As you will frequently hear, birth never goes as planned. Thankfully, in our case, our birth plan was “whatever is safest”, so we were well-prepared for the unexpected turn my pregnancy took at the end.

This is quite long because I think the more detailed birth stories are the most helpful. Plus it’s fresh in my mind and I might as well document as much as I can right now. So get cozy and enjoy!

On a Tuesday, we went to the doctor for our weekly check-in. After being evaluated, my doctor confirmed I was at 4cm dilated and estimated 75% effaced. I started dilating during Week 36 with constant progress since then, so my doctor informed us we were basically as far as my body was going to go until contractions start. Then came the discussion of inducement. How far past 40 weeks did I want to wait for the baby to decide on its own birthday? Sometimes nature needs a little help and we were totally okay with that due to the immense pain I had been enduring. After some discussion around the possible size of the baby and how healthy everything had been, we decided on the following Saturday, which would put me at exactly 40 weeks.Read More »

Week… 39

Baby is the size of… a Watermelon.

Highlight of the Week… I started maternity leave this week. Despite the frustrations (see next), I feel incredibly fortunate to spend every day solely focused on my comfort. I take walks, stretch, swim, and nap all on my schedule now, which is amazing. The pain of growing a human persists but managing it is significantly easier. I’m also spoiled to have my husband home right now, and we’re enjoying the time together.

Frustration of the Week… I’ve always been bad at being leisurely and being on maternity leave is bringing it all to light. I don’t enjoy binge watching shows – 1 or 2 episodes and I need to go do something else. I love to read but after an hour, I want to move around or be productive. Everyone tells me to “relax” and “enjoy this time” but I’m sorry to say, easier said than done. That’s completely opposite of my nature. So, I’ve created a small schedule for myself and have mini goals for each day to calm my antsiness but man, I don’t really know how to handle all this free time.

Eating a lot of… Apples and bananas. Aaaaall the apples and bananas.

Cute Thing Hubby Did This Week… Someone is getting jumpy! While enjoying some tv time, I casually reached over to hold hubs’s hand. His face turned to sheer panic, grabbed his phone, and asked, “Contraction?!” Nope, dude, just showing affection. Haha! So sweet though!

A Tidbit… We had a good doctor’s appointment this week. Basically, my body is exactly where it needs to be in preparation for labor. Now, we’re just waiting on contractions. However, baby seems pretty happy in its little home. Lots of squirmy movements but I haven’t had a good bout of false labor pains since last week.