37 Weeks

Well, potentially 3 weeks to go!! I have absolutely no inkling whatsoever about when Jakiah's arrival will be (duh!), so I'm trying to get as 'ready' as possible. (whatever that means)

At 37 weeks, I feel pretty good most of the time. I remember during this time with Kalaya, it was sooo different. I was praying, hoping and trying everything to get her to turn head down and dreading having a c section. This time, it looks as though Jakiah is still head down, though we will be confirming his position at an appointment in the next week or so. I am carrying him very differently that I was with Kalaya and he just feels BIG. I don't feel like I look enormous (except when I wear certain dresses to church and people tell me how big I am.....gee thanks....) but I don't feel like he has a lot of room left to move around in there! He is still extremely active, as Kalaya was, which I find very reassuring. Since who knows what God's plan is for us and how many more children we'll be blessed with, I'm savoring these last few weeks (days???) of feeling this little guy growing and moving inside me.

Since he seems to be head down, it's affecting my body much differently than Kalaya did. All of the weight is on my hips and pelvis, which makes me pretty sore. I don't want to complain, because it's not too bad, but there's really no way to feel comfortable for long periods any more. Unfortunately, that has started to include at night, so I haven't been sleeping as well. But, I made it for a LONG time getting good sleep, so I'm grateful it's taken this long. I'm also incredibly grateful for a toddler who sleeps long nights and sleeps IN! I'm sure that's just part of being this far along, but I just don't ever remember feeling the 'I'm ready for the baby to come out!' feeling with Kalaya and sometimes feel guilty that I've started feeling that way with Jakiah. But, really, I just want to see him and meet him and start being a family of 4!!! The only other minor thing that has been challenging is how itchy my belly has been this time, which I don't remember happening. It got to the point where I had hives all over it, but we did some home remedies and a few topical things and it feels much better now. Lots and LOTS of lotion seems to be helping. And, (don't hate me!) I have stretch marks this time. Made it all the way until about 35 weeks in my second pregnancy and BAM, there they are on my belly. So, maybe no more bikinis for me in the future. : P

We had our last Hypnobirthing class last night and we learned a LOT! It's really changed my whole outlook on birth, what to expect and how to prepare myself for labor. I could go on and on about it, but the main idea is that labor and birth have become what they are in our society because of so much fear and drama that we've surrounded it with. There is no reason that birth has to be this screaming, terrifying, horribly painful event. Women around the world have babies every day without medical intervention and are FINE. You know why? They don't know it's supposed to hurt and haven't seen these images of pain and been told they're patients in a hospital with something wrong over and over again. It's pretty amazing once you start learning more about the history leading up to the development of the program.