Pumpkin Update: You had that baby yet?

Welcome to what SHOULD be my last Pumpkin update before his big arrival! I can’t believe I will be 40 weeks in just 3 days. My night-shirt is definitely getting a run for its money in this latest photo… STRRRREEEETCH!

Baby boy is still riding super low and even my midwife gets wide eyes whenever she sees how low and out he’s sitting. I thought K was a low rider but this little pumpkin is taking the term to a whole new level. Hence why my hips and pelvis are nice and sore. Oh and that iconic pregnancy waddle? Yeah I’ve mastered it. I particularly love when my waddle gets a slight hiccup when baby boy hits a nerve in one of my hips giving me a quick dead-leg sensation. Turns my waddle into a wiggle-dip-waddle. Clearly he has a future in choreography.

Other than that things have been pretty smooth over all and although everyone keeps telling me I probably won’t make it to 40 weeks I’m not showing too many signs of actual labor. No mucus plug, waters are still in-tact, no substantial contractions. Plenty of ‘prep’ but nothing more.
I mentioned before that my Braxton Hicks contractions have been stronger over all throughout this pregnancy, which I attribute to my body having done it all before, but here lately they are much more frequent and even stronger. Not painful, just powerful. Any time I shift positions from laying to sitting or sitting to standing I’ll get one, which makes it SUPER comfortable when I get up to pee and all of a sudden my uterus turns into giant rock {think one of the Trolls from Frozen} sitting directly on my bladder. AWESOME! They strike at random times as well. A few nights ago I did have some patterned BHs which was new, but they only lasted for about 2 hours so my RED ALERT button wasn’t flashing too brightly. Z started to catch on when he noticed me poking my belly and checking my phone every 10 minutes so he decided to stop drinking his gin and tonic just in case. :) BUT, since I’m still here and still bump-tastic, it was clearly just practice. I’m fairly thankful that they are happening at all times of the day because I’m getting plenty of practice relaxing through them in different situations.

I’ve been getting lots of looks and comments in the last week that aren’t necessarily making me anxious but aren’t helping my patience either. Mostly stuff like, “Are you due TODAY?”, “Any day now, huh?”, “My goodness, when are you due?” and my personal favorite from a slender, 20-something cashier at Target, “Tell me, what’s it like having a big belly?”. Luckily I can laugh them off and move on, but being so close to the end, anyone would get a little impatient as a result of all the questions.

On a side note, I finally had my very first stranger-touching-my-belly experience about 2 weeks ago when a salesman came by the house. I opened the door {wearing my devilishly stylish and ill-fitting paint clothes} and the following conversation went down:

Salesman: Well hello! Are you the queen of this castle or are you just robbing the place? – yes he actually said that
Me: Um, yes. This is my house.
Salesman: {noticing my bump} My goodness you are about to pop aren’t you?
Me: {rolls eyes} Yes, yes I am.
Salesman: Well my, my, my how wonderful

As he says this last line he lunges at me in the doorway and puts both hands on my stomach. UMMMMM, excuse me? I was in such shock it was all I could do to throw my hands up in the air and back up further into the house while saying, “Can I help you with something?”
Needless to say I didn’t buy what he was selling. People, man.

We finally got around to taking a tour of the hospital where he’ll be born and absolutely love it! It’s a beautiful facility that is extremely natural-friendly and they even have an outdoor serenity garden that I can labor in. Namaste baby!
We’ve got just about everything else ready for baby boy’s arrival with the exception of a few things to add to the hospital bag. I’ve been slacking on that front. But the bouncer, bassinet, and nursery are all set. AND this morning I watched Z carry the car seat down the steps to install in the Flex which gave me a great rush of excitement, joy, anxiety, and a little bit of panic. A feeling that repeated itself when I went to put K in her seat so we could run some errands and saw both seats side-by-side for the first time. He’s really almost here!

At my 39 week appointment my midwife told me that baby boy is currently presenting posterior {or sunny side up} like K was, which means unless I can get him to shift before his birth I’ll most likely have back labor again as the back of his skull will be against my spine. Super fun. She gave me a great position to try that might help him roll over, and I’ve been scoping out Spinning Babies tips, so I’m doing them as often as possible but trying not to get too worried about it.

Obviously at this point we are just trying to soak in our time as a family of 3 and waiting until Thundercats are go! Here’s hoping the next baby update involves photos of our sweet boy!

Until next time…