36 Weeks

It’s here! The NINTH and FINAL month of pregnancy! 

This week 3BB is the size of a bunch of kale. Which while I appreciate the size of a bunch of kale (I used to HATE shopping for kale when I was an Instacart shopper because no bunch of kale fits in any plastic produce bag, and those stems will always end up poking out a hole in the bottom of the bag), I also would appreciate something that was heavier this week to correlate to the bowling ball that is in my abdomen.

The What to Expect app also said that this week 3BB is the size of a Tickle Me Elmo doll, which feels apropos with poor Elmo and his plight with Rocco lately.

This week is the week I really started feeling uncomfortable. 3BB is still loving nestling into my ribcage, but now she weighs like 2-3 pounds more, so it’s really not pleasant. It’s also starting to affect my sleep, which if you know me is a BIG deal. I’m a champion sleeper and haven’t really had any sleeping issues so far in this pregnancy. But it is hard to get comfortable at night because she’s getting bigger. And then once I find a comfortable position, it’s time to get up to pee for the 1,000th time of the day. And then being up and moving, makes 3BB decide to change positions and then cycle starts all over again. 

We had another growth ultrasound this week to see how she is measuring. She’s looking great and is in like the 46% percentile right now, at a little over six pounds. They are estimating about 7 pounds, 8 ounces at birth at this point. And yes I already know these can be way off. But the fact that she’s not measuring big is a big deal with diabeetus babies. So she can stay right where she’s at, middle of the road, so she doesn’t hopefully have any complications with delivery.

I also had my first cervical check this week. The doctor last week said to do it, so I mentioned it to this week’s doctor (it changes every week so I can see a majority of the doctors in the practice) and she was skeptical. She was like “well at 36 weeks most first time moms will be super closed up and oh. It looks like you’re about 1 cm dilated.” Take that skeptical doctor!

I figured with the spotting and the fact that I have lost quite a bit of mucus that hopefully something was happening. It doesn’t really mean much, since some women will walk around dilated for weeks, but it means that my body gets it and is getting ready. And if I do have to be induced, it should make it a bit easier that my body is recognizing that labor is coming.

But she still hasn’t dropped, so we know she’s in there for a little while longer at this point. And I’m OK with that. Next week at 37 weeks is considered full term, so I’m happy to keep her in there until at least then, and preferably longer to keep her cooking as much as possible so everything is as mature as can be.

Someone on Facebook asked about more details about coming home outfits and all the fun stuff. I have purchased all those things. (I spent a lot of money online on January 1 when I started spotting and was like “time to shit or get off the pot”.)

Since we don’t really know how big she’ll be when she arrives, I have 2 coming home options. This is the first option, in newborn size, since I think that’s what she will fit in upon arrival.

If for some reason she’s a giant baby and doesn’t fit in that, this is option 2 in size 0- 3 months:

I really loved this one the most, since it is Mommy & Me, which is the truth, the two of us against the world as a team for the rest of time. So that’s why I picked this one in the bigger size because I want to make sure she gets to wear this outfit. 

Next week we will be able to schedule an induction date, so at least I’ll have an “end date”, but knowing our girl, she’ll make her own date, on her own schedule. But in all likelihood, three weeks from this moment, I’ll most likely have a baby! THREE WEEKS!

#3BBOnBoard