36 weeks- Getting Ready

I now know why pregnancy only lasts 9 months.  By the end you are just so big and so uncomfortable anything is more appealing than going one more day with swollen feet, numb hands, and the inability to sit or lay comfortably in any position.   He moves around so much, I think he’s going to be a big baby!  Big meaning over 7 lbs, almost 8.  That’s my guess.  My numb hands have reached a new level of pain, it really does feel like someone is holding my hand to a hot stove all the time, especially at night.  I have been up 2 or 3 times during the night running to the bathroom, and then can’t sleep because of the hands.  If that’s the worst of it, I’m lucky. Man, I promised myself I wouldn’t get like this with all I’ve been through, but here I am, complaining again.  So enough of that.

Last week I decided it would be really important to focus on granite kitchen countertops in my last few weeks of pregnancy.  So last Friday, I signed a contract with a company that will come next week to template the kitchen, remove the countertops, sink, and disconnect the cooktop, then return 10 days later with my new sink, faucet and countertops.  That means from May 30 until almost my due date we will be without sink, stove and countertop.   I figured I’d rather have it be just the two of us and be inconvenienced than have the baby and have no sink.  Of course, if I were a rational human being right now I wouldn’t be thinking about the countertops at all, rather, focusing on the nursery.  I did have a nice long weekend to focus on that though.  I learned how to use my breast pump, hung curtains, got pictures for the walls, and organized the closet (for the 5^th time).  M figured out a place to hang the video monitor and this week I plan on sterilizing bottles, binkies and breast pump parts to make sure everything is ready to use when needed!

We had a surprise 30^th for my cousin’s husband on Saturday and it was the most gorgeous weather!  There were three of us pregnant chicks there, all complaining about our symptoms and wondering when our babies were going to come out.  There was one girl due before me and one girl due in September.  It was amazing how different all of our shapes were.   We were talking about registries, the latest baby books, natural vs. medicated birth…mostly everyone there thought I was crazy for attempting natural.  I love when people speak on topics they know nothing about.  One of the girls’ husbands’s even said that he heard statistics from his anesthesiologist friend that someone who goes “natural” the first time will be 80% more likely to get an epidural with the second pregnancy.    I can’t wait to let everyone know how I did it naturally.  It’s going to be such a satisfying feeling.

This week I’m going to schedule out my feeding, pumping and sleeping schedule so we know exactly what we have to do to start a schedule when we get him home from the hospital.  I start the first of my four weekly appointments this Friday.  I don’t know what those will be like, but I’m assuming I’ll have internal exams and we’ll start to talk about dilation, effacement, and the birth plan (FINALLY!).    Here’s where I’ll realize if I’ve made a mistake doing the hospital vs. birth center.  Next Tuesday I’m so excited to have my last appointment with the doula before I have the baby- I miss her and I can’t wait to get a good dose of positive reinforcement!  She is the BEST!!  Well, next to my hubby of course.