35 Weeks To The Finish

 Folks, it is hot out. The 100 degree forecast for the week is right on track. Yesterday morning I got up early to mow the rest of our (big) lawn. I started at 7:30, and by 9 a.m. I was drenched in sweat. By 9:30, it was 84 degrees with 56% humidity. By 10 a.m. it hit 90, and of course by afternoon we hover over a ridiculously muggy 99 degrees. I worry our chickens will die from heat stroke the way they walk around with their mouths open.

We’ll see how long I will be able to keep up my pregnancy push mowing routine. It’s a way to get walking miles in, and it saves us a ton of money. If I feel up to it, I can usually do it all in two days. If it plans to stay this hot, I might become a morning person after all. 😉

I hit a third trimester rough patch between 32 and 34 weeks. I had so many projects and to do lists that I was trying to knock out, and I ended up overworking and hit a low mentally. I finally stopped to listen to my aching body when husband ordered to take a soak in the bathtub. I think that was the point I confronted the mental battle that was overwhelming me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Since then, I’ve been much gentler on myself. I realized that although it would be preferable to get all my lists completed, I can’t let them control me and lose sight of what all the preparations are for. Things are changing really fast, and my midwife keeps telling me to move more slowly and intentionally instead of zooming around so much. 🙂 I tend to go a little crazy when I feel great, but I pay for it the next day. I think I’m slowly learning to pace myself, know when to rest, and let my body adapt and do its third tri- hustle.

Belly measurements have caught up with themselves. Two inches up in two weeks and right on track. Baby is head down as before, but my midwife is pretty sure she’s somewhat in the posterior position, which basically means facing my front instead of my back. Her back is against my right side, which would explain the pummeling I feel on my front and left side. I know the completely posterior position can make for difficult back labor so I was a little worried. My midwife assured me that babies often settle and change positions in the last weeks and even during labor itself. 

I was a little low on a hemaglobin test at my last appointment. I was actually a little relieved to have something to blame for my exhaustion and lethargy. Ha. I picked up some chlorophyll and am upping my leefy greens game to see if I can get my iron levels where they should be for my lab work in two weeks. I am feeling better, but it might also be because I am getting better at proactive resting. I hope. 🙂

Birthing classes started last week and will continue until one week before my due date. I’ve carried this baby for so long, but I’m starting to realize that this labor thing is actually happening soon. I wasn’t particularly stoked about manditory classes because it means an hour drive there and back every single week, and all that sitting (plus two hour classes) tends to kill my back. I was pleasantly surprised how fun and interactive the class was though. We have a great teacher and one other couple in the class. I’m already learning a lot about myself that I didn’t know, (not all good. ha) and I’m sure the tools we learn and practice will be helpful.

It’s a good time to address fears I didn’t know I had. I don’t think I fear steady contractions as much as the intensity near the end. The claustrophobia of not being able to escape makes me feel a little panicky. One thing that stood out to me in the first session was the difference between pain and suffering during labor. Pain is physical. Suffering is in the mind. We can’t stop the pain, but we can breathe and control our minds. Labor is something our bodies naturally do. We can’t control the process, but we can ride with it. 

I originally thought I would be the type of person that would get quiet and focused in order to concentrate, but I also have developed a niggly little worry that I’ll be much worse at pain coping than I think. I really don’t want to say mean or snappy things to my husband as a coping method. I would feel so awful later, because I really have the best support partner I could ever wish for. He puts up with a lot already. I don’t think guys get enough credit and praise for all they go through and contribute to the pregnancy journey.

I can’t seem to get enough food in me these days. Or maybe it’s just that I struggle eating enough to feel full because so little appeals to me. Or because I’m too uninspired to go to the trouble of making something that appeals to me. So I pick here. Eat a bland bowl of something there. It’s a chore, but I’m hoping for a big burst of culinary inspiration anytime. 

I can not believe I am 35 weeks pregnant. 35 weeks was the sub-conscience marker in my mind that signified, “It’s over,” or at least the beginning of the downward slide to the finish. I don’t feel ready in a lot of ways. My nesting isn’t complete, and it’s all a little bittersweet coming so close to the end of a season that I’ve gotten used to for so many months. I’m sure time will slow down the bigger and more uncomfortable I get. It’s what they say, whoever “they” are. 

I’ve adapted to continuous dancing in my belly, but it still doesn’t seem real that in a few weeks we will look into the face of that same, real, live baby girl that is ours. How bizarre and strangely wonderful.

My husband has started working some early morning hours to avoid heat exhaustion so it’s a very early bedtime for him. It may be just the initiative I need to wind down early as well for extra rest, especially if nighttime sleeping hours aren’t the most comfortable anymore. 🙂 An early goodnight, to my readers, whoever you are.