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| 36 Weeks! Feeling ready! Nursery and newborn essentials are good to go! |
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| 37 Weeks! |
Baby: At 36-37 weeks the baby is nearing full term! This means that the baby could be born anytime now and is equipped with what she needs to survive life on the outside! She is around 7lbs and around 19-20 inches.
Movement: I have been feeling tiny little rhythmic pulses down below my belly button on the left side. These are precious little hiccups that come and go. I also feel her quite often through out the day. Her movements feel like she is rolling or sliding her legs/ feet and trying to get comfortable. Every now and then I will feel a big kick in the ribs- ouch!
Cravings? Lately I have been loving and craving the Starbucks bbq briscuit sandwich on sour dough. It’s probably what I want my first meal to be after delivery!
Symptoms: This week, sleep has been hard to come by- I think God might be preparing me for something!! 😉 My hips/pelvic bone hurts late at night and I feel a pressure when I get out of bed that gets better as I walk around. When you are pregnant, your body produces a hormone called relaxin that actually allows your bones and ligaments to spread for a safer & roomier passageway for baby! So as the baby drops lower into my pelvis, I know this will only continue to get worse until she finally makes her debut.
Labor signs: Been having slight onset of menstrual cramps, but nothing consistent. Usually happens during the night. Normally if I go to the bath room and drink a big glass of water it goes away, but last night was the first night it didn’t go away for a bit longer. Last two weeks I have been checked at the doctors office, she says my cervix is “favorable,” that I am dilated (open) 1-2 centimeters and I am 80% effaced (thinned out). Just for your knowledge, 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced means the baby is coming out. 🙂 So I am at least making progress! At my last doctor appt, we got an ultrasound to make sure everything is going well and make sure nothing is blocking her head from being engaged in my pelvis. It was fun to see her on the screen as we haven’t had an ultrasound since week 21 to find out the gender.
Highlights from the past two weeks:
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| Kidnapping Felicia for a girls morning out for her birthday! We got pampered with pedicures, Starbucks and chocolate covered strawberries! It was definitely a treat! |
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Lunch with the Scotts! In this picture I am 37 Weeks and my friend Kea is one week ahead of me! Loved getting to talk about our pregnancy journeys & how fun it would be if we went into labor at the same time!
 Great time with this group of friends finding the “Escape Code” with 2 minutes to spare! What a fun night!
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Exercise: At 38 weeks I have decided to put teaching fitness classes/ instructing dance on hold. I will really miss it, but I am hoping to be rested and ready for the delivery. I am so glad that I have stayed teaching throughout my pregnancy as it has helped in SO many ways!
Diet/Weight: At my last appt. I weighed in at 154! My bump is gradually growing and my weight gain lately has been slow and steady (maybe a 0.5-1 pound a week). I have not gotten any stretch marks thus far and my belly button went from being an “innie” to being completely flat & tiny. Kinda funny looking! 🙂
Prayer needs: Please pray for a safe & uncomplicated delivery! Pray for my doctors, nurses, labor support and of course, for Audrey Grace to be healthy!
Looking forward to: Seeing when labor will actually begin and what it will feel like. It’s such a weird time right now as I try to proceed to live life as I normally would, but also knowing that it could happen at ANY time! Crazy to think how much our life is going to change- but we are excited for it!!! Also, I am looking forward to attending a breastfeeding class and Infant Safety/ CPR class this week.
Thankful for: My husband, who has been my rock during this pregnancy. When things are overwhelming or stressful, he has been there to hold me, comfort me & tell me that everything is going to be okay. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! We are looking forward to becoming parents together.
I am wondering when the last blog post “bump date” will be and when I will actually get to post about our new little love!! 🙂 I’ll update you either way!
Until next time,
XOXO
Dorothy & Audrey Grace
