Last Thursday marked the 37th week of my pregnancy, meaning I’m now at full term. Isabelle is now comfortably resting in the womb and rolling around throughout the day (“comfortably” being very much a relative term here). We’re just waiting for her to drop as a signal that she’s ready to come out. There are people who had their first child as early as 35 weeks, and there are those around us who had theirs as late as 42 weeks.
So… I guess she’ll be here any day now.
At 6 lbs. 11 oz., Belle has fully turned, so now, her head is at the bottom, her spine is to my right, and her buttocks are right at the top. This means that I’ve been walking around the last couple weeks with a lopsided tummy. It also means that Jin and I have really gotten into poking her butt whenever we want to get her attention.
Actually, it’s mostly me.
She’s still sunny-side up, which means she’s facing the sky. The doctor told me that the optimal position is for her to be facing down, but there’s nothing we can do to get her into that position, so the ball’s in her court.
Sleeping has been a challenge as of late. I wake up 2-3 times a night either because Belle doesn’t like the way I’m sleeping and kicks me awake, or she’s pressing down on my bladder and I have to pee. This, plus staying away from caffeine means I’m sitting at work feeling like a zombie on most days. I find myself treasuring the weekends when I can take as many naps as I want throughout the day and still go to bed at 10:30 PM. So when people tell me to get as much sleep NOW while I still can, it makes me wonder exactly how much sleep I WON’T be getting once she’s here and the nightly feeding/changing merry-go-round begins.
And as much as I’m looking forward to seeing her, holding her… and getting to really know this tiny new human, I’m trying to enjoy what last few days I have left in my pregnancy as much as possible.