I, thankfully, loved pregnancy. Until week 36, it was been pretty uneventful for me. I steadily gained about 1 pound per week (I very loosely watched this and was not at all worried about it) and was mostly just a big belly! Weeks 37 and on, I actually didn't gain any more weight, which can be normal.
I started swimming just for something different and to spend a bit more time belly down to improve baby's positioning for labor. Did you know that many of Winnipeg's pools have FREE swim every week? The pool closest to me is open for free swim on Wednesday afternoons which works perfectly for my schedule. It's been nice! I'm still working out and coaching at Undefeated Health and Performance with lots of modifications. But, exercise in general feels good and is keeping my back strong as my belly grows.
Sleep is hit and miss. About half of my nights I'm awake for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night, after peeing, which is annoying, but seems to be pretty common. I'm only getting up 1-2 times per night to pee, thankfully. The sleep interruption just means I have to snag a nap every once in a while, but it doesn't seem to be sapping my daily energy too much.
My appetite has been pretty steady. Not too much and some days a little less. I'm eating 3-4 small meals per day and every 3-4 hours. I haven't experienced much for acid reflex or heartburn.
Baby turned head down during week 30. Yahoo! I very irregularly do the Spinning Babies Three Sisters. That's definitely something I could have improved on.
I followed up with my pelvic floor physio during week 34 to get ready for labor. Here we go!
Like I said previously, I was feeling totally great until week 36. Then I was SO. OVER. IT. I ran 3 errands in one day and was totally wiped. And that tiredness feeling didn't go away for two weeks. Then I started getting irritable and my appetite sucked. I was hungry but nothing was appetizing. I felt like I was back in the first trimester. I was done, done. And, magically, one Saturday morning about two weeks later, I woke up feeling great again! Back to normal energy. Back to enjoying work. Back to being glad I was working into week 38.
I went on mat leave in the middle of my 38th week. I kept myself busy by meeting up with friends, going for dinner at my in-laws, swimming, reading a lot, working out, walking the dog (we had a beautiful February!), taking some last minute pregnancy food and exercise photos to use for future workshops and social media, I ran errands and simply enjoyed, as much as I could, this last amount of time being truly by myself and with Quinn and King.
I had a midwife appointment at 39w5d and was offered a membrane sweep which I declined. I wasn't ready for intervention quite yet. Quinn still had two more night shifts and I was fully intending on trusting the process and letting labor start on its own. The further I went past 40 weeks, the more I had to actively calm myself down and not panic. I booked an acupuncture appointment for 40w3d. I simply needed to feel like I was trying something. At 40w4d I went for breakfast with a few girlfriends to get some spicy food. We went to Falafel Place - their hot sauce is excellent! By the end, I did start to feel a little crampy. Was this something?! My goal was to go into labor today because it was the Super Bowl and I knew that would be a good distraction for me. In the meantime, I drank some strong red raspberry leaf tea and massaged my belly with coconut oil and clary sage oil.
We watched the Super Bowl at our neighbor's house. By the end of the game, the cramping was getting stronger. As soon we got home, I went to bed knowing that if my cramps got any worse I wouldn't be able to sleep. Wouldn't you know? My water broke two hours later. Labor and delivery, here we come!