Week 39

Wow - another week and another blog post.  As I write each of these last few week's of posts I wonder to myself if I'll get to write the next week's.  Well I only have 1 week left here so that gets me through 97.5% of the 40 weeks of pregnancy.  Amazing how far I've come!  And all along I was always SURE Baby was going to come early.  I was convinced like around 37-38 weeks.  Yet here I am passing the 39 week mark and head into the LAST WEEK OF PREGNANCY and still no major signs that this baby is going to make an appearance anytime soon!  But we know it's going to happen in the next week since my Dr. said I'll be induced before going over 40 weeks (due to the gestational diabetes - at 40 weeks the placenta will be aged more like 42 weeks).

They're on their way!!!

How far along: 39 weeks, 1 day
What did baby do this week:  Our baby is relaxing, making fists, dancing, rubbing it's head against my bladder, hiccuping and essentially freeloading.  There's no more major development going on.  In fact, the posters I see at Labor & Delivery when I go in for non-stress tests specifically say that babies shouldn't be induced for any non-medical reason until 39 weeks.  That means babies are GOOD TO GO after 39 weeks.  My baby is good to go.  Come ON with ya!!  As I've said the past few weeks - baby's weight and length will really vary by now from person to person.  Likely anywhere from 6.5-9.2 pounds and 19-21 inches from head to heel.  About the size of a small watermelon.  Finally - the watermelon comparison!!  Baby should have almost completely lost the vernix and lanugo that coated their skin.  Baby's digestive system is now capable of digesting liquid foods and they're peeing at regular intervals.  Skin should now be a pinkish color.
Total weight gain:  35 pounds.  I realize this is absolutely average (though the high end of average) but man is it hard to see on the scale!!!
Symptoms:  Carpal tunnel - ugh.  But I've gotten into a pretty decent routine of wearing my wrist braces at night, icing my wrists for 20 minutes at least once a day, not doing too much cooking or work with my hands...and it seems to maybe be helping.  At least I haven't been woken up with serious pain in the past few days.  There was 1 night maybe a week ago that I was up for 1.5 hours dealing with the pain/tingling in my hands.  Swelling in my feet/ankles/calves - nothing new.  Visiting the restroom literally almost every half hour.
Queasy or Sick:  Like other recent weeks - occasional nausea in the morning before I eat.
Sleep: Pretty good for the most part.  Sleeping almost all the time on my right side (left side hurts my jaw).  Sometimes I'll put the (very thin) pillow under my left side and lie on my back - this way my body is tilted a bit to the right so that all the weight of my belly isn't resting directly on my back.  And this is all working for me okay even thought I'm up maybe 2-3 times at night?
Best moment this week:  Overall feeling truly ready.  Baby is giving me so much time - I’m getting everything done, even the small things.  I even had time for a prenatal massage.  Usually when I get massages I go for the no frills and deep tissue kind.  I'm there to get worked on, not listen to zen music and sniff aromatherapy.  So a prenatal massage was a little different than what I'm used to - more Swedish style.  But it was super relaxing and I had requested that this massage therapist do some lymphatic drainage to help with the swelling in my arms and legs.  Lymphatic drainage is essentially very light rubbing from the largest muscle (for example, the thigh) towards the lymph nodes in the groin and armpit; which makes room for moving fluid built up in the smaller muscles (calves/ankles/feet).  So the light rubbing starts with the thigh muscle moving up, then calves moving up and feet/ankles moving up.  It made a lot of sense in theory - but I really didn't notice any difference afterwards.  Dang.
Hardest part of the week: Feeling a little more uncomfortable.  The baby feels even lower this week than in previous weeks (and the little one has been low for a while).  I really can't bend over much at all.  And if I'm sitting - I can't really sit upright; have to lean back.
Looking forward to:  Duh - obviously meeting our baby!!  I'm cautious about *wishing* for my pregnancy to be over just because I'm a little uncomfortable with the carpal tunnel, constipation, inability to bend over, blood sugar testing, etc.  Cuz I mean - how comfortable am I going to be in the next couple months as I heal from either a vaginal or Cesarean delivery?!  I'll tell you what I'm NOT looking forward to though: a change in my hair.  I complained at the beginning of my (and even mid) pregnancy that my hair wasn't all that different and I thought it was supposed to get thick and awesome.  Well I'd say in the last 2 months or maybe even this whole 3rd trimester, my hair has been awesome (for me).  I have almost the worst hair of anyone ever (thin, fine, dry at the ends, oily at the scalp, kinda wavy but not in a pretty way so I have to dry it every day, breaks easily).  But lately it's not oily so I've been washing it every other day (thank gawd cuz my hands go almost 100% numb as I blow-dry it); it's thicker, it sets into nice waves as I sleep so the non-wash days even look good!  It's still dry, but I can deal with that.  I'm DREADING the hair loss that I know is coming and then I'm so scared that my hair will be even worse after pregnancy than it was before!  Eeeks!!

I'll miss you, Hair...

Movement: I thought Baby was supposed to chill out as we got closer to delivery since there is SO LITTLE space in there.  But no.  I'm still feeling a lot of movement - it's definitely sporadic, but there are times I feel like I'm just getting pummeled from the inside out!
Food cravings: I'm still craving breakfast carbs like nothing else.  I mentioned this in Week 35 too but it hasn't gone away.  Forget about alcohol or sushi.  One of my first meals post-delivery will be pancakes, waffles, donuts, French toast, coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, muffins and scones.  Yes all of that at the same sitting.  ;)
Happy or moody:  Not really happy or moody but a word I continue to use: peaceful.  I'm thankful this little baby is not rushing us and I'm able to get so much done and feel prepared.  I really feel for my friends who were totally surprised by their babies arriving at 33, 34, 35 and 36 weeks.  Even my girlfriend whose baby arrived at 38 weeks caught her off-guard.  I think (hope) that I'll be able to handle labor and delivery better just feeling READY.
Labor signs: I guess not.  Definitely having some Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing painful other than the lightning crotch I've mentioned.  This past week I started to get nervous about my water breaking (even though it's supposed to only be 10% of women) so I started wearing these GIGANTIC pads whenever I'm out in public.  I sit on a beach towel on the couch and in my office chair.  And while our mattress came with a waterproof cover, I also have one of those large rectangular pads (found in the incontinence aisle with the Depends and such) just under my sheet.  So I guess I'm ready for anything!
Belly button in or out:  Still in - don't think it's going to flatten and for sure won't turn into an outie.  But it's super small and I can see the back of it (is that a weird comment?)
Wedding rings on or off:  Wedding and engagement rings are off.  I've taken to wearing a ring I usually wear on the middle finger of my right hand, instead.  It fits even if my hands get a little swollen.  And sadly, my finger is ALMOST big enough to fit Hubby's wedding band!  Wow.
Stretch marks:  Yup - those few I found on the bottom side of my belly.  I can only see them in the mirror and if I lean back a little.  On either side of my belly.  I hope they don't get too bad.

Learnings from the week: I've been told numerous times to watch/read The Happiest Baby on the Block.  Apparently this guy is a "baby whisperer" and has some great techniques for soothing a crying/fussy baby.  We have the DVD and are planning to watch it tonight.  Hopefully we'll learn something before that baby arrives!
Final Thoughts:  I didn't think we were going to actually pack our bags until it was time to go to the hospital, but I started to worry about a situation where I go to my OB appt or a NST and they see something wrong and check me into the hospital right then and there.  Would I be able to direct Hubby to pack what I need?  Would he know WHICH black leggings to grab?  Um, doubtful.  So this past weekend we both packed our bags as best we could.  Fortunately it was easy to pack Baby's bag since none of that stuff will be needed prior to the hospital!  For all the items I couldn't pack (due to my needing them on a daily basis) I have them on a list and will just be sure to grab them when the time comes.  And some things I've packed, but am just wearing them out of the suitcase and then being sure to pack them back in there at the end of the day.  It's working.  We're ready!  :)