Monday 21 May 2012

Counting down the days


33 Weeks and counting!  Just in this past week I have suddenly gone from feeling totally fine to feeling like I am ready to not be pregnant anymore.  I'm just feeling slow and sore, but actually still pretty good.  It's just getting hard to move around quickly, and my left hip is really causing me trouble on and off.  So I finally feel as though I am slowing down.  Last week I was not able to do my weekly spin class.  I started it but quickly felt like I wasn't going to be able to continue because of my hip so I stopped.  I might try it again, but won't feel too bad if I can't keep doing it, even though I wanted to do it right until the end.  We'll see what happens.  I'm still planning on going to the gym regularly to workout on the elliptical and strength machines, and I do a little bit at home as well with my weights, stretching, pilates and still a bit of hooping.  I've also been doing a lot of walking which is great too.

Still feeling good and sleeping good for the most part which is great.  My midwife appointments are pretty uneventful as nothing is ever amiss and I never really have any questions.  I'm now down to appointments every two weeks to make sure everything is on track, which it always is.  I'm consistently measuring a few weeks behind, but the midwives say that is fine because I'm growing and that is the most important thing.  I think I've gained somewhere between 30-35 lbs so far.  Hoping to make this the pregnancy with the least amount of gain, so need to come in under 40 lbs!  I'm sure I will.  I am definitely just belly though and haven't really gained weight anywhere else though which is nice.  Feeling much smaller this time around than with the boys.

I'm still getting occasional heartburn but even at it's worst it's just an annoying, nagging feeling and nothing more.  It's still the most heartburn I've ever had in my life!

Baby is still very active and moves around a lot.  As far as the midwives can tell it is head down, and I am sure it is too as it feels very much the same as my last pregnancy.  A breech baby feels very different, with it's large head way up high.  I'm fairly certain I don't feel a big head anywhere near my ribs like I did with my first baby.

Right now I am planning both a home and hospital birth.  Since my husband is still not entirely comfortable with a home birth, it is only fair that we prepare for both.  I'm going to the hospital in a few weeks to fill out all my registration paperwork and have a look around.  I'm going to make sure I have a hospital bag packed and ready to go.  But I'm also going to make sure I have everything on the homebirth supply list so that if things are going smoothly we don't have to leave.  Everyone I talk to agrees that's a good plan.  That way we're prepared for everything.  The midwives don't seem the least amount worried about a homebirth for me, even being a VBAC, and especially since we are so close to the hospital anyway.  One of my midwives even lives on my street and could walk and still be here in 5 minutes!

I'm getting anxious to know what we are having.  I go back and forth between boy and girl.  I think we have some names narrowed down for either, but once again we will not be sure until the baby is born.  I think we should probably sit down and come up with a proper list though, right now we've just talked about a few but not sure if we have actually agreed on any!

We are feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing.  Though there is a lot I'd like to get done around the house before the baby comes and it seems like time is flying by so we better get a move on it.  We tend to be last minute type people by nature anyway.  But I really need to do some serious cleaning and organizing.  We're still hoping to move the boys into the same room, and I would have liked to have done it by now to give them lots of time to adjust, but we just haven't had the chance to get the right furniture and move everything around.  I need to clean up all the baby clothes and get the cradle set up in my room.  The living room desperately needs to be cleaned and the kids' toys need to be organized, so that I can bring up some baby stuff from the basement and set it up.  I guess I better get out the infant car seat as well!

We also really need to get a van!  There's no way we could get 3 carseats in my tiny car.  Hoping that we get that sorted out soon as well, otherwise we'll be walking everywhere for awhile.

In terms of baby stuff there's nothing we need desperately.  In fact pretty much everything I'd like to get can wait until the baby is born.  Not to say that I don't want to run out and start buying stuff now!  But I don't need to yet. 

I'm not sure that the boys are getting terribly excited yet about the baby.  The older one talks about it a lot and he knows the baby is going to come soon.  I think he will be so excited to have a baby brother or sister.  The younger one gets that the baby is in my tummy, and that's about it.  He doesn't seem to know that the baby will actually be here, and I do worry that he might be a bit jealous or upset at losing some of my attention.  Though I am sure he will be a great big brother as well.  I'm glad that they will have each other to play with after the baby is born.

The weeks are really flying by and I am really enjoying myself.  I am so excited to meet the baby but I am not wishing the time away, even though it will be nice to not be pregnant.  I know I will be very sad once it is over and I will never get to do it again, so I'm just trying to enjoy every last minute because it really has been a wonderful pregnancy.