The End of a Pregnancy...the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

Well, tonight at midnight I will hit the 39 weeks mark, which is the day that I delivered Benjamin. It is surreal to have made it here, because part of me assumed that, because this was a second baby, she would come a bit earlier than Ben did. But it has acutally been nice to have a little more time than I first thought I would. I was very ready for Ben to come by this point, but I have only just recently begun to feel "ready" with this one. It's amazing how every pregnancy and every baby truly are different.

Now that this pregnancy is coming to a close, I thought I'd reflect a bit:

THE GOOD
-I am SO lucky and SO thankful to not have so many of the yucky end-of-pregnancy curses that so many women get. No swollen hands or feet, no carpal tunnel or high blood pressure. No sciatica or nerve problems. No round ligament pain at all, which really bothered me with Ben's pregnancy. No yucky rashes or even stretch marks yet. I'm not even that big, honestly. My uterus height is still at 35 cm, but baby looks great, so, since everything is looking good, I can just enjoy being on the smaller side.
-This baby is getting so close that I can just love her and enjoy the idea of holding her soon with all my heart! We're past so many of the worry points in pregnancy, that there is a pretty great chance that we will both be healthy and together soon.
-I still have a pretty good amount of energy.
-I have eaten WAY better than I did with Ben, and I feel so healthy for it and am proud of myself!
-I have gained exactly how much weight I wanted to (I'll tell you only if you really want to know!)
-The house is clean (mostly, Ben did just dump a bowl of raisins onto the floor this morning that are still waiting to be picked up!)
-I can breathe pretty well now that the baby has dropped, and my heartburn is MUCH better.
-I really haven't had any aches or pains other than my back, and one spot where I get kicked a lot from the inside (it's a pretty amazing feeling, for anyone who is male or hasn't been pregnant! But sometimes a certain spot can get a little sore.)
-The baby is wonderfully active, so I never have to worry if she is ok.
-She gets hiccups all the time, which I think is so cute! I can tell what they are much better this time around.
-I think I am more emotionally ready to welcome a baby into my life this time around...I know what it means to do so.
-She is generally in a good position for a nice, anterior delivery.
-I have really enjoyed doing the HypnoBabies program as preparation for birth. I definitely feel relaxed and ready to take on labor (most of the time!)
-Prenatal yoga is still AWESOME!
-The baby's things are clean and ready.
-We have a name that Aaron is in LOVE with, and I think it is so sweet how much he wants this name!
-I am already 4 cm dilated. I LOVE that my body goes ahead and gets some of the work of labor taken care of for me before I have to deal with a single "real" contraction! I think this is one of the luckiest things that happens to me! My heart goes out to every woman who has to start at 0 or even 1 or 2.


THE BAD
-The weather forcast is awful for the next few days, so unless she waits, we will again be having a baby and bringing her home in frigid temperatures.
-I am having tons of cramping, which just doesn't feel nice! Labor...either start already, or leave me alone! Especially tonight when I am going to bed!
-I have to go to the bathroom a minimum of 3 times per night....literally...I'm not exaggerating. (And you should SEE me crawling over Aaron to get out of the bed in the middle of the night. He has repeatedly offered to switch sides, but I like my side...the poor guy just has to deal with a gigantic, groggy, very-pregnant lady flopping around trying desperatly to get off the bed.)
-Tying my shoes has become a major feat of acrobatics!
-Getting off the floor would be much more easily accomplished if I had a rope and pulley system installed in the house.
-My back hurts...escpecially if I have been driving in the car.
-To keep my posture in good shape to continue encouraging anterior placement, I can sleep in exactly 1 position...all...night...long. It just sucks!
-And speaking of sleep, I need about as much as my toddler needs these days to survive. I start to get panicky if I am awake after 9:30 p.m.!
-Also to keep my posture in line, I have to set the seat in the car like an 80-year-old! I am so upright I am practically leaning forward! Aaron laughs at me each time he sees me get in the car. (I would laugh, too, if I could see myself.)
-Speaking of seeing myself, there is a lot of myself that I haven't seen in months! (It's just weird to have no idea what your stomach looks like at any point below your belly button...seriously...pull up your shirt right now, look at your stomach beneath your belly button, and imagine being completely unable to see it. See, it's weird, right?)

THE UGLY
-Up until last weekend, I would have said "My feet!" But thanks to Helen and Tony, I was able to get an AWESOME pedicure at Elayna's last weekend, and, if I do say so myself, my toes are looking beautiful!!! Thank you so much, Nana and Papa!!!