We are actually in full term status over here right now. I can hardly believe it!
Baby is just over 37 weeks today and is about the size of a bunch of Swiss chard.
And, as always, here’s a look back at what 37 weeks looked like with Lucas! I looked so much more…refreshed back then.
HERE’S WHAT BABY HAS BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK:
- Baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches.
- Little guy is now considered full term! If I were to go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb.
AND HERE’S WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING WITH ME THIS PAST WEEK:
Weight gained: I think I’m around or just slightly over 30 pounds or so. And lately, I’m feeling every ounce of it. Stairs are becoming a challenge.
Workouts: Significantly slowing down. I think I did two last week – a barre workout and a 25 minute strength workout – and that was it. However, that doesn’t count the racing after Lucas at the softball fields as he ran away from me, or the inevitable running around up and down the street at home. So there’s that, too.
Labor Signs: I have no idea, but I don’t really think so? I wind up getting contractions almost anytime I stand up it seems like, but they aren’t anything intense, overly painful, or rhythmic.
Symptoms:
- Low back pain, pelvic pressure, and menstrual-like cramps
- Braxton Hicks and/or contractions
- Fatigue – a lot of it
- Nausea
- Very tired/sore legs and feet
- I feel like my face/eyes have gotten swollen and puffy – blahh
Movement: Yep! Some of them are pretty fun to watch, too.
Food Aversions: Totally depends on the day, but there isn’t really anything that’s always a no.
Food Cravings: Not too many. Food has actually been sort of ‘blah’ at times lately, and I’m not all that excited come meal times (especially dinner…I had zero desire to do anything with dinners right now!). Cold dairy foods are all appealing (yogurt, smoothies, pudding, cottage cheese) and fruit has also been tasting extra good lately.
Sleep: I’m fine once I’m asleep but getting comfortable is rough. I’m still usually up 2-3 times a night to pee, and I’m sure I must wake Jay up every single time with my attempts to roll back over in bed to get comfortable (aka, thrashing around like a beached whale is pretty much what I envision at this point).
Stretch marks? Still in the clear, and I haven’t noticed any new veins lately either which has been nice!
Miss Anything? Definitely my energy and ability to get around like normal. I’d say I miss wine (because well, duh, I do) but some of the nausea is making that a little less desirable than it has been for these past 37 weeks.
Fun and/or Interesting Things from the Week: Wednesday we actually get to have another ultrasound with the little guy. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before(?) but my fluid levels were apparently a little high at my last appointment, so they want to monitor those to make sure they’re not increasing. They said that they like them to stay below 25 (whatever that is?) and that I was around 21. I guess they can fluctuate all of the time though, so it’s possible they could also go down, too. I have no idea what it means if they increased, but I guess we’ll see what happens!
Belly Button in or out? Out, which barely happened with Lucas, but is definitely happening this time around!
Wedding rings on or off? Still on, but snug in the heat and in the mornings to the point where I can’t really take them off.
Happy or moody most of the time: I’d say happy, but not in a super bubbly way, if that makes sense. I’m quite uncomfortable and trying my best not to be crabby or moody about it, but some days/moments get the best of me. I’m also a little more emotional here and there right now (the current Johnson & Johnson commercials about moms and dads are total tearjerkers for me – anyone else?!) and the other day, I caught a glimpse of a little boy on a school bus that looked like Lucas which totally made me start crying while driving to work. Ay yi yi!
New Baby Items: We did get a few things over the weekend at Babies R Us, including some onesies, Dr. Brown’s replacement nipples for bottles, Medela storage bags for pumping, and a couple of pieces of wall art for the nursery.
And my mother in law brought over a few cute outfits the other day for the little guy, too.
And then I ALSO received this adorable package in the mail yesterday from the always incredibly sweet, Julie!
Looking Forward To: Finishing up the nursery, packing a bag (aka, feeling like I’m actually ready for whenever it happens, ha!), and just finally getting to meet our little guy!
Question for the moms and moms-to-be:
How long did you experience contractions and/or early labor signs before actually going in to real labor? I feel SO clueless in this department since I had to be induced with Lucas!
i started contracting at 3am, (thought i just had a stomach ache as i kept going to the bathroom lol), went to the hospital around 10:30am, had william around 6:40pm :) :)
Funny story – for my second baby, I woke up with pelvic cramps and Google told me they could just be the baby dropping. Turns out, I was in early labor but didn’t know it – nothing was timeable. I laid down at 3:30, my water broke at 4:30 and the baby was born at 5:30pm (in an ambulance, since I couldn’t walk to the car!). I never realized I was in labor because I was induced for my first at 41 weeks + 2 days and only knew what chemical contractions felt like!
That’s what I’m nervous about, because chemical contractions are all I really know, too (and they were terrible, lol!). That sounds like a crazy story!!
Funny story – for my second baby, I woke up with pelvic cramps and Google told me they could just be the baby dropping. Turns out, I was in early labor but didn’t know it – nothing was timeable. I laid down at 3:30, my water broke at 4:30 and the baby was born at 5:30pm (in an ambulance, since I couldn’t walk to the car!). I never realized I was in labor because I was induced for my first at 41 weeks + 2 days and only knew what chemical contractions felt like!
Congrats on full term!!! You’re looking so great! My water broke before I had any contractions with my first…contractions didn’t come until close to 12 hours later for me. I’m wondering how my labor will go this time too!!
We pretty much had the same due date and I just had my little guy on Thursday at exactly 37 weeks. I was having A LOT of BH contractions for the past week & try got rythmic. I went into the doctors and no signs of early labor. They just told me to drink more and relax/take a bath. Sure enough the next week on Wednesday morning I woke up with the bloody show but no real contractions so I went to work. I taught my kiddies all day and it wasn’t until that night where I woke up st 2am with more intense contractions. I just knew at that point I was in labor. I ended up getting to the hospital at 4am, they gave me pitocin at 10am to make me progress more, my water broke & baby boy was born at 2:30pm!! Listen to your body! The doc weren’t sure if I was in labor when I got to the hospital but then found out I was leaving amniotic fluid, meaning I was indeed in labor, haha. Excited for you and your family! So exciting!
Gahhhhh, oh my gosh how exciting!! Congrats!!
I started to feel “off” and called the doctor. We headed to the hospital, contractions started and six hours later I was holding Mitch. It was fast and furious!
I hear SO many people say they felt “off” haha, but what does that meeeeean?! Like, did you feel nauseous? Sick? Sore? I’ve felt on/off weird for like a week now, lol!
Yes! Totally felt off with both when it was almost time! Like, just suddenly miserable, exhausted, walking hurt, generally like I just couldn’t deal with life anymore. I know it’s annoying it’s just so hard to explain!
Honestly, I felt something move and then felt off/odd. There was a moment when I had to stop walking and knew something had changed.
For both my boys (19 months and 11 days old) I had BH and contractions for the majority of the third tri. Also both times, I started contractions around 12 hours before going into labor. First, all morning and then went into labor around dinner time. Second, felt some after dinner and then my water broke at 7:30 the next morning. I’m pretty biased and new to things but so far I’m loving having two boys and excited for you! Also, reading this makes me not miss the uncomfortable end of pregnancy. It’s rough, hang in there!
I can’t believe you’re already full term! So exciting!
I was in labor for three days! It was rough. By the third day I was in a lot of pain and moaning on all fours through each contraction (our poor dog kept trying to comfort me!) Thankfully I labored at home long before I had to head to the hospital.
You are so close!! With my first I had contractions on/off for weeks leading up to labor/delivery. I finally went in when I couldn’t stand them anymore. With my second – not even one contraction and one night my water broke. Had to use pitocin to start contractions and my goodness that was so much worse than natural contractions! Hope you can go w/o pitocin this time around!
I just had my little girl about 3 weeks ago. I was the opposite from a lot of others, where I felt horrible (lack of energy, nauseous, in pain) for like a week and then all of the sudden got energy/felt good about 2 days before she was born.
I was induced with my first so I had no idea what to expect. This time around I had no contractions until the day she was born. I woke up with cramping, we took our son out to a local children’s museum, started timing these “cramps” while there and realized they were 3-4 min apart. So we headed home and got to the hospital by 4pm. Everything progressed quickly and she arrived by 9:30pm. But prior to that day, I had NO “symptoms” of labor. I’ve learned it can come on very suddenly without much warning! I hope you’re little guy comes soon!
You sound like you are over it. :-) Hope, your little guy comes soon.
I had to be induced with my first. With my second, contractions started around 10 pm, were painful by midnight, we called the midwife and she said to wait until I couldn’t talk through them. We got to the hospital around 2:30 am, was already at 8cm (the car ride over was torture) and baby was born at 4 a.m. With my third, I had Braxton-hicks contractions for weeks so I thought that is what it was that afternoon while at work, but they became more regular by around 6pm. I went for a walk and tried to eat dinner. The contractions still didn’t really hurt until about 8:30. We got to the hospital around 9pm, was at 5 cm, and baby was born at 10:45 p.m.
I wasn’t completely sure I was even in labor until I arrived at the hospital. I woke up to a little bit of leaking but honestly thought it was just my bladder ? It kept increasing throughout the day so I finally decided to just go to the hospital just in case. Sure enough it was my water and I was in labor. I was contracting every 3 minutes and couldn’t feel ANY of them! The dr decided to put me on pitocin to speed things along since I’d been leaking all day, and I had my baby 6 hours later. The whole thing was surreal!
I just had my second boy 3 weeks ago, so I know how you feel! I got induced for both. My second induction went must faster than my first. Recovery has also been much easier even though my 2nd boy was over a pound heavier and an inch longer than my first! Even if you have to be induced, know that it will be easier. My first labor from when my doctor broke my water was 12 hours; this time it was 4! However, my body labored in a very similar way. I stay barely dilated for hours, then once things get going, they go fast, I dilated from 5cm to 10cm in an hour! Good thing I had my epidural ;)
Also: I had similar feelings like you do about having my second baby. Now that he is here, I can’t imagine life without him. <3
Soo exciting!! Is Lucas excited?? Or does he not really understand what is going on? I’m sure he will be such a great big brother!
Haha I have no idea if he’s excited?! I think he might think he is, but whether or not he actually will be once he’s here could be another story ;) He knows there’s a baby in mommy’s belly and that it’s “coming out” soon though!
It’s really coming down to the wire–so exciting!!!
Im due the day before you and I haven’t had any contractions at all. Its discouraging because it makes it feel like he’s going to be super late!
I was induced too – but I found out that what I THOUGHT were braxton hicks were actually REAL contractions all along, I just had no idea!! I think if I hadn’t been induced she probably would have come on her own that next day!
I wish I had some advice, but induction here too :) I think active mommas go super late with their first I guess… Praying I can go into labor naturally the second time around
I started having contractions on Friday morning and delivered Magnolia Sunday night. It was a long weekend! I honestly didn’t realize I was having contractions until the cramps (they feel like period cramps at first) started becoming regular. When the pain came and went, I started tracking them. Sure enough! There was a rhythm.
Congrats, you look so beautiful, even if you not feeling it these days ;0) Love the pics with Lucas (what a cutie)
Lol… I always tear up at the Johnson & Johnson commercial even the huggies or pampers ones too and I’m not even pregnant. I will say though that after becoming a mom, I get quite emotional when it comes to anything with babies or toddlers……….got to love the change of hormones after having kiddos ;0)
my very best girlfriend has the exact same due date as you! we’ve both been following your updates intently and love all of the candid info. thanks for sharing!