Thursday, May 26, 2016

"Tattoos" & an Unexpected Surprise: Time for a Pregnancy Update!

It blows my mind, but I am already 37 weeks pregnant. It's a bit surreal to think about how in about a month or so, Baby will be out of my belly! Time has been flying by for me, so I thought I'd take a moment to tell you all about my recent life and adventures as a Fat Pregnant Woman ;) 


37 weeks gestation! 
For months, I knew that the day would come when I would feel hugely, uncomfortably pregnant and be unable to move. Just a few weeks ago, while out with friends, I was remarking that I had not reached that point yet, and was happily enjoying a very active lifestyle. Well, when I reached 35 weeks, I hit that intense level of fat, pregnant discomfort. I literally woke up on the morning of Thursday, May 12, unable to easily get out of bed. That morning, I had an appointment and a few errands to run. I was planning to return home to answer e-mails while eating lunch, before driving out to run 3-4 more errands before picking my husband up from work. Well, once I sat on the floor and started eating lunch, there was no way I was getting up.Thankfully, I have mostly gotten past/learned to deal with this. Being active and getting things done is a lot easier now than it was on that fateful day, but getting out of bed-or out of the driver's seat (which, for reasons unbeknownst to me, is a lot harder to get out of than the passenger seat)-is still a bit of a struggle.  

Baby isn't a big mover (I'm convinced he's a hobbit who  just likes to eat, sleep, and do nothing), but sometime around 30ish weeks or so, I think he just got uncomfortable-and I felt like Stacey, from Doctor Who. One evening, I'm sitting with my laptop, and all of a sudden my belly starts moving around. Naturally, the Adipose pills are what I first thought of. 
This is Stacey, from Doctor Who's series 4 episode, 
"Partners in Crime."
On the rare occasion that Baby likes to poke around and move my belly, I continue to feel like I'm in Doctor Who. Just watch Doctor Who series 4 (episode 1) and you'll understand. It's pretty fantastic :) 

A few weeks or so into the third trimester, I confusedly looked at myself in the mirror: What were these awesome, tattoo-like designs streaking across my belly? Where did they come from? What did they mean? As I started at these super cool designs, I realized that the infamous stretch marks had arrived. I had heard about The Vile Stretch Marks from other women, who encouraged pulling out every trick in the book to avoid them. My midwife and I were semi-skeptical about oils or butters erasing all chances of these marks, but from time to time I did it anyway, just for fun. And, after all, what woman wants stretch marks? 
Honestly? 
I think they look like cool designs that didn't require a painful tattooing process. My pregnancy "tattoos" add more color and variety to my pregnant belly, and I don't mind them a bit, at least for now! 

People keep telling me that once babies are born, they grow up fast since time flies by-and do I ever believe them! Honestly, this pregnancy has flown by so quickly, I can't imagine how fast life will zoom by once Baby comes out. It's pretty insane. I've been learning to schedule everything that I want or need to do, otherwise weeks or months will fly before I realize how much time has passed! 

This epic t-shirt was created by one of my good friends.
Wow, I look huge in this picture. I totally 

gained 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks.
#graduationparties
I suppose some of you might be curious about the "unexpected surprise"? I received an interesting little bit of news at my appointment today. The midwife practice that I've been visiting is closing down next month, but since the last day was marked as June 30, and Baby is due in the middle of June, no one made any fuss about anything. Even if Baby comes a couple weeks "late," the midwives will still be around!...or so we thought. Today, the midwife gave me an update: Actually, the practice is closing down just a few days after Baby's "due date." So, unless he comes early or within a couple days of his "due date," then things will be changed up a bit; either I'll go to another hospital (where 2 of the midwives will be practicing) or I'll stay at my hospital and switch to a physician. It's not a super huge deal, but-while I would love Baby to go way overdue and hit the Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist-I've now been telling Baby that actually, he is totally allowed to come a little early or right around his "due date," just to keep things simple. But this little guy seems to have a mind of his own, so who knows what will happen? 

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my pregnant life over here! Aside from the slight difficulties hauling myself out of bed, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself-I'm one of the rare women who (for now, at least) is still able to sleep well at night and feel relatively energized, which is nice. Though the next month may hold even more unexpected surprises. It shall be a great adventure! And if any of you are so inclined to send up a prayer for the midwife practice and a smooth-sailing childbirth (and that we figure out what to do if Baby comes late in the month), that would be grand :) 

12 comments:

  1. You look great! Hang in there for this last stretch. I'll be hoping you don't go overdue, just so you can have the midwife as planned. But that's the funny thing about babies . . . They have a way of changing plans. The stretch marks never really bothered me. It's not like I'm planning on sporting a bikini . . . Ever.

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    1. Thanks, Ann-Marie! Haha, yes, I have no idea what to expect since babies like to be massively unpredictable :P I've also been wondering if he'll come super early, just because I've been a huge procrastinator about getting things done. I'm excited to see what happens! That's great that stretch marks never bugged you! I personally think that there is way too much fuss made about them haha.

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  2. Hopefully these last few weeks won't feel like they drag on forever now that you are feeling somewhat fat and uncomfortable!
    It is more difficult to get out of the driver's seat. I think it has something to do with the steering wheel. I can barely drive now (I'm just 33 weeks) because I'm so short that I won't be able to reach the pedals if I back any further away from the steering wheel. For that matter, my belly prevents me from reaching the bottom of our top-load washer in order to get the clothes out...I don't suppose this means I can leave all the laundry for my husband to complete? ;-)
    I'm definitely praying for a smooth delivery for you and for baby boy to come whenever the time is "right." God knows whenever this is!
    I assume you are ready with a car seat installed and a hospital bag packed?

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    1. Thank you so much for the prayers, Shannon! That makes sense if the steering wheel is what makes things more difficult, since I really don't have problems with the passenger seat at all. Mystery solved! That's too bad that you can barely drive! Haha, I think belly size would definitely be a good reason for you to enlist your husband with the laundry. Plus, it's a good way for him to get into "life with a newborn" mode, right?

      I don't have my hospital bag packed yet, but I do have most of the items that I want in my bag gathered together. It's just a matter of me tossing it in a suitcase or backpack and I should be good, I think! Do you have any recommendations for "must have" hospital items? We haven't gotten our car seat yet, but we finally picked one out, so ordering and installing it is one of the next things on our list! (We recently got an Amazon Prime month-long trial with 2 day shipping, so if needed, we can always take advantage of that, but I think it'll be here in plenty of time)

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    2. An extension cord and your chargers are really helpful for when you are in the hospital, or depending on how long you are at the birth center!

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    3. Awesome, thanks for the tips, Ann-Marie!

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  3. Taylor!!! I'm so excited that we're both so close :) Oh man, that's rough that you hit the discomfort stage! At least it waited until after the wedding-I can't imagine what it would have been like for you if you had been in the "I can't move" stage at that point. I don't think I'm at the "so ready to be done" point quite yet, but I am very excited for the day when I can flop onto my belly again. It's so weird to think about how in the near future, my belly won't be as hard and bulgy! (though it will still be a bit bulgy for a while haha)

    Thanks for the reminder and the prayers! I'm sure it will all work out fine, and the unpredictability of everything makes it more exciting, right? :) We are praying for you guys too! It's crazy to think that literally any day within the next handful of weeks, we could give birth!

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  4. Ha, the "pregnancy tattoos" are less appealing once the baby has been *born* and your stomach starts shrinking and you end up with a whole bunch of funny wrinkles instead of "tattoos" ;) But really, I was never going to wear a bikini again anyway, so whatever!

    I really hope everything works out with your midwife practice! It seems a little strange that they would take on a first-time mom with a due date that close to their practice closing, considering the likelihood of being post-date with the baby... Hopefully the other hospital isn't too far and you can just visit both maternity wings so you're a little more comfortable regardless of the date baby chooses to be born!

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    1. Haha, that's a good point about wrinkles-I'm sure it will all look quite amusing/interesting in the end!
      Thanks so much! I'm sure it will be fine, it was just a bit of a surprise. I don't know much about the process of the decision to close down, but I think this was more of a recent development that they didn't anticipate when they took myself and other women as patients. I'm fairly flexible, I just need to make a decision of what to plan on if the baby decides to come later! :)

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  5. I'd be sure to pack the following:
    -Slippers. If you plan to move around during labor (or after baby is born), you'll want these. I took an old pair I had at home so I could throw them out when I left the hospital (there are so many germs in hospitals...I didn't want to bring them home). If you don't have an old pair, you could purchase a cheap pair.
    -Snacks. The hospital will feed you, of course, but it is nice to have familiar foods on which to snack. Be sure to pack some for your husband, as he may not be able to get away to grab food when he gets hungry.
    -Phone chargers. These are easy to forget, but you'll want them to keep your phones charged for calling loved ones.
    -Camera. We just used the ones on our phones, but if your phone cameras aren't very good, you may want another one.
    -Nightgown and robe or lounging clothes that are easy to nurse in. Personally I didn't want to wear a hospital gown after my first baby was born. After all, I wasn't in the hospital because I was sick! I felt more comfortable in a nightgown or lightweight skirt with a nursing tank top. Consider sticking with dark colors because of postpartum bleeding. :-)

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    1. Oooh, I didn't think about phone chargers! I will make a note of that. Also, that tip about dark colors is handy, and I hadn't though of it. It makes tons of sense! I think I'm going to pick out new lounging clothes to bring haha. Thank you for the advice, Shannon!

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  6. While I have never had a baby, I've wondered the same things too about oils to help street marks...either way you're looking great:)
    I'll bet you both are SO excited to meet the wee one:)

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