40 weeks

Hello, due date.

 

 I'm 40 weeks today and it's time for this little lady to make her grand entrance. Just so I'm clear, while I may be welcoming my due date, I certainly expected it to bring me a baby. I do not want to go past my due date and it's become rather clear that I'm going to. :( As impatient as I've become over the past couple of weeks, I truly am glad that I made it to 40 weeks. However, if I hit 41 weeks, I may
or may not freak out. Don't say I didn't warn you.

 

There aren't really any updates. Other than remaining nice and comfy, all that continues to happen is weight gain (for both baby and mama!) and her hair/nails grow longer. Exciting news, right?!

 

At my appointment last Thursday, we found out that I'm now closer to 3cm dilated and still around 80% effaced. I know they say you can walk around with this much progress for some time without labor, but it seriously blows my mind. I have to reach 10cm to have a baby and I'm already almost a 1/3 of the way there. How do we NOT have a baby!!? My OB wants to strip my membranes first thing tomorrow morning. This is a more natural way to help bring on labor. I really, really want to avoid inducing at all costs, so please pray that it works! This process will typically start labor (not immediately - I've read that it usually happens anywhere from 6 hours to several days later) and works well IF the woman's body is ready. Clearly, mine seems to be ready. Let's hope it works!!!

 



How far along? 40 weeks

Baby's size? a jackfruit

Total weight gain:  32 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes! I'm SO ready to pack these away!!!!

Sleep: It's actually been decent. I still get up a few times to use the bathroom, but I'm able to get back to sleep quickly. This is much better than the 5-8 trips a night I experienced there for a while.

Best moment(s) this past week: As eager as I am, I really enjoyed this past week. We went to a happy hour/dinner with friends. We had takeout and watched a movie on Friday. I celebrated a best friend's birthday Saturday. So, we enjoyed what will *hopefully* be our last free week/weekend sans a baby. I won't go into the details about all the time spent trying to naturally induce labor over the weekend.

Miss Anything?  Nothing new.

Movement: Yep, she still wiggles and moves a lot. Just enough to make 5pm-10pm really uncomfortable.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing new.

Cravings: Nothing in particular.

Labor Signs: Well, the contractions had lessened throughout the week, but seemed to have picked back up over the weekend. With all the progress I've made, I really don't understand how this baby is still taking her sweet time!

Gender: GIRL!

Symptoms:  I can make it through an entire work day feeling perfectly fine and not so much like I'm 40 weeks pregnant. However, by the end of the day I'm dying. I think my body is just super exhausted (from the day and pregnancy in general) and this is Ellie's most active time of day. All I want to do is relax, but I can't get comfortable to safe my life. I wore boots to work on Friday that have a very small heel (maybe a 1/2 an inch or so). That was a bad idea. My feet were swollen all night! I was hoping I'd make it through my pregnancy without swollen feet. Thankfully, they seem to be back to normal today. On the bright side, I think I've made it to 40 weeks without a stretch mark! Knock on wood that this doesn't change within the next few days!

Belly Button in or out? Out and stretched wide.

Wedding rings on or off? on :)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Really happy, but REALLY impatient and anxious.

Looking forward to:  Hopefully meeting Baby Girl this week!!
 

 40 weeks: Mama

 

40 weeks: Ellie

 

Seriously praying and hoping this sweet girl graces us with her presence soon. Please pray that the membrane sweep works, for a healthy and smooth delivery, and most importantly, a healthy baby!

 

Thanks, friends. Hopefully you won't see a 41 week board post next week. :)

 

Goodbye, due date!