This week we reached a big landmark – we have now passed 37 weeks of pregnancy! If our daughter were to be born now she would no longer be considered premature and we could follow our birth plan of starting the labour at the birthing centre’s pool instead of going straight into the labour ward (premature babies need to be monitored more closely), assuming otherwise normal progress of labour.
I’ve been a bit anxious lately as I’ve been worried she’d come early and what possible implications that could have, and so reaching the “early full term” has felt like a real relief! We are still hoping she’ll wait a few more weeks to get all nice and pudgy and to continue to mature her lungs before joining us but if not, at least she’d have very good chances of being just fine!
For the past week I’ve been getting more and more symptoms that indicate an approaching labour…
Pre-labour (somewhat yucky) signs?
- My baby has dropped very low and is engaged which has caused discomfort and some pain around the pubic bone, pelvis, and groin
- Increased gooey discharge (mucus plug discharge)
- Increased Braxton Hicks, both in intensity and frequency
- Lower back pain and period-like cramping in my lower tummy
- Diarrhoea
None of the above necessarily mean the baby is any more likely to come tomorrow than in three weeks (or four) but they definitely make labour feel more real! It’s been on my mind when I go to bed at night and unsurprisingly it has been a bit harder to fall asleep…
Apart from some discomfort from these symptoms, I’ve been feeling good this week. Monday was my first day officially on maternity leave and after the busy social calendar of the previous weekend (the dinner out with NCT couples and my baby shower) I spent most of Monday catching up on sleep.
By Tuesday I was starting to feel like a new person. Being able to compensate for poor sleep with slower mornings and a nap during the day has given me so much more energy! I’ve been very productive and have gotten loads of “life admin” done, running errands I never got around to while still working. I also ordered the TENS machine from Boots (4 week rental). Hopefully it’ll come in time as I’d like to try it as the first source of pain relief in early labour while still at home.
Being less nervous about accidentally inducing premature labour, I’ve been more active again and have been swimming and doing pregnancy yoga. If I’m still pregnant next week, I’ll try a new type of prenatal exercise – more on this later! 😊
More energy and more time have benefited my partner too. I’ve really tried to make an effort in the kitchen for change and to make healthy dinners for us. When my 34-week blood results came back, he took the credit (and rightly so!) for the excellent iron levels etc. as he really has made sure both baby and I’ve been well nourished during this pregnancy. It definitely is my turn now.
My weight gain has stopped (actually backtracked!) so I used that as an excuse to bake some goodies too. Cinnamon buns – yummy!
First week of maternity leave has passed in a flash. I’m not used to spending so much time on my own so I’m very happy it’s the weekend and we have more social activities planned. Tomorrow we’ll go celebrate our friend’s engagement and on Sunday we’ll attend another friend’s baby shower/ birthday afternoon tea. Lovely!
xoxoxo,
Sini