need to do so.

All that to say the appointment went well, baby is still head down and we're still on track for a normal, hopefully uncomplicated delivery!

Preparing for Baby
This past week we made some headway on the preparations. Charlie and our friend Ken installed a ceiling fan in the nursery and it looks great. We wanted to do this both because the upstairs get so hot in the summer and it has been shown that circulating air can reduce the risk of SIDS. We also set up our pack and play in our room to see how it might work to have this be Baby's sleeping quarters for the first few weeks/months. We realized quickly that although the pack and play is great (thanks Kristin!) it is too big to practically work in our small bedroom. So we put out a call to friends on facebook who may have a bassinet or a co sleeper we could borrow. Long story short- we had a friend give us their bassinet, however after we got it we realized there was some water damage and weren't comfortable with how wet it had gotten (worried about the possibility of it growing mold, etc.). So we found a co-sleeper on craigslist for half the price of a brand new one and I actually think this will work the best anyway. A co-sleeper is  like a side car you attach to your bed so that baby has a separate sleeping surface but it's easy to gently slide the baby over and nurse in the middle of the night. Plus, the co-sleeper folds up like a pack and play for storage whereas a bassinet has a much larger footprint when stored. Like I said before, anything that can be folded or easily put away gets a big plus in my book.

This past week I also started to make the "no sew" curtains for the nursery closet. I made one and really like it. Except that I measured wrong (or rather remembered the measurement wrong) and made it slightly too short. I'm currently trying to decide if I want to try and add more fabric too it or just suck it up and make the 2nd curtain the same length since I already cut both of them. I'm leaning towards option number two because it ultimately sounds like it will result in less stress and less time consumed. Still kicking myself about the measurements though. I also received the crib bedding in the mail that I had ordered. I love the way it looks, however the crib sheet is a bit hard to get on the mattress because the mattress is 6 inches high and the crib sheet was made to accommodate a 5 inch high mattress. It is on there now (thanks to Charlie) but I have made sure to get another one that actually accommodates a 6 inch mattress for easier changes.

Thursday I went into the office for the last time before the baby is born. I went in for a staff meeting, which we had and then afterwards, my supervisor and coworkers threw me a little surprise baby shower. It was a lot of fun and Louisa (my supervisor) even made sure Charlie came. As much as my work is not always my cup of tea, I work with really great people who I enjoy.

Week 37
Total weight gained: 31 pounds as of Wednesday at the midwives. They have assured me this is right on track since the recommended amount is 25-35 lbs. At this point in pregnancy, it's normal to gain about a pound a week (or more) as baby packs on the ounces.
Name Game: We have two boy names we both agree upon. We have one girl name but I'm not totally sold on it and still feel a bit unsettled as far as a girl name. This probably means its a girl.
Next Midwife appointment: Tuesday
Weeks of work left: Just 2!