Thursday 19 March 2015

The Home Stretch

Well friends, it is Thursday morning exactly one week before my due date.  On the recommendation of quite a few friends, I finished up at work last week so right now I'm at home, sitting on my butt on the couch enjoying what are probably the last few days of sanity that I'll have for a while.

On the one hand, it feels very weird and old-fashioned to send M off to work with a kiss while I stay home.  On the other, it's been nice to have a bit of time to attend to various chores at a leisurely pace and get some much-needed things done that might otherwise be neglected in the coming weeks (i.e. getting Buddy's nails clipped, having my bangs trimmed, replacing those stoopid pot lights in the kitchen that seem to burn out with annoying frequency, etc).  I've also been doing a bit of cooking and baking to help stock the freezer so that we won't be subsisting on cereal and canned soup once the baby arrives.  Who knew I was such a goddamn domestic goddess?

Sort of like this, except pregnant and in dog-hair covered yoga pants.

I guess it's good that I still have a to-do list around the house, because otherwise I think I'd be really freaking bored waiting for Chalupa Batman to make his appearance.  This kid seems to be in no hurry.  Which is frustrating, since he's clearly running out of room in there and I keep telling him how much more comfortable he would undoubtedly be on the outside where he's not all squished up.  At our 35 week ultrasound a month ago, he was sitting in the 75th percentile and already weighing an estimated 6 pounds 5 ounces.  I can't help but be reminded of a friend of mine who, after giving birth to her son, confided that he came out of her "like the fucking Kool Aid man".

That wall will be my vagina.  OH YEAH!

In my most fervent hopes of avoiding this, at my weekly checkup on Monday I asked whether the size of the baby would have any bearing on how far overdue they'd let me go if it came to that.  Unfortunately, they have no problem with letting me squeeze a 10-pound turkey out of my v-hole.  They will, however, possibly induce earlier due to my "advanced maternal age", so high fives for being an old mom for a change.

Otherwise, the last couple of weeks of pregnancy have been not as terrible as I'd been led to expect.  I'm sleeping ok and can achieve some semblance of "comfort" with strategically placed pillows.  The biggest new annoyance has been fluid retention, which to be fair has not been very bad at all in the grand scheme of things.  I've seen some fellow bloggers whose ankles have disappeared entirely, whereas for me I just seem to get a nice indent where my socks have been.  The water retention has actually been worse in my hands.  I stopped wearing my wedding rings weeks ago, and now when I wake up in the morning my fingers feel tight and the joints are painfully stiff and creaky.  It subsides a fair bit throughout the day, but it's a not-so-nice preview of how I'll probably feel when I'm 70 or so and my family history of arthritis really kicks in.

I leave you for now with what may be my last bump picture, from 38 weeks.  


I swear there are nursery pics coming, we just have a final wall that's waiting for M to put up a shelf and painting before the big reveal.  Rest assured, were CB to arrive today we're ready for him.  

Famous last words, right?

27 comments:

  1. Well it is almost time. How I have enjoyed reading about your pregnancy and after all you went through to get here. You look absolutely amazing and I sure hope baby is a little easier coming out than the Kool Aid man. Oh my!! Enjoy your down week and get ready for the precious moments to begin.

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  2. Enjoy your last week! You say, "This kid seems to be in no hurry." I know the feeling. Two days before my due-date, I went to bed with absolutely no evidence that anything would be happening soon -- mucus plug hadn't been lost, no increase in Braxton-Hicks, no "gut feeling", nothing. I was woken at 3:40am the day before I was due by a contraction, and had a baby 9.5 hours later! Only after I'd been laboring for quite some time did I lose the mucus plug, and they eventually had to break my water for me. Maybe Chalupa will surprise you similarly! :)

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    1. I think I may have lost a teensy bit of my plug yesterday, but from what I hear that's no guarantee of anything anyway. I hope you're right!

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  3. So I just watched that Kool Aid man gif in horror for about 4 minutes straight. Enjoy your week, you domestic goddess. You look really good! Bobby told me last night that I'm really starting to "explode out the front." So I think you're doing much better than I am!

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    1. It's mesmerizing, isn't it? Oh and I swear that picture makes my belly look smaller than it actually is.

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  4. You look amazing! Enjoy your time off. You'll be so glad you stocked the freezer, I sure wish I had done that. I am so excited to read your birth story (if you write one)

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  5. You look amazing! Enjoy your time off. You'll be so glad you stocked the freezer, I sure wish I had done that. I am so excited to read your birth story (if you write one)

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  6. Yay for the home stretch! it's so surreal. Laughing at the Kool-Aid man. I found it helped to look at some v-birth photos; it helped me to believe that birth was actually possible. But it doesn't seem believable that THAT will happen to your body till it's actually happening.

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    1. I watched a c-section video. That was a mistake. I think I'll just go into this blissfully ignorant.

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  7. About a month before the Beats came, I was on modified bed rest, meaning I had to stop working (the commute made my doctors Rey nervous). So I get where you're coming from with feeling weird and worrying about becoming bored. That said, this period of nesting is good to have. What ever preparations you do will only be to your benefit. It's true that you will never be 100% prepared, but I promise that having the core in place will make a world of difference.

    And you are a darn cute pregnant lady! Fingers crossed for a smooth, non-Kool Aid man delivery.

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  8. Woo hoo! You're almost there! I do so hope that you don't have a Kool-Aid man experience; it's one part fascinating and three parts horrifying to look at. You look great, and you don't have to be 100% ready for baby; they generally do just fine at a solid 75%, right? My big question--will your next update be one of CB's arrival or you getting increasingly uncomfortable as the days past your due date tick by.

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  9. Oh how I love your humor! The Kool-Aid man. Snicker, snicker, snort. Domestic Goddess. haha! You crack me up! I'm glad you are getting some time to yourself and able to finish things up, because as you said, that is soon to change! Enjoy it while you can! Of course you will soon be enjoying sweet baby cuddles instead, so it is a fair trade off :)

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  10. Baby girl arrived one week late in very Kool Aid man fashion (although I hadn't thought to call it that at the time!). Hopefully CB will come just in time to relieve your boredom but not before you stock that freezer. And leave your v-hole relatively intact. Not that I imagine you'll care much once you finally see his sweet face.

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  11. You look fantastic! I remember thinking at the end that I felt like a very old and/or very obese person, and how much it must suck to be either. I have a lot more sympathy now for crotchety old grandpas.

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  12. You look so freaking cute! I am so jealous. And nice dress you had on there. Wow I can't believe you're coming up so close! So glad you took time off early to get things done. Take some time and be bored for once. :) And Yay for taking advantage of being an older mom! Although you may not need that? Man, I can't wait for you to meet your little one so I can meet him too!

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  13. What a beautiful bump! Can't wait to see some nursery pics!

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  14. You are hilarious and looking fantastic!!

    I will cross my fingers that you have a non-Kool Aid birth. Tell Chalupa Batman to be nice on his way out!

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  15. Love the bump pic! Hope your last few days of domestic goddessness is going well. CB will be here soon.

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  16. Enjoy these last days of being pregnant. Take it all in. I don't know if it's true for everyone, but I have a hard time remembering how it felt. It must be nature's way of making sure we do it again. But, sometimes I miss feeling them move around inside me. I don't miss the heartburn and swollen feet,though.
    Also, I hope CB makes a bit more subtle of an entrance. Ouch.

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