38 & 39 Weeks

This post is a bit overdue... I have had my hands full as our beautiful baby has arrived! Name, Gender and Birth post to follow! Here is a quick recap of the last 2 weeks to birth.

Weeks 38 and 39 were full of Braxton Hicks contractions or practise contractions. These were completely pain free but my tummy would go into a hard ball and in regular intervals. I woke up with them at the end of week 38 and was fairly excited, got up and went downstairs and started googling whether or not I was going into labour. These are pretty common and do not mean labour is imminent as I had hoped but are good practise for your body. I was happy that it was a sign my body was getting ready in preparation for the big day. These continued on and off through week 39.

At 39 weeks pregnant, despite not being overdue I was feeling very impatient and really wanting baby Paicey to make an early appearance. I did conclude that I wasn't in any pain or too much discomfort which I was grateful for, but I just wanted to get labour over and done with and have our baby in our arms. For me, labour being imminent was not scary, it was just the next step and challenge/hurdle on the way to meeting our baby. Mr P and I researched all the usual ways to induce labour which I think are probably mostly old wives tales but we still gave a few of them a try. We went for an hour and a half long walk when I was exactly 39 weeks, and when I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I felt like I was carrying a bowling ball in my pelvis. This feeling as well as lots of lightening crotch/fanny daggers (this term still makes me laugh) continued for the next day so I do think the walk helped to engage the baby further. We went for a 30 minute walk each night to keep it going and also to get out of the house once the sun had gone down as it was so hot for me in the middle of the day being around 26 degrees. I have to admit that we stopped for an ice-cream on one of our night walks and another time we stopped and had fish and chips despite having dinner sorted at home! Every night before we went to bed Mr P would ask me if we were going to have a baby tonight.

I was given clary sage oil which you can put in the bath or dilute with water and rub on your bump which can bring on contractions however I was too scared to use it after I read a few things online. I ate a few pineapples but I heard that you need to eat about 15 or even more for it to have any effect. We had a hot Thai curry for dinner but Im sure its supposed to be a hot Indian curry. However I don't actually believe a curry would induce labour! Sex is supposed to help too with semen helping to soften the cervix. I do believe that baby comes when baby comes and if labour begins after you've tried one of the above to bring it on and it works, your baby might have been ready to arrive anyway but of course who knows and some woman swear by the above!

It seems funny now that baby Paicey has arrived but I had my little check list of things for myself that I wanted to have done before my due date. I had highlights put in my hair, my eyebrows threaded, and a  manicure and pedicure. These were probably more distraction/time filling activities however It was really nice to have these treatments done and I felt nice afterwards. The man at the nail bar wouldn't let me have the massage chair on whilst I was getting my pedicure. He said it could bring on labour and he would rather I didn't. I was in my 39th week and would have sent him a bunch of flowers if his massage chair had brought on labour at that point!

The nesting and baking was at its highest and I baked banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting from the hummingbird bakery cookbook as well as a roast pumpkin, pine nut and feta cheese quiche. I even vacuumed the house which was unlike me! Time stood still if I didn't have my daily thing to do. I still managed to get a great night sleep although I was waking at 5 or 6 am every day and then needing a nap around 10 am. It is very odd to wake up so early with nothing at all planned for the day, your body and mind just wants you up! Getting ready for no more sleep ins once your baby arrives!

As the week went on we decided that Mr P would not go to France with his team to play in a preseason rugby game against Montpellier which was 1 day before my due date on Friday 8th August. This meant that we would be able to go to Mr P's cousins wedding which fell on the same day as the rugby game, and so on Wednesday we made a late RSVP and I borrowed a Topshop maternity dress from my lovely friend Shauna that she had worn at her own baby shower. That night on Wednesday evening/ early Thursday morning I went into labour... 

37 Weeks... Full Term!

At 37 weeks your pregnancy is classed at full term. If baby Paicey was born now, we wouldn't be classed as premature. The lungs are fully developed and ready for the world and my little baby is just putting on fat gearing up for his or her arrival. 

Ah the arrival. I have so much anticipation! Not only anticipation for meeting our baby and finding out the gender, but anticipation about labour and delivery! I find it very surreal that I could go into labour at any time, and that noone can predict or tell you when or what will happen. Every labour and birth is different, even with subsequent pregnancies. My hubby thinks I am a little strange that I just want the pain to begin. My theory is, it has to happen, so I just want to do it so that it is behind us and I can start to heal and we can start to grow and learn as a new family. 

These days everyone I see or speak to wants to know if I have felt any twinges or pains yet and the text messages have started. My midwife said that if I go overdue (which is highly likely in first pregnancies) they will give me a sweep at 41 weeks and then if I still haven't delivered they will induce me 5 days after the sweep. That means they will let me go 12 days overdue until they induce labour which means I could still have nearly 5 weeks to go at this point! I really should try to focus on something else as time is running slowly now, but that is easier said than done when you are in your 9th month of pregnancy!

This week I've been feeling pressure down low in my abdomen and pelvis. Especially when I try to move in bed or get up from the sofa. I've had more and more sharp shooting pains that feel like the babies head is knocking in my pelvis. Lots of online sites call this lightening crotch or even fanny daggers! It definitely feels like both names are suitable, it is really startling! It does encourage me to bounce on my gym ball to keep babies head engaged and hopefully encourage it to engage further.

The weirdest pregnancy symptom for me has started this week just to add to the general discomfort I'm feeling from being huge, hot and tired. My hands are in some serious pain! It is worse in the morning and the pain is in all my bones but especially my thumbs. Apparently pregnancy carpal tunnel syndrome is normal but who would have thought that your hands would ache like arthritis in late pregnancy? A weird one. My wedding rings are definitely not going back on until after the birth unfortunately. 

I've gotten to the point where I'm struggling to fit my clothes and I refuse to buy new ones. Around the house I've taken to comfort over style (actually even out of the house!). Im wearing dresses that are so short at the front, caused by my big belly that if the doorbell goes i have to stand pulling the front bit down to cover my knickers! Ive got a few maxi dresses that I rotate for wearing out but they are getting super tight across the belly. I still fit my maternity jeans but it is simply too hot for jeans and tights in this weather. I don't imagine I'm the first or the last pregnant woman with just a couple of weeks to go that doesn't want to spend money on very late maternity clothes however if baby Paicey doesn't come soon i might need to stay in my dressing gown all day! 

Weight wise I've gone over the 15kg target set for me by the GP. Im up 15.5kg higher than my pre pregnancy weight with 3 weeks to go. I am starting to eat a lot of junk food now which is bad. Pretty much a treat a day. Im still enjoying fruit and healthy main meals but sneaking in the junk for a little daily treat. I've started to research how much weight you loose after the birth and can see its dependant on the woman, but oh my I am excited to get in shape again. I'm planning on doing lots and lots of walking with baby in the pram or in the close caboo sling I was brought by my lovely friend Katie at my baby shower. Just walking for the first few weeks until my body feels strong enough to attempt something heavier. Then i'm hoping to do Mum and baby yoga with the same teacher I have had through pregnancy and then hopefully some of the other ladies will also be in the class with their babies.

Im not going to be having a professional maternity photo shoot. I had thought about it as it is a lovely time to document but we decided we would rather have photos done of our newborn. I've already found the photographer that we are going to use, I just obviously can't book it in as we don't know what day baby Paicey will make his or her arrival! The photographer likes to shoot the babies at around 8 days old when they are sleepy and still have that natural curled up position to their body from being in the womb. I liked her style as they were all natural with each perfect part of the baby captured.

 I had Mr P come out to our back garden and take some pics of me and the bump before we headed off to a BBQ at the rugby club on Saturday. It was probably the only time this week that I looked decent enough for a photo! The dress is a non maternity dress from Topshop that I had pre pregnancy and is very light material, perfect for a day in the sun. Hope you enjoy the photos xx

Very front heavy!