36 Weeks

Week 36

How far along:

36 weeks! We have officially reached the week that if I go into labor, my hospital is OK with delivering me locally. Ha. As if they would have had a smidge of a chance of transferring me last week. It is a nice thought though! Our newest little love is far enough along that we wouldn't be looking at a NICU stay if born today (at least not for being born too early), and continues to measure right on the mark for gestational age.

Best moments so far:

My OB checkup this morning was a family affair, and due to a late start at the elementary school from bad weather yesterday, both boys tagged along, as well as a rare appearance from T. I sent him a text when we got to the room for my appointment to let him know where to meet us, but also that he could probably just listen for G who would be crying because he doesn't like my doctor's nurse (who is the sweetest lady and feels terrible that he doesn't like her...we have no idea why), and he's worried about his mommy. It was the first appointment T has been to, so it was fun for he and the boys to all listen to baby's heartbeat (130bpm) while my doctor was performing her checks.

After the doppler heart rate check, my doc shoo-ed the boys out of the room for a more in depth check to gauge where everything really stands. Before this check she asked if we had any bets going as to when baby would arrive. I told her I was betting March 22nd. After her check, she let me know that that would be pretty unlikely as I am dilated 3cm externally, 1cm internally, 75% thinned, and baby is sitting very low. She is reasonably confident that baby will arrive sometime in the next week. EEK! She is also out of town for several days in the coming couple of weeks and T is on call on an upcoming weekend while my doc is out of town (for conflict of interest reasons - you know...being too emotionally involved and such, he should not deliver his own child unless he absolutely has to...ie home birth), so we worked out a plan of who will cover if baby should arrive during those times.

Afterwards, when I filled T in on the news, I think he was caught off guard a bit! His first reaction was 'Geez, I better get my car cleaned out!' (Insert head-shaking wife here). I mean really...it takes a new baby to get this man to clean his car. For realz. This being said, with C being born around 37.5 weeks, and G at 38 weeks, if new baby were to come sometime this week, it would be my earliest delivery yet. At least now I have a little heads up that I really need to slow down and pay VERY close attention to any sort of patterns in contractions. Both of my other labors started in the middle of the night when I didn't have anything else on my mind, but I worry that if I were to go into labor during the daytime when I'm busy with C & G, I may not notice right away that my contractions are not just Braxton Hicks!

Maternity clothes:

Yes. Give me ALL the spandex! Even my maternity jeans are not comfortable at this point, so you are likely to see me sporting leggings or yoga pants with camis and cardigans pretty much every day from here on out!

Sleep: 

Not super wonderful, but manageable. I've been having to get up around 4:30am to use the restroom after going to bed around 11:30pm pretty much every night this week. Our boys have also been getting up earlier than typical by about a half hour or so (around 6:45-7am), which has meant getting up in the morning before I'd like. I'll be curious to see if this switches back once we hit daylight savings and it stays dark outside longer in the morning. I've also noticed that wake-up time...at least for G...is usually tied to hunger as he wants to eat literally the moment he wakes up. Lately, it has become apparent that if we aren't eating dinner by 6pm, neither of the boys eats very well, and thus go to bed with not as much in their tummies to keep them content until T & I are ready to get up in the morning. While C is a bit older and knows that a meal will eventually come, G is very adamant that he have food in his mouth no less than 60 seconds after getting him up, and generally, handing him his milk does not do the trick!

Miss Anything:

Getting around easily. My body is just tired these days, and it is particularly hard to be at this stage of pregnancy during the winter months. Bending over to get winter boots on is near impossible, and even my maternity coat no longer zips over the bump. Looking forward to spring weather and sandals!

Baby Movement:

Baby is still active, but is definitely running out of space.

Cravings and Aversions:

Fruit and dark chocolate M&Ms this week. I love fresh pineapple, and lucky for me, our local grocery store sells it pre-cut. Yes, it is more expensive to buy this way, but no, I do not have time or patience to cut it up myself. Not to mention that neither of the boys are huge pineapple lovers, and I don't think I could eat the entire thing to myself. 

Queasy or sick:

Nope.

Symptoms: 

I've had quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions this last few days. They seem to strike every other day, and are usually near the end of the day after being on my feet to cook dinner and get the boys settled in for the night, or if we have been running around more than usual.

Looking forward to:

Meeting our newest little love, now that we know we are so close! This entire process seems a bit surreal to us at this point since our time is so consumed with the other little people in our lives. We are both convinced that it will be a rough transition adding a new little person to our family with the boys current ages and needs, but with any hope, they will be the very best big brothers.

I also have a haircut scheduled this week, and we are supposed to take maternity photos on Thursday, so we'll see if we make it to then! Fingers are crossed! I stocked up on groceries this morning for the next few days, but would love to have at least a few more days and get through pictures before baby decides to arrive! I did partially pack my hospital bag, so at least that is something I can check off the list!