This is what I look like at 6:30am when I can't sleep--dirty mirror, burnt out lightbulb, and all. 36 weeks 2 days
I am a big ball of stress.
Christmas is coming and I’m not going to have half of the gifts I’m knitting finished in time. Twig is coming and I feel like my list is incredibly long considering that I thought I had nothing to do a few months ago. Money is tight and I still have things I need to get for Christmas and Twig, not to mention regular household expenses and a few bigger ticket items I need to buy like cat food and laundry detergent. My house is a mess. I am still not over this dang cold even though the husband and Peanut have been better for a week. I just feel stressed out.
Really though, it’s not that much in the end. I keep trying to remind myself of that. People don’t care if their Christmas gifts are a little late. A lot of the stuff I need to do or get for Twig isn’t really necessary before he/she is born. Money will work itself out, even if it’s more tight that I was planning on it being this month. The house will eventually get clean, even if we have to eat out of tupperware for a while. I’m giving up and going to the doctor, so that should take care of the cold. We will survive. Life is not that bad. These are all middle class problems. Things could be much worse.
In spite of that last paragraph, I am still a big ball of stress!
How did you get rid of stress in the last days of pregnancy? Someone please tell me that it doesn’t matter if we don’t order a new Nose Frida before Twig arrives!
I am now 36 weeks and 2 days pregnant. The cold symptoms have let up enough that I am readily able to notice the awful heartburn again, but not enough that I am able to get the little amount of sleep that my pregnant body and toddler trying to kick me off the bed allows me to get. I literally woke up over a dozen times last night. Ugh.
Speaking of heartburn, I was all excited when the books and other such calendars started telling me that the baby could “drop” soon. Relief from the heartburn and shortness of breath! Yay! Oh wait, since you’re a second-time mom, the baby likely won’t drop until you’re in labor. WTF? That is so not fair.
Speaking of not fair, what’s up with these Braxton Hicks contractions? It’s said that they’re not supposed to be painful, but I beg to differ. It used to be just when something was touching my belly, but now I frequently find myself stopping to breathe. Certainly not as painful as labor contractions, but also certainly not painless. My midwife told me at my last appointment that I’m “nice and tight” in my belly, so maybe that makes them worse? Either way, all this pre-labor better mean that I don’t have to work as hard in real labor. If only it worked that way, huh?
I’ve also developed this lovely new symptom of incredible rib pain that won’t go away. It kept me up half the night tossing and turning two nights ago. My midwife showed us this super cool thing to help move the baby around and that usually makes it subside. I can’t remember the name of it, but you fold a sheet in half “hot-dog style” and the pregnant woman lays on it in the middle, then the partner grabs one end of the sheet in each hand and pulls them straight up. The partner then pulls each side alternately for a minute or so. It makes me feel like I’m on the agitate cycle of my washing machine. Try it out!
