Here We Are

Well, folks, here we are. 37 weeks today. Full term. This marks “the day”. You know, that line in the sand where suddenly you start to think that it could be “any day now” and that it wouldn’t really be too early if the baby came. It’s the day I told myself my entire pregnancy that I wouldn’t get excited about. I went five days overdue with Evalyn. I won’t be surprised if I do the same this time around. Yet, I still woke up thinking, any day now. That kind of mindset? It can make for a long, gruelling last month of pregnancy.

I had my home visit with my midwife yesterday and everything looks great. The baby’s heartbeat was strong and I’m measuring just fine. The home birth supplies are organized and set up. (And taunting me). The birth ball is ready to be bounced on. The hospital bag and car seat are ready to go. The baby’s clothes are washed and folded and ready. The newborn diapers are stocked. The swing and bouncy seat have been washed and cleaned up. The receiving blankets are washed and folded and waiting. This weekend my MIL and I are going to do some cooking and stock my freezer. I got my hair cut yesterday. I have a pedicure booked for next week. You know, the important stuff. Everything is just about ready.

The truth is, though, we aren’t ready. Even though physically I feel like I could stand not being pregnant anymore and could have this baby any day, I don’t really want to go early. We have a lot going on. We just took possession of the house. Ev has the roof part way done, he still has to paint and replace floors and do some other work in the house. And it’s being done on the weekends and in the evenings. As exhausting as being 9 months pregnant and wrangling the toddler on my own all day is, we both agree that it’s better that he gets as much as possible completed on this side of the baby. So I’m praying baby holds out at least 2.5 more weeks. Who am I kidding? I’ll be the one who’s still pregnant in 5 weeks, waving my white flag and willing this child into the world.

Over the past two weeks, Eva has gone through a major sleep regression – acting like bedtime is the worst punishment we could give her and also waking up screaming at some point every night. Sometimes just for a few minutes and sometimes for two hours. I was so thankful that finally last night, she went to bed without much of a peep and slept all night. Me, on the other hand? Not so much. I consider it quite an accomplishment that I made it to 37 weeks of pregnancy with only using an extra small throw pillow to tuck under my belly. Last night, though, that all changed. I had every pillow in the world arranged awkwardly around my body. And every time I shifted or rolled or turned, I tried to rearrange them as best as possible. But, nothing works. The back aches, the ribs ache, the legs ache, the pelvis aches. So I guess from here on out, it’s me and my chariot of pillows trying to get the best sleep we possibly can.

Regardless of the discomfort and exhaustion of these final stages of pregnancy, I know, know, know that as soon as this child arrives, I will forget every little bit of it and I do not, for one second, take the blessing of this pregnancy for granted. Not even a little bit. Birth day will be here before we know it.

I don’t have a current, 37 week, full term bump pic to share. But, if you go to google images and type in “beached whale” you should get the idea.