40 Weeks Pregnancy Bumpdate

I’ve officially made it to (and past) my due date.

I’m thrilled, honestly. 

This has been a great pregnancy. Such a night and day difference from Ezra’s pregnancy.

I look back over my pregnancy photos (which there have been many…not sorry at all!), and see how much I’ve accomplished.

Stuff like climbing to the top of a mountain at 26 weeks, hiking at 38 weeks, and walking 188 miles (as of today) during the course of this pregnancy.

Also – maintaining a weight gain that falls far less than that of my first pregnancy, which was one of my biggest goals.

I’ve grown more and more in tune with my body and my mind. I’ve grown in confidence.

I’ve grown a life. 

I hit 40 weeks and miserable is not a word in my vocabulary. Today I walked nearly 3 miles and swam for over an hour.

Empowered. Happy. Ready. 

Yes, I want to get this kid out of me. But I’m okay right where we are in this moment. Still being pregnant.

My body is flooded with ALL THE HORMONES. Which means that, yes, on Tuesday afternoon, you would have found me on my bed sobbing over pretty much nothing. But last night, after a yoga class in which my body did ALL THE BENDY THINGS you would have found me with a smile on my face that I’m pretty sure resembles something of someone who is high on something, texting my doula that I felt euphoric.

Euphoric, people.

Hello, hormones.

Apparently, relaxin makes me feel A-MA-ZING. (Except for the heartburn. That is not amazing.)

Last week, we all really wanted to have the baby, BEFORE school started. This, obviously, did not happen.

So there were moments of discouragement, for sure.

I got angry a few times.

But when I feel myself not being “Suzanne” (which, if you haven’t read this post, you NEED to read it), I stop and breathe and find a way to get my mojo back. Sometimes, that’s exercise. Sometimes, it’s a bubble bath. Sometimes, it’s dancing in the kitchen to Toby Keith. Sometimes, it’s sitting on my birth ball listening to yoga music.

(“No problem. Totally not going to freak out. I am So Zen. So Zen.”)

Sometimes, after a day when I’m really in a funk, I tell my family WE ARE GOING ON A DATE TONIGHT because I have a coupon for a FREE GLUTEN FREE CUPCAKE if I show them my belly.

So we went and I had a cupcake and Ezra had ice cream and then we went to the toy store so Ezra could pick out a toy for Little Brother.

And I felt better.

Sometimes I color.

Which is supposed to be relaxing, but I find that when I get to it, I color furiously and quickly so I can get it on THE WALL.

It’s still cathartic.

As for the nitty-gritty details that everyone wants to know:

Baby and I are doing fine. Healthy. My blood pressure remains normal. My blood sugar levels (which we are testing weekly) are in a beautiful range. My fluid is high…really high. But other than the number on the weekly AFI (fluid measurement test), no one is that concerned. They have me in for NSTs twice a week, and so far the baby is passing beautifully.

At my request, we are not having any growth ultrasounds or cervical checks without there being a medical reason to do so.

Prodromal labor continues, with mild contractions both day and night. They are strong enough to register on the contraction monitor during the NSTs, but not painful or patterned enough to be considered active labor.

However, all the contractions ARE making a difference. Baby continues to move down and is now completely engaged in the pelvis. He is also anterior (LOA specifically, which is the very best position for a baby to be in at the beginning of labor). Having had a prior cesarean for a very malpositioned baby, this makes me ecstatic.

So now, we wait. No one has mentioned induction, and I’m pretty dead-set against it unless there’s a medical reason to go that route. (And no, having a big baby is not an evidence-based medical reason. Neither is being “overdue.”)

I have felt so much peace in the waiting. SO much peace. My body and my baby are doing EXACTLY what they need to be doing right now.

My husband and son are very anxious about “WHEN IS {LITTLE BROTHER} COMING??” (Ezra) and how “it’s just really hard to wait for the baby” (Russ), but I’m truly content just taking it one day at a time.

It’s so much easier having Ezra in school. We are getting into the new routine nicely (if I ignore the 4-5 AM wakeups every morning…that’s been fun…not.)

I have walked Ezra to school every morning this week. Which is not something I expected would be remotely possible at 40 weeks. But, it is!!

Then, if I don’t have to be somewhere (like the midwives office or the chiropractor), I work on little projects. Tuesday I got a massage. Wednesday I made spaghetti sauce for freezing and caught up on laundry.

I also installed Little Brother’s car seat (better late than never). I was putting off on this because I’m trying to figure out how to best make the 50 minute trek to the hospital, and I thought I might want to keep the back seat open. Instead, we have transitioned Ezra’s seat from the 5-point-harness to the seatbelt restraint system (making it easier to remove) and gone ahead with the infant seat install. It’s a good thing too, because even with the YouTube tutorials (because those paper books are like reading Greek), it took me over an hour.

Today I wandered aimlessly around Bed, Bath, and Beyond – until I saw the Coke cooler and plopped down on the floor in front of it to sort through names.

And I found another one!!! This time, in Diet, which is great, because our doula has a weakness for Diet Coke. So now she can share a Coke too.

Then I randomly decided to get a pedicure. I’ve heard it can bring on labor, – but, in reality, I just can’t reach my toes and they were in desperate need of a trim.

And yeah…all this stuff costs money. Money I shouldn’t really be spending. But my husband wants to be done with the whole having-kids thing. I’m not yet convinced (conversation for another day), but this very well could be the last day I’m ever pregnant. I could spend it being miserable because…still pregnant…or I could spend it celebrating the wonders of being pregnant, being a mother, growing a tiny human. I can treat this body as though it’s amazing and worthy of special treatment, because it is.

Speaking of special treatment, according to the internet and my doula, dates are supposed to be amazing for causing spontaneous labor and reducing bleeding during birth. I’ve tried, really tried, to like to eat them…but I’m still not a fan.

Until I found this GUILT FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE recipe. It’s high protein, uses a whole bag of dates, and contains NO ADDED SUGAR.

I’ve made two this week. And no I don’t have a picture. Because it keeps disappearing.

So the short version of being 40 weeks pregnant: lots of exercise, lots of chocolate cake, random projects, NST’s, and daily naps. And ALL THE HORMONES. 

One last note: I would love for you to head on over to my friend Katie’s blog, where I’ve shared more of my pregnancy journey, specifically as it pertains to preparing for VBAC: Women of Courage: Aprille’s Brave Journey to VBAC