Month 7 (weeks 28-31)

Ha Ha ha…..Ha Ha….HA. I have officially said goodbye to my belly button and I’m super sad about that.

Fuck I’ve been REALLY feeling extra pregnant lately. The belly just feels so large, like it’s large and for sure in charge 😂 But I’ve noticed a routine or rhythm of baby’s growth. I’ll typically have a day or two of increase in baby’s movements, followed by a day or two of increased nausea and exhaustion, followed lastly by a day or two of exhaustion and intense belly/skin stretching. And this has been happening every week and a half or so since about halfway through the pregnancy.

And it’s SO crazy to physically FEEL baby growing, to FEEL my skin stretching while they’re kicking and moving and stretching my uterine muscles and ligaments to make more room. Man the human body is pretty fucking cool.

Also, fuck these hormones. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much or as hard as I have the last week. My emotions have been INTENSE.

month 8 (weeks 32-35)

Fuuuuuck I feel so pregnant 😂

Baby dropped at 32.5 weeks. I was NOT ready for that, Killian didn’t drop until I was in labor (he was acynclytic AF). But this one, they dropped early and fast. I noticed I could breathe easier but that my heartburn ramped up. As well as being able to place my entire hand above my belly and below my boobs. Ended up going to chiro the following Wednesday and one of the first things out of his mouth was “you’re looking like you’ve dropped.” Yeah I feel like it too. I’ll sit down and it’s like “nope can’t sit that way, that’s a baby’s head in my butthole.”

At almost 34 weeks, we had some really stressful events happen in the family that triggered a whole bunch of contractions that ranged from 2-10 minutes apart, for like 12 hours, that I eventually went to labor and delivery to make sure baby wasn’t coming early. Thankfully it was just the stress, and I was able to get them to stop the following morning, but that was really stressful in itself.

I’m counting down until I hit 36 weeks and am in my home birthing window. I feel like I have so much stress happening on just getting TO 36 weeks. My trauma response keeps expecting the other shoe to drop even though I’ve had such an easy, enjoyable, and beautiful pregnancy so far. Fuck anxiety.

Had my home visit with my midwife at 35+6 and myself and baby are doing amazing! As she was palpating my belly, baby was LOA (optimal positioning) and verrrrry low in my pelvis. It was like “yeah, I feel them in my butthole all the freaking time”

month 9 (weeks 36-Birth)

36 Weeks: I MADE IT TO 36 WEEKS!!! I cannot describe the joy and relief I have being in my birthing window. The last week my Braxton Hicks have definitely begun changing, they’re getting more intense and beginning to randomly wrap around to my back. I can feel the changes within my body happening (like the extra relaxin making EVERYTHING super loose), and it’s a pain in the ass (not just because baby’s head is still there).

At 36+2 I had a very eventful bout of prodromal labor that started at about 11 pm at night (36+1). At about 12:45 am (36+2) they were about 8 minutes apart and about 50 seconds long and I knew that if it was real labor I needed to get as much sleep as possible, so I laid down and tried to fall asleep. I made it to about 2:30 am before they started waking me for every single contraction. They felt like they were getting more intense. At about 4:30 am there was a big shift that happened and I wasn’t able to keep laying down, I HAD to get up and decided to go downstairs so I didn’t wake Sam or Killian up. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart, lasting just over one minute long, and definitely way more intense. I also had a hankering for pancakes so I decided to try and cook some pancakes to keep me occupied while I listened to an audiobook. By 4:50 am I had burned my first pancake and melted a spatula, and decided Sam needed to wake up as I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I also decided to call my midwife to let her know what was going on. We made a plan that I would call in 30-60 minutes to update her since I wasn’t sure I was actually in labor. Sam came down to finish cooking me pancakes, and at 5:24 am I felt another hormones surge and started throwing up, so called my midwife again. I told her I wasn’t sure if it was actual labor or prodromal labor but she said she would come check on me and baby anyways and we could make a plan. After throwing up I went and kneeled down in the table top position against my couch and felt everything begin to calm down. That’s when I realized that baby had move to the right side right after my vomiting session. I also realized that the big change when I was laying down, baby was on my left side after being on my right side all day (so I was started to notice a pattern). My midwife got to the house a little after 6 am and both me and baby were perfect. She did do a vaginal exam to see if any change was being made to my cervix (really the only way to tell if it’s real labor or prodromal) and my cervix was not changing. So a glass of wine or Benadryl was recommended and to keep her updated if anything changed. MAN O MAN. Fuck prodromal labor is all I have to say.

Now it’s just taking things day by day and week by week. Trying to make the best of the unknown and patiently waiting until baby is born. I know they’ll join us whenever they’re ready.

I just have to keep reminding myself that there’s so much beauty in uncertainty

38 Weeks: And that’s difficult as FUCK. I made it to 38 weeks and I’m so excited that baby made it this far. There’s so much development that happens (lung wise) that before 38 weeks can be hit or miss with baby needing help. I wasn’t too worried about it as Sam was born at 36 weeks and I was born at 37 weeks. But these last 2 weeks have seriously been a mind fuck.

I did NOT have any of this mental mind fuck with Killian. I mean I get it, I was fucking miserable with HG the entire pregnancy so his was definitely more physical. But man, this prodromal labor is seriously a mind fuck. It fucks with everything you’ve worked on and “expected.” It fucks with your trust. It fucks with your intuition. It fucks with trying to surrender and letting go of everything. It makes you angry, and I wasn’t expecting to be so angry. So trying to really work through these unexpected emotions and trust my body. Trust my baby. And to trust this process.

39 Weeks:

39+2: I started losing my mucus plug.

39+3: HOLY FUCKING MUCUS PLUG BATMAN. Now I lost my much plug at 37 weeks, and I’ll admit it was a bit. But this, this was different. It was never ending. It was shocking the amount of mucus plug that exited my body. And in all honesty, it fucking grossed me out 😂 I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had send me photos of their mucus plug and I’m unphased. But going to the bathroom and having just globs of this coming out of your body…it was intense.

39+4: At 4:00 pm my waters released….