40 Week Pregnancy Update

All of my previous pregnancy update posts covered four-week time spans.  But now that things are getting down to the wire (hello, 40 weeks), I figured I had better pop back in for one last update.

I’m not going to lie, I sort of hoped I wouldn’t get to this post.  But here we are at 40 weeks pregnant!

This week, baby is the size of a: small pumpkin (or approximately 20 inches and 7.5 pounds).

Due date: July 13, 2017, AKA today!

Gender: To be discovered SOON.  We are definitely very eager to find out whether baby is a boy or girl.  On my personal Facebook page, my family and friends’ guesses definitely favored boy.  We’ll have to see if they are right!  What do you think?

Exercise: Prenatal yoga and walking, but only when I have to.  Long story short: I stubbed my big right toe in January and ended up with a black and blue toenail.  I accidentally hit said toe/foot on our bed post two weeks back, my toenail fell off, and I was left with a very sore toe/foot.  As a result, I’ve pretty much been avoiding a whole lot of walking.  So much for walking the baby out!

Maternity clothes: I am only wearing maternity clothing at this point, except for about two t-shirts and one pair of pajama shorts that aren’t maternity and somehow still fit.

Belly button: Still out and still looking as weird as ever!

Sleep: For being 40 weeks pregnant, I feel pretty good with where I am at in the sleep department.  I average about eight hours of sleep per night with two to three bathroom breaks thrown in there.  I have also been trying to get to bed earlier or incorporate naps into my days whenever possible since I know one of these days I am going to need to be as rested as possible for labor and delivery.

Food cravings/aversions: Honestly, nothing really sticks out.  I feel like I’ve been eating a lot of veggie-packed, healthy meals and quite a few not-as-healthy snacks.  Balance, right?

Symptoms: I don’t have any major complaints right now.  I’m definitely pretty exhausted and some of my bladder pressure/frequency of urination is back now that baby has dropped lower.  I’ve also been feeling crampy and have had some lower back pain, all of which I am hoping are good signs of some type of progression.

Movement: Baby is still rolling and moving as much as he or she can.  There is not a whole lot of room left in there at this point!

Labor signs: As I mentioned above, I’ve had period-like cramps and lower back pain, but I cannot say with certainty that these have been contractions.  I guess it is just hard to know when you really have no clue what to expect.

As far as dilation and effacement goes, I have no clue.  I actually ended up deciding not to get checked at any of my remaining appointments since dilation before labor tends to be pretty meaningless, and I really didn’t want it mentally psyching me out.

What I miss: I miss the feeling of not counting down the days.  It really wasn’t until the 39th week that I started getting more anxious about going into labor.  And now that we are here at 40 weeks, I feel like it is one of the few things on my mind!  I just keep trying to remind myself that baby cannot stay in there forever.  I am glad that I definitely feel as ready as I can be because a few weeks ago I definitely was not at that point.

What I’m loving: I am loving that we are so close to meeting baby and finding out if we are having a boy or a girl.  I am also loving my pregnant belly as much as possible because I know it is something I am absolutely going to miss once it is gone.

What’s coming up: Meeting our little babe!