Full Term

Last updated on: December 13, 2010 at 7:22 pm by Sarah Babbs

Full Term 2010-12-13T19:22:06-04:00 Sarah Babbs

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Well friends, today is a big day. Baby girl is officially full term at 37 weeks! I have made it to full term with this wonderful baby. If she was born today, she wouldn’t be considered premature, and all of her organs are ready for “life on the outside”.

Now, the question is, am I ready for “life on the outside”? Of course, the answer is no. We have the car seat. We have the crib, the stroller, the diapers, the blankets, the clothing. We have the Pack n’ Play set up next to our bed, a changing station next to that.

I have a nursing bra. The labor bag is about 85% packed. We have a bag with snacks packed for Atticus. The postpartum survival kit has been assembled.

But am I ready? Can you ever be ready for your life to completely change in an instant? Of course not. But I’m ready to be blown away. And I’ve read enough blogs of women who have had babies, and talked to new friends who have babies to know that I will be blown away. I will be shocked, amazed, awed, and challenged like nothing before.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m ready. It just means I know that I can’t possibly know or be ready for what’s ahead. I have to just jump into it and figure it out as we go. Becoming a parent seems to be one of those things that you can’t really do or truly imagine, until you do it. I don’t know if that makes sense.

Two weeks from today I am scheduled for induction at 10:00 am. My prayer these days is that I may go into labor a little early and get to miss out on the Pitocin (I would be so very sad, I’m sure. ;P) But of course, if Baby girl is not ready before the 27th, then she won’t come before then. This is her show.

I’ve actually been more focused on/worried about after she’s born than I have been about the labor/delivery. I’m being induced (more than likely). I’ll have Pitocin (unless I’m not induced). Whatever happens after that is what’s going to happen. I am not wholeheartedly invested in any particular way of birthing this child. I’d love to not have a c-section, because I’d always prefer not to have major surgery, but if it comes to that, then it comes to that. Spending a lot of time and energy worrying about this is not really helpful, because I don’t ultimately have much control over it. Again, this is her show.

She is head down, and as of the last u/s (last week) her head was way down in my pelvis. When she hiccups, I can feel it in my lower back.

I have to pee way more now than I did before, and the pressure of her head is giving me burning nerve pain in my lower abdomen. At least it’s not constant. I’ve gained just over 20 pounds, and I feel roughly the size of a walrus. When I stand up straight, I can’t see my feet. Atticus helps me with my shoes.

I’m not complaining, not really anyway.

I’ve had a pretty low-stress pregnancy, I’ve felt pretty good for most of it, and I’m not surprised that the last few weeks are miserable. I know I’m not alone in that!

Our doctor told us that we are now clear to begin the “natural means” of labor induction. Understood.

Nurse asked me today during non-stress test: “What kind of birth control are you planning to use after she’s born?” I did not skip a beat, but answered, Fertility Awareness Method (I use this name with secular folk because there’s a chance they’ve at least heard of it!) and she just said, “Oh ok. Sounds good.” Well then. Excellent, I don’t have to explain myself or put up with your eye rolling.

That’s the big news from here. Just trying to survive the cold and snow, and enjoy these last two weeks (or maybe less?) until she arrives. I cannot wait to meet this little person who’s been so close to me for the last 8.5 months.

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