Week 38.

Here’s where we are this week:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

How far along: 38 weeks

Total weight gain: +36.5 total.  This is +4.5 from last week. Ugh.

Here’s a picture of my 38 week bump:



Side-by-side comparison (sorry I didn’t do any silhouette pictures before 34 weeks). 

Sleep Habits: Sleep is going as well as can be expected for a person who has gained 36.5 lbs. and is carrying a basketball in her belly.  I still have insomnia most nights and am so thankful for a smart phone that gets me through the boredom of it all. 

Maternity Clothes: I am now working from home because my maternity jeans hurt in the afternoon after I’ve eaten.  Baby J is hanging out extremely low and right where the base of the band hits, so I feel like I’m being squeezed in between vice grips.  It’s totally miserable.  I need to get some fake tanner so I can start wearing skirts.  If this baby doesn’t come soon, I may just start walking around naked.

Best moment of the week: Watching Anna swim with her daddy in our little pool. 



Food Cravings: I’ve been craving something sweet with lots of frosting, but I don’t really know what I want.

Symptoms: TMI ALERT WARNING

This past Sunday, I woke up for my normal hourly pee break and noticed some spotting, ahem, lots of stuff.  I thought for sure it was what is so beautifully referred to as bloody show.  After reading up on it a bit, I was convinced I’d be having this baby any second, so I picked up my house, showered, put on make-up, went back to bed for a little more shut eye, and then woke up thinking it would happen soon.  Then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Nada.

I took Anna out to ride her bike and walked alongside her.  We did this twice.  Nada.  I cleaned the bathrooms.  Did laundry.  Swept. Mopped.  Nada. 

It was a total tease. 

I now know that it was at that point that I started losing my…mucus plug.  Gah, I hate typing this out, but I want to use this as a reference point, so I may as well be completely honest here.  Basically, in the world of pregnancy, losing this plug means nothing.  So, here I am, 38 weeks pregnant (1 week more pregnant than I was with Anna) with no idea when he’s going to come. 

Other than that, I’ve had very mild cramping in my lower back, but nothing is timeable.  It’s just one steady cramp that never really goes away.  I also have tremendous pressure.

Movement: Movement is definitely a lot less, but the movements he does make are quite painful. 

The nursery:  Nothing new on this front.  I still want to do the gutter bookshelves on one wall, and I still need to hang the artwork and bunting my friends are making for me.  This will be an after-baby thing.  I plan on writing up an entire entry about every aspect of the nursery, the cost of the items, instructions if they were DIY, etc. 

I’m pretty excited to be listed as a part of the Perfect Palette’s nursery board – CHECK IT OUT

Other fun stuffs:

My mom ordered this changing pad/wipes holder for Joseph from Sweet Monkey Tots on Etsy:


And my sister bought this for little blanket for J:

I love, love, love all of the personalized stuff!

What I’m looking forward to:  Having this babeh!

What I miss: Sleeping on my back.

Last appointment details:  I had an appointment on Wednesday, March 28.  I had to get a growth u/s to determine how big Joseph is getting.  He’s measuring right on track and is a whopping 6 lbs. 11 oz.  (not that big).  Anna was 6 lbs. 6 1/2.  I know it’s not an exact science, but I was glad to know I wasn’t hauling around a 10 lber.  It certainly feels like I am on most days. 

She checked me again.  I’ve made a little progress from last week.  I’m 2 – 3 cm dilated, 60% effaced, and the biggest change was his station.  He went from –3 to –1.  This explains why I feel like I’m being ripped in half.  Check out last week’s post for a better explanation of all of this.

At this point it’s just a waiting game.  I could walk around like this for weeks or he could come tonight (I hope, I pray).  So, now I wait.  I’m really anxious for him to be here, but he obviously didn’t get the memo that Anna got when she decided to evict herself at 37 weeks. 

My OB is actually about to return from maternity leave, but I like this new OB I’ve been seeing so much that I’m actually going to see if I can just continue on with her.  Is that wrong?  I liked my other OB, too, don’t get me wrong, but I just feel like I click more with this one.  She actually reminds me of one of my best friends, so that’s probably why I feel so comfortable with her.   Plus, she told me that even though she’s not on call this weekend that she wants me to tell L&D to call her and ask her to come in if I do happen to go into labor. 

Next appointment: My next appointment is on Wednesday, April 4th.  I really hope I don’t have to go to this one!  Come on, baby!