Week 31 – Update, Time and Lists

Week 31: I’ll start this week with an update from my last appointment like I said I would. I saw my secondary midwife, who is equally as wonderful as my primary, and we broached the due date subject right off the bat. She said that they have chatted about what they think makes the most sense, and wanted to run it by me. They are comfortable with keeping the October 7th EDD instead of changing it to September 26th – Yippee! I like my October due date  That being said, we will play things by ear and depending on when I go into labour, they will take both dates into consideration if it is either really early or really late. By doing that, it gives me a 6.5-week window of opportunity to have this baby and it be considered ‘normal’ or ‘term’. That’s huge! My goal now is to put ANY date out of my head (like I usually try to do and advise any expecting parent to do anyway) and answer the “When are you due?” question with “after Caimen starts school”. It’s vague, and it might not be the answer people are looking for – because people want exact due dates to know precisely when your baby will be coming… 🙂 but right now it’s a more accurate prediction compared to one date or another.

Cravings of 31 week:

– kiwi

– Wendy’s frosty!

– water (does this count?)

Is Pineapple safe during pregnancy?

Everything is right on track and super healthy; baby’s heart rate was 140 bpm and my blood pressure was 106/60 (which is low but normal for me). My measurement was 31 cm, which is slightly above average but I always measured big with Caimen too so that doesn’t surprise me. I asked about which position the baby is in (if they could tell, as sometimes those babies are sneaky!) and she said it seems to already be head-down! At the time, she was facing my left side, but that changes almost daily.

My next appointment is this Thursday already! Both of my midwives are on vacation so I am seeing another one, who is not on my file this time around, but who was my secondary last time and was at Caimen’s birth! It will be nice to see her again.

So I’ve been feeling weird about ‘time’, and I know that in itself is a weird thing to say, so let me explain. It was made inherently clear to me last Friday that time goes on no matter what. I am a procrastinator, and try not to worry or think about things that I’m not looking forward to until they are here; I like to live in the moment and focus on what is going on now. A few Fridays ago, I was on the Global Morning Show (and if you are Ken or a few of my close friends or family, you know that I was absolutely green with nerves and feeling anxious the entire week leading up to it. I had no desire to be on TV! Wednesday was the worst day, but I kept saying, it’s ok, tomorrow is Thursday so I can worry about it then. Well then something happened: I woke up on Thursday (after pretty much NO sleep and nightmares about the show) feeling unexpectedly BETTER about it! The day went on, and I knew the clock was counting down but I think I just accepted the fact that Friday morning was coming no matter what I did. There was actually nothing I could do to stop it, or slow it down. Friday morning came and it went really well – it was really fun and although I was SO relieved to have it over with, I can honestly say I would happily do it again.

Reminiscing about my nerves leading up to the show, how it came and went, and inevitably happened whether I liked it or not, got me thinking about the time left in this pregnancy, and how again, like it or not, this baby is coming on a certain date and there is nothing I can do to speed it up or slow it down.

A few of you have heard me express that I’m ‘in denial’ about how far along I am. Take this to mean what you want, but to me, it means many things, both good and bad. Here is my top ten list (in no particular order) of what I am ready for and what I’m not ready for regarding what is going to happen after Caimen starts school 😉

What I’m NOT ready for this week:

1. The pregnancy to be over! I know I have 2ish (BIG emphasis on ‘ish’) months left, but July flew by with me thinking it was June the whole time and I know the fall will be here before I know it.

2. My belly to be gone. I love having a big round belly; how it feels, how it looks, and what’s inside is pretty darn cool too!

3. No more kicks and squirms. This is definitely one of my favourite things and even though it happens multiple times a day, it’s always cool. The super creepy phantom kicks afterwards just aren’t the same.

4. The end of the loving belly rubs I get from Ken, Caimen and my fam/friends.

5. Even less sleep at night (if you remember from a previous blog post of mine, I am a crappy sleeper as-is).

6. The demands of a newborn and how frequent they are! Caimen is frequently demanding, but in very different ways; ways that I have gotten used to and I am in the 4-year-old zone, so I think having to switch back (and forth) to newborn will be a challenge.

7. The fact that this baby could be a lot more demanding than Caimen was as a baby. He was incredibly easy (ate well, slept well, was and still is easy-going) and I might be a bit spoiled. What if this baby is super high-needs?

8. Less time for Ken and I together – we like our evenings after Caimen goes to sleep, and the new baby won’t be in any sort of bedtime routine for a loooooong time.

9. The fact that this baby might be a boy! No boys names picked – nothing even appeals to us!

10. Explosive poops, up and out the armholes. How does that even happen?!

What I AM ready for this week:

1. Breastfeeding. It’s such a special and rewarding relationship.

2. Seeing Caimen as the wonderful big brother I know he is going to be.

3. Seeing Ken as a new dad for the second time around as he is really excited to enjoy the ‘raisen baby stage’ as he calls it (newborn stage) much more this time.

4. Sleeping baby on my chest.

5. To meet this little one and see who she is! I am excited to see if there is any resemblance to Caimen and what genetic combination nature has come up with this time around.

6. Baby snuggles, soft baby skin, and the amazing newborn smell.

7. Watching another Being that Ken and I have created grow, learn and develop; it has been one of my favourite things about having and staying home with Caimen and I’m ready to watch it all again.

8. A drink! I would love to enjoy a nice cold beer or cider in our backyard while the weather is warm.

9. Bending over comfortably without feeling like I’m crushing my baby’s head.

10. Our family growing

There’s only so much you can do to prepare for a new baby joining your family, no matter what number it is. So much of it is abstract until they are actually here. I am going to do my best to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy, look forward to what’s to come, and prepare myself mentally for the inevitable addition who is just around the corner.