My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 38 Weeks

How far along:  38 Weeks, 3 days

Symptoms:  I feel contractions every now and again but they’re not strong enough or consistent enough to put me into labor. 

Labor Progress (Dilation and Effacement):   My 38 week appointment was today.   I’m still 1cm dilated, but this time I was 50% effaced (thinned out).  Doc said that the effacement was caused by me losing my mucus plug.  It also means that I may be more dilated/effaced next time.  Let’s hope so!  The next appointment is when I will find out if my doctor will induce me or not.

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity clothes.  Some workout pants and a few t-shirts aren’t maternity, but that’s about it.

Weight Gain:   Up 32 1/2  pounds. 

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty well to be honest.  Usually wake up once or twice a night to pee but that’s it.  I have been having interruptions to my sleep but they’re not pregnancy related.  Carter has actually decided that he wants to try to potty train himself at night.  See, we potty trained him already a couple of months ago, but like most kids his age, you potty train for the daytime and make them wear underwear but at night they still wear a pullup because it’s unreasonable to expect a 2 year old to “hold it” for 12 hours when we ourselves can’t even do that.  Anyway, he’s decided he doesn’t want to tee tee in his pullup so he wakes up and cries for us to take him to the bathroom.  We’re working on making him stay in the bed and go back to tee tee-ing in his pullup but we’ll see how it goes.  God knows I do NOT need to be woken up a million times a night by a newborn AND by my almost 3 year old!

Belly Button:  Still a teeny tiny outtie, but not much at all.  More flat than anything else.

Stretch Marks:  None.

Cravings/Aversions:   Lately it’s looking like Garrett loves a Krispy Kreme donut.  I can’t get enough of them.  But I do my best to make those indulgences sporadic.

Exercise Routine:  Was only able to workout 3 times this week….VERY busy week for me.  It was 1 Pure Barre classes and I walked 3.5 miles around my neighborhood twice.  It’s starting to feel SO nice outside here so I’m loving those walks.  It’s about to be all I do because I only have one class left of my Pure Barre package and I’m using that tomorrow.  I doubt I will buy another one for a while.  Two kids with a husband out of town all the time….there’s just not great options for me to go to Pure Barre all that frequently.  Which is a shame…I love it there and have developed some great friendships with the instructors and other attendees.

Baby Size:  At 38 weeks, baby is the size of a pumpkin.  How appropriate since it’s fall!!!  Anyway, he’s roughly 6 1/2 - 7  pounds now and about 19-20 inches.  With Carter, my entire family wrote down on one sheet of paper what they thought his stats would be and the time they thought he would come.  Justin’s family won all three-the time, the height and the weight.  Carter was born at 7lbs, 11oz and 20 1/2 inches long.  I don’t think Garrett will be that big.  Not that Carter was big, that’s actually a completely normal stat for a 40 week baby.  I think Garrett will be in the low 7lb range (maybe 7.3 or 7.4) and maybe slightly shorter, like 20 inches instead of 20.5.  That being said, I thought he was a girl, so my momma instincts aren’t working this pregnancy so we shall see.

Movement:   I still feel him move around in there, but he is running out of room so he doesn’t do it all that often.  I am using the fetal doppler a little more these days just to check on him since he doesn’t move as much.  But this is normal at this stage so I’m not worried.

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  Still noticing swelling in my fingers every now and again, but not consistently.  Just depends on the day.  Still wearing my rings though.  This week I also noticed some swelling in the feet if I’ve been up and walking around all day.  Again, depends on the day.  If it’s a day where I’m not doing much, there’s no swelling.

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:   Had the 38 week appointment (see above for further progress).  Next appointment is Friday at 8:30am.  This is the mack daddy appointment.  I will find out if my doctor thinks I’m progressed enough to induce at 39 weeks.  If I am, we will induce the following Monday, October 27th.  A whopping 7 days from now.   Eeeeeeeeekkk!!!!  If not, I imagine I will go past my due date again.

Nursery Developments:   DONE!  Justin hung the shelf and some frames on the wall and that was the last thing I needed to do.  I’ll take some pictures soon and add them.

Bump Pic for Week 38: