I am now 38-weeks and 5-days pregnant and getting every symptom listed under early (latent) labour. And have been, for a week already…
It’s be fair to say I’m getting a bit impatient and anxious now, although we might well have a few more weeks to go. I know that in any case, it won’t be long but not knowing when I’ll go into active labour is driving me crazy! Being a bit of a control freak really isn’t helping either!
Physically though, I’ve been feeling (mostly) good and have amazingly still been able to stay active. I had another lovely weekend going to the gym with my fiancé (a family workout!!), visiting the Finnish Christmas Market, seeing a friend over a walk and a cuppa… And then Monday happened – a dull grey day after a poor night’s sleep, with our Amazon Fresh order being the only thing delivered. No baby. How boring.
Pressure and aching “down there” is getting pretty intense, back ache comes and goes, Braxton Hicks are regular, diarrhoea and extra discharge continue… As they say, during the 39th week of pregnancy everything signals an approaching labour.
As far as I can tell my baby is also doing well. She’s very active, way too active for the little space she’s got in my opinion! But of course I prefer feeling reassured that all is well in there, even if I’m literally taking the hits. The jabs and kicks are fine, it’s the pushing down my pelvis and the nerves in the area that are the most unpleasant. Interestingly it feels like she has turned a bit from clearly lying on my left side, head down and kicking my right side to being more in the centre of my belly and kicking upwards.
Of course I feel a bit nervous, even scared, about the whole process of labour. It is a very natural thing however and I will be at a very good hospital, so I’m not too worried about it. Or at least I acknowledge that worrying about it wouldn’t help, so I better not. Whether I’m ready to become a mum and bring home a new human being is a bigger question! But since even that is pretty irrelevant now because in a matter of days or weeks, our daughter will arrive and we will become parents, ready or not.
So my top most feeling at the moment is “let’s just get on with it already!” 😊
The hospital bag is packed (click the link to see with what), our fridge and freezer is full of food, baby clothes are washed, there is coffee, tea and toilet paper in the cupboard. What else could I do to prepare?
Bump photos! I figured that to embrace these last days with my baby bump I should try to take as many pictures as possible. My body obviously looks very different pregnant than before, but I do absolutely love it! Call me a selfie queen if you like, I don’t mind! I didn’t do a maternity shoot in the end as they seemed quite expensive so at least I’ll have an iPhone full of bump shots. 😊
To prepare my body for labour I’ve taken a few steps:
- I had a pregnancy massage after which I slept the best I have in weeks!
- I’ve been drinking raspberry leaf tea to strengthen the uterus for stronger contractions
- I’ve stayed active but not over exercised
- I’ve tested my rental TENS machine (Mama TENS from Boots) on my lower back when it’s ached
- I have tried perineal massage with evening primrose oil but I have to be honest, I haven’t been very diligent with this one…
- Plus of course some “intimate time” with my partner. (Having sex can trigger the release of oxytocin, a hormone that helps the contractions. Also prostaglandins in sperm is said to help to soften the cervix ready for it to open when labour starts.)
- Finally, my midwife showed me few acupressure points which are believed to be linked to inducing labour. One was between my thumb and index finger and the other one in my ankle. I should probably give these a go as well! The ear seed she put in my ear on Thursday didn’t have any impact although it was supposed to relax me and help me to sleep (hence I’m up at 2am writing this post).
The baby will come when she’s ready. I just need to be patient. I’ll go to a yoga class today to get my “zen” back. Or at least to kill some time rather than just sitting at home waiting!
xoxoxo,
Sini
PS. On Thanksgiving Day last week I finally got my beautiful engagement ring! I have to admit that albeit being very secondary to everything that’s going on, it does make me smile to look at my diamond sparkle!