Overall I'm still feeling great. I know, I'm the crazy pregnant lady who actually enjoys being pregnant. The hardest part is getting up several times in the night to use the bathroom and I have had some slight swelling. At night my hands and arms fall asleep. This is a typical pregnancy symptom. I think I just get so dehydrated at night that it contributes to the swelling. It will be nice to have my own feet and hands back! I hope I can fit back into my wedding rings soon. I miss wearing them.
The full moon is on August 24th and Danny thinks that Marissa will arrive on the 25th. I'm really curious to see what a contraction feels like. I wonder if I'll be able to handle the pain or if I'll be screaming for an epidural after the first serious contraction. I like to think I'll be able to handle things, I just need to keep calm, relaxed, remember to breathe and take it one contraction at a time. I know that only about 10-15% of women have their water break naturally, and it's nice because it's a sure sign to go to the hospital but I'm kind of hoping that my water doesn't break too early. If my water doesn't break early in labor then I will be able to use the birthing tub during active labor. I think that would be really relaxing but if my water breaks then I can't get in the tub because of the risk of infection. I love that our hospital has birthing balls, the tub, a squat bar and other remedies to help women who want to have a natural, med-free birth. Laboring on your back in bed is the absolute worst position to birth in (but it's convenient for Doctor's, go figure). At our hospital, if you get an epidural, you have to labor in bed the entire time! No walking, moving around, nothing. Not how I picture things going.
In our birthing class last week we got to try some different techniques to relax, open the birth canal and deal with contractions. I really like the birthing ball. There's so many things you can do to ease some of the pain. We also did things like slow dancing with our spouse, lunges, pressure points, therapeutic massage and dangling in a squat position. We've practiced some breathing techniques, but I'll be honest, it's really hard to practice breathing through a "fake" contraction. The instructor suggested that we keep our breathing as normal as we can for as long as we can. When things start to get tough, we can try deep breaths in and exhale deeply. Then when the pain really gets strong, we break out the he-he-hooo's (fast breathing)!
We have our last birthing class on Friday and it feels so surreal. The whole ordeal feels so surreal. We have a nursery in our house, we have a car seat waiting to be installed, I'm having my last baby shower on Friday, but it just doesn't feel real yet. The time has gone by so fast and I can't believe we will be meeting our little girl in approximately 26 days. We get to tour the labor and delivery floor on Friday, maybe that will make things more real for me? I guess since I am still pretty comfortable, I haven't reached that point where I'm done with this pregnancy. I see/hear of so many women complaining in these last few weeks of pregnancy (some women complain the day they find out they are pregnant, I think it's just a way to get attention). They get so impatient and are willing to put the health of their child at risk just to have an outside baby. It's absurd! People don't seem to understand that 37 weeks is considered "full term" but that doesn't mean the baby is ready to enter the world. The baby can double its brain mass in the last few weeks in the womb, isn't that more important than your comfort? Having your child early could cause problems such as learning disabilities later in life, ADD, ADHD, etc. I just want Marissa to be a healthy baby and I'll do anything I can to make sure that happens. I don't know that I could live with myself knowing that I did something to jeopardize her health.
Alright, enough rambling...here's my 36 week belly pictures and a quick update on how things are progressing (or lack thereof, hence why I think Marissa will be fashionably late):
- Dilation - I'm closed up like Fort Knox.
- Effacement - Zero.
- Appetite - Still going strong, but I think I've been a little bit better the past few days.
- Total Weight Gain - About 30 pounds so I'm still within my recommended weight range.
- Contractions - A few braxton hicks contractions but nothing to call the Doctor about.
- Bathroom breaks in the night - 3 to 4 a night! How do I get any sleep?
- Heartburn - Some here and there, I have to watch out for certain foods but V8 tomato juice has been tasting SOOO good lately. I can literally chug it now and before I could barely take a sip at a time.
- Movement - Marissa is still moving around quite a bit, considering she is probably getting pretty cramped in there. It still amazes me to see my belly moving, I think I will really miss all the movements.
- Cravings - Still no real cravings, total bummer...I still have a little over 3 weeks to get some crazy craving that Danny has to run to the store in the middle of the night for, wishful thinking...maybe!?
- Swelling - Fingers, feet and ankles are a little swollen, belly is extremely swollen. :-P I guess it could be worse, plus this heat probably doesn't help.
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