Blog from an overdue (crabby) pregnant chick

Does my belly look as big as it feels?!

Its official. I have been welcomed into a club that most pregnant women dread being a part of- the overdue pregnant chicks club. I am now OVER 40 weeks pregnant, and definitely feeling it. Its miraculous that my body can even stretch more than it already has (and believe me, it has) but somehow baby and I manage to continue growing. At my 40 week appointment (which I never thought/hoped I'd make it to), my midwife estimated that the baby is currently 7 1/2 lbs. It makes me a little concerned because at this time in the pregnancy, they say the baby grows about 1/2 a lb a week and they'll let me go 2 more weeks  before inducing me! Hearing the size of our baby also makes things seem so real. She could come out and be a full-sized healthy baby.

I think I focused so hard on my due date and forgot to remember that the due date is an actual estimated due date. My midwife tells me that my lack of any signs of labor is completely normal for first time moms, and that most deliver around 41 weeks. At this point, I feel like I can absolutely handle that (which is good because I have to), but the anticipation and excitement has been building so much that I feel like I'm going to explode. Its to the point where my wonderful friends and family are checking in on me on a daily basis, and I feel like I'm letting people down having to say "Nope- nothing yet. . . not even close." I just can't wait for that day when I can send that message or that e-mail and picture welcoming our little bundle of joy to the world.

There are just a few things that I'm having troubles with. Work: Its difficult to wake up early on little to no sleep (I know, I know- I'll have to get used to it) and sit, sit, SIT! When I sit down, it compresses my abdomen, and then baby's big butt jams into my rib cage. I've been doing the stairs at each of my bathroom breaks, which is quite often, so that gives me a boost of energy and keeps me moving a little. Getting up: I had been so proud of my self for being so independent. I still put my compression socks and shoes on in the morning, rolling out of bed, and getting up off the couch, but honestly, all of those things have become 2 person tasks. Luke is so used to rolling me out of bed when I get up in the middle of the night, helping me up when I'm in a low chair, taking my socks off for me, putting my shoes on. If I try to do it alone, it is accompanied with a lot of unintentional grunting. Relaxing: My friend who just had a baby told me that I should rest up now while I can because once baby comes, rest will be forgotten. Its difficult because I don't want to sit around and dwell on the fact that I'm still pregnant, so I've been trying to stay busy and active and may be overdoing it.

A while back, my mom invited me to Madame Butterfly Opera at the Ordway. She asked, "What do you want to be doing on your due date if you're not having the baby?"I responded, "Well I hope I'll have a baby by then, but I obviously wasn't and she had tickets to the opera that she got from one of her clients and she wanted to take ME! Attending an opera was on both of our bucket lists, and let me tell you- I'm so glad we went. The Ordway is so beautiful and the voices were out of this world. Plus, its nice to have some mother daughter time.  Luke and I went last night and walked over 3 miles at the MOA then went to a movie. It felt so nice to be out and shop and walk, but at the same time, by the time we got to our 7:55p movie, I felt like I was ready to fall asleep! I came home thinking, 3 miles, heck yeah- that'll make something happen. Wrong-o! I woke up equally as pregnant as I was the night before. I think I've reached the point that I no longer want to try the labor inducing remedies, I just want to relax and enjoy the down time I have.

For now I'm going to kick back and try to relax a little. Maybe open a book and indulge in a delicious snack! Happy Saturday, everyone :)