38 Weeks... Didn't know I could get any bigger!

Apparently I can... and I will continue to! Unless baby __________ decides to just chill out in there and avoid putting on any more poundage between now and birth. Doubtful.

So I am 38 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. I am still enjoying the pregnancy and I'm not in a huge rush for _______ to get here. I'm sure I'll get more antsy as time goes by, but for now I'm content to relax and enjoy the anticipation of his birth. And all this time to myself, of course.

My Braxton-Hicks continue, especially later in the evening and all through the night. I'll wake up and attempt to roll over but it has gotten REALLY difficult to accomplish this! Poor Luke... he is such a light sleeper, and even with earplugs any slight movement will wake him up. Actually at this point "any slight movement" is more likely similar to a whale thrashing around for 5 minutes on our Queen-sized bed than anything else. So, every time I attempt to roll over, there he is, wide awake. Maybe this is a good time to campaign for a memory foam mattress...!? I think so!

Today one of my midwives came to my house for my weekly check-up. LOVE that aspect of midwifery care! Now she knows how to get to my house when the big day comes. I am so happy I chose a midwife simply for the reason that when my contractions start, rather than hem and haw and try and decide whether to go to the hospital or not, I just page her and she comes to my house to check me. Then she'll let me know whether it's time to go to the hospital or not. SO much less stress on us! I know it's hard for me to make decisions when I'm distracted or stressed out, so this decision being handed to someone else in the comfort of my own home is a huge weight off my shoulders.

According to my midwife, my baby's weight is likely around 8 lbs right now. He has been really consistent in terms of growth week to week. His heartbeat is steady and strong, and he is very active. At my last visit he was head down but face up, which isn't a problem necessarily, but it is more ideal if the baby is head down/face down. (See illustration)

Normal position - The baby rotates slightly and comes out face down:

Apparently when delivering the head comes out much more easily if the baby is facing down (facing my spine) because then the largest part of his head doesn't need to clear the birth canal.

As of today he has spun halfway around again so he is closer to being in the most ideal position, which is great (see the 2nd illustration above). He might keep spinning until I'm in active labour so his current position could change again but I'm not worried. Most babies get into the right position during active labour anyway and end up coming out face down.

Anyway, enough illustrations of naked women and talk of birth canals!

I've been loving blogging lately. It's so much easier to do when I have free time! Before when I was working it was more of a guilt thing - I felt obliged to blog in order to please people (or attempt to please them I guess), but now I feel like I'm blogging for me and I find JOY in it.

The only issue is that I have a whole list of other blogs I follow and I get really impatient when those people don't update as often as I do! As if other people are allowed to have more of a life than me....!!!??? Geez, people. You're not ALLOWED to be busy. You must keep up with me in my blogging frequency with equal zest. No excuses.

:)