jayesel

So. I’ve made it.

Week 36 of pregnancy seems to be a milestone of sorts. Nine months. It’s official.

Just like it’s also official that ZOMG I’M HUGE.

Some stuff about this pregnancy that’s different than my first pregnancy:

1. Braxton Hicks. I had them with Maggie, but at the time I had no idea that’s what I was feeling. I just thought it was the baby stretching. Then once labor started I was all, ooooooohhhh! DUH! But even still, they were NEVER consistent nor were they all that frequent. This time? After last week’s marathon of time-able contractions for TWO DAYS, things have definitely slowed down. But they are more intense and more frequent than the first time around- pretty much 2 to 4 per hour all the time. We’ll see on Friday if anything is actually HAPPENING as a result of all of these.

2. Weight gain. So far I’ve gained 35 pounds. I gained about 40 with Maggie. But I feel SO much different, not nearly as flabby and gross. Part of that is because even though my weight gain is close to the same, I’m about 10 pounds less overall (thanks to being lighter to start with, WOO!) Plus I’ve spent most of the summer chasing a three-year-old around, so that helps keep things in check. But also, I just think I’ve gained weight so much differently- hardly anything in my legs/thighs (I have stretch marks there from my first pregnancy!) and not as much in my arms this time. Overall, I feel pretty good about my weight gain- I’ve been enjoying myself with the food, but I haven’t been completely disgusting about it (because I pay with heartburn if I do!) Another interesting weight-related tidbit? I weighed myself this morning, and I’ve lost 2 pounds since last week. SOMEONE GIMME SOME ICE CREAM, STAT!

3. ITCHY. BELLY. I find it weird that I’m having such issues with this lately, given the fact that it’s summer and humid and when I was pregnant with Maggie, it was winter and very dry and I never had much trouble with itchy belly skin. But this time? IT WAKES ME UP. I have a tube of lotion next to my bed and I’ve been found lubing up my belly at 3am. True story.

4. Ready to be done. I never got to this point with Maggie. I’m guessing mostly it had to do with the fact that I was nervous about being a parent so I felt better about her staying inside my belly- at least I knew she was safe in there and I couldn’t screw up too badly! As far as I was concerned, she could stay in there forever. But this time around, I am ready. SO READY. If it weren’t for some work-related loose ends to tie up, I’d be doing jumping jacks and eating spicy food and working in the yard and doing all those things I’m not supposed to be doing to get labor started. I know it will be hard once she’s born and we’re so tired from waking up every couple of hours and the recovery after labor might be rough… but I know now that it gets better. It gets easier. Things get back to ‘normal’. And really, there IS a cure for tired- taking a nap while baby does! There is only ONE CURE FOR BEING NINE MONTHS PREGNANT.

Let’s get this show on the road, man.