Friday Funk – 36 weeks

Tomorrow is full term, and we all know what that means, right? This baby could now come AT ANY TIME! Oh dear lord.

• How far along?  36 weeks, 6 days
• Total weight gain:  30.5 lbs. as of yesterday morning. I think I may end up spot on the same 33 lb. weight gain I had with D after all.
• Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely, now with the exception of some yoga and cooler weather pj pants (much to my surprise!). Tops – some, but I find I can still wear most of my regular shirts too, which is nice. And dresses and skirts are quite comfortable but are making less frequent appearances as the weather cools off.
• Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
• Sleep:  Downright shitty. Rolling over is a huge process, and I’m always just sore all over when I wake up. Getting up to pee is still a nightly thing, and it has now progressed to multiple times a night. Remember that arm pain I mentioned last week too? Well it’s still there, and I finally figured out what it is. See below in my symptoms…
• Best moment this week:  Spending last weekend down at my mom’s house with D was definitely wonderful. It was fun, relaxing, and filled with delicious food. It’s so hard for me to believe, though, that it was the last time D will be there as the only grandchild. Crazy. And another high point of this week was…are you ready for this? My pre-baby checklist is DONE!!! You have no idea how good it feels to look at that thing and see all 20 items crossed off. However, Dv2.0 (yes, i’m talking to you in there, oh ye who keeps nailing me in the ribs), that does NOT give you permission to come out now! I respectfully request (or order you as your mother, whichever you prefer) that you stay put until at least October 15. Anytime after October 20 would be much more ideal, but I’ll settle for anytime after the 15th as well.
• Miss anything?  Beer and wine. And a good, solid night’s sleep.
• Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks have become all over – I can feel what I now think are feet kicking under my right ribs while simultaneously getting bumped by probably the head on the lower left/back side. Must be a long kid in there.
• Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
• Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
• Gender:  Not finding out.
• Labor signs:  No. Wait, are Braxton Hicks contractions considered a labor sign? If so, then yes, I’ve started having those (see below).
• Symptoms:  Daily heartburn (yes, it switched to daily from nightly. awesome. and sometimes i can feel it come on as soon as i take a bite of something. hooray), SI pain (which, thankfully, has eased up on me a little these past few weeks), my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain. My stomach muscles have stopped tweaking as much, though, when I try to use my abs, so I’m just assuming that means they’ve gotten totally worn out. And the Braxton Hicks have arrived. I started feeling my lower abdomen tighten (painlessly) every once in a while within the past month or two, and my doctor confirmed those are the BH again. Let’s not forget the butt cheek cramps, either. They still come and go as they please. As for that weird arm thing I mentioned above, it’s pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. Ta-da! And it’s worse at night because all of the water and fluid I’m retaining right now is able to spread out when I lie down, putting pressure on that nerve in there. I read, too, that whichever nerve it is that runs through the carpal tunnel affects your thumb, index, middle, and the thumb side of your ring fingers, plus the middle of your hand and up to your elbow in severe cases, and that is exactly what I have. Excellent. Just what I always wanted! To not be able to use my dominant hand when I wake up every day, hooray!! Fortunately it’s supposed to go away shortly after delivery, which it better. I have found that sleeping with my wrist and hand propped up on a pillow does help keep the pain away, but that’s so awkward and it rarely stays put.
• Belly button in or out?  Definitely starting to bulge on the right side, but still not fully out. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked, but it’s already farther out than how it went with her. Weird.
• Wedding rings on or off?  On.
• Looking forward to:  Well let’s see… This upcoming week is actually pretty busy. This afternoon we’re heading up to Parnell Tower outside Sheboygan to check out the beauty of the changing leaves. Tomorrow I’ll be watching the Badgers play in the afternoon (at home, not in Madison unfortunately). Sunday I’m having lunch with girlfriends, for which I can’t wait! Tuesday I have my last hair cut/color pre-baby, and Wednesday is my next doctor’s appointment. I am PRAYING that there is no further dilation by then, because next weekend is when we’re supposed to be going to Peoria for my high school Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, one PHS event I definitely don’t want to miss. So if you were wondering why I chose October 15 as the mandatory stay-in-there-until date for Dv2.0, that’s why. That is the date a week from Monday, which would put us home from Peoria without a newborn in tow.

And yes, another week of side-by-sides. Left is me 36w1d pregnant with D; right is me 36w2d pregnant with Dv2.0. Let’s start taking bets – what do you guys think, boy or girl this time?