Paint The Barn Red: weekly baby bumpdate / 39 weeks

I said I would get around to packing my hospital bags someday.

...someday just hasn't come yet.

39 WEEK INTERVIEW

How far along?

39 weeks and 5 days. My due date is on Saturday!

Baby's size?

At 39 weeks the baby is just under 20 inches long and weighs about 7 and 1/4 pounds. The baby is about the size of a mini watermelon! (:

Days until next doc appointment?

If I don't go to the hospital before then, my next appointment is in 4 days.

How was your last appointment?

It went well! Things are looking good. I'm back to my one-week-smaller-than-average normal, so there's that. My doctor also checked me while I was there, and now I'm somewhere between a 2 and a 3. She told me she was actually pretty surprised she hadn't heard from me over the weekend (ie: gone into labor). But here I am! My baby just loves me so much they never want to leave my comfortable guts. And hey, you know, to a degree... I would be okay with that. Because I mean who really wants to go into labor?

No one, that's who.

So since we're going to be hanging out for a little while longer...

Because that's just what you do when you make a long-term relationship commitment. So what do you think? Spruce up your living quarters a little? Well, you'll definitely need a couch to start. I think the Karlstad sofa in Isunda gray would look nice. You'll need some nice throw pillows as well. How about going with Pantone's color of the year? But I don't know about Marsala as a color. I haven't decided. It's a love/hate kind of thing. But it sounds like a combination of Marlyssa and salsa. So it could be okay. And you'll definitely need a ficus. Although, a ficus in my uterus could make things a little uncomfortable for me. But that's just my opinion. It's really up to you. Swedish meatball?

Total weight gain?

33.6 pounds

Let's chat. My metabolism makes no sense. I've been paying attention to these things and this is not the first time this has happened in my pregnancy.

In general, I tend to eat pretty healthy. I rarely (and I mean rarely, like a couple of times a year) eat fast food, I don't snack mindlessly throughout the day, I drink tons of water, and the only time I drink soda is when I feel queasy since I'm preggies. And while all of the above is still true, over the past nine months there have been a couple extra pizzas, a few extra bowls of ice cream, and sometimes even a piece of candy or two. Up until 36 weeks, I was still working out 4 days a week for an hour a day. (I stopped because I was sick one week and after that was when I started getting pains and didn't want to go into labor while Jason was away. And now I can barely walk to the kitchen without feeling like my insides will fall out, let alone start up kickboxing again haha.)

Here's the kicker: I gain more weight per week when I work out, drink lots of water, and eat well than I do in the weeks where Jason and I go out to eat at a restaurant, order a pizza, and have a couple bowls of ice cream together. (Over the course of a week, not in one sitting sheeeeesh.) So in other words, I'm saying that I gained 0.6 pounds over this past week which is less than half of the weight I gain most weeks. And this week we: went out to eat twice, ordered a pizza once, had ice cream three times, and went to the movies and ate candy. As opposed to my 1-2+ pound weight gain per week when I was working out and didn't eat any of that.

Makes sense.

--Disclaimer: I am still making mostly healthy food choices. Gaining less weight for whatever reason on junkier foods is not my personal excuse to start eating poop. Jason and I have been squeezing in a few last dates as just the two of us which is why there were some extra calories consumed. haha --

Maternity clothes?

Nothing new in maternity wear, but I have been buying some new (to me) clothes here and there for after the baby is here! (: It feels so weird because I never buy myself anything. But probably about half of my clothes are "California clothes" (not really suitable for Minnesota weather) and/or look like someone 17 years old should be wearing them. And then I just feel kind of silly and out of place. So I've been slowly building up an army of cute mommy clothes. #Yes.

Speaking of 17 year olds, at my appointment this week while waiting to have my routine lab work done, there was a girl with her mom in the waiting area who was called in before me. The room was pretty quiet, so when they called her in and asked her to confirm her birthdate, I heard what she said without even trying to eavesdrop. I could definitely tell she was younger than me, so I was expecting to hear her say she was born in '94 or '95.

"Can you confirm your birthdate?"

"May 10th, 1998."

1998!?!!? Does she even realize that while she was the size of a mini-watermelon, I was finishing the first grade?! Suddenly it dawned on me that I was going to be 24 in a couple of weeks and there's no getting past the fact that 24 is definitely no longer your "early 20's", but your mid-20's. Being in your mid-20's just seems so much more...adult. Eugh. When did this happen and how can I make it stop?

I was called in right after her. She came out of the bathroom just as I was about to go in and she smiled at me in a courteous, appreciative kind of way.

The same way I imagine a youth would smile at a retiree in a nursing home.

Stretch marks?

I'm not entirely sure yet, but I think I might have an itty bitty start of one on my left side. But I can't tell if it's a stretch mark or the remains of a cat scratch. #crazycatladyprobs

Sleep:

What I wouldn't give to sleep through the night just one more time! But I know unless I have a really awesome sleeper on my hands (fingers crossed!) that won't be happening for a long time haha. These days I wake up 2-3+ times a night needing to pee, and then usually at the morning-person hour of 3:45am, I wake up and stay awake until it begins to get light out. Then, and only then am I able to fall back asleep. Seems rational enough.

Update: I was able to get a really good restful night of sleep last night! I still woke up several times but I was able to fall back asleep at least (:

Best moment this week:

There's been a lot of good things this week!

-We FINALLY finished the nursery! We've only been working away at it for a few months now haha. And now it's finished just days before my due date! I can't wait to post pictures once our little one is here. We DIY-ed just about everything in the room! I've always been into making things myself so this was the obvious way to go (:

-Since the time where it will just be the two of us is coming to an end, Jason and I have been going on dates more frequently as my due date approaches. One night we got take out and came home and watched some of our favorite shows together. Another night we went to see the new Cinderella movie which I've been wanting to see since I first heard about it last Fall (: Cinderella was my favorite Disney Princess as a kid! Still is (: And another night we tried a restaurant we had never been to before that left us wondering why the heck we hadn't gone sooner! (: I mean they have sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries. And all this time living here I thought it was some delicacy only found in urban areas because our small town definitely didn't have them anywhere. I was wrong! If they do take out I think we'll have to have their number on speed dial. Wait. Is that even a thing anymore? Or is it just another one of those sayings kids these days will never understand the true meaning of? Like "rolling down the windows" and "be kind, rewind"? I'll have to ask my sister. She's one of those literal millennial-types.

Also, finally getting into Parks and Recreation. And slopping water all down my front while laughing hysterically during this scene: Practice Date What Ifs

Food cravings:

Two things:

-Carrots and corn with butter. Holy Heavenly Hamsters, Batman.

-Milk. Chocolate milk.

For this, I have a story. Which I have affectionately named Milkgate.

Background info: I have never in my life been a fan of milk. Nope. Hate it. Definitely hate it. To me it tastes like blood. Just. like. blood. (Here's where I get asked how I know what blood tastes like. As if everyone doesn't know.) So, needless to say, milk grosses me out a little. A lot. But every now and then, maybe once every few years, milk sounds like a good idea. But I can never drink it plain - it has to be mixed with Ovaltine to cover up the gross taste.

Jason and I usually go grocery shopping once a week. In that time, he'll get a gallon of milk that is totally reserved for him to the extent that he can drink straight from the jug and I won't care because I want nothing to do with his blood-milk anyway. I, on the other hand, drink unsweetened almond-coconut milk. Not because I'm some health nut, but because I'm too lazy when it comes to cooking to make breakfast food and what are you going to have with cereal? Water? Blood milk? Pfft. So I have my unsweetened almond coconut milk because I've found it's the closest thing to milk without tasting like the contents of a vampire's refrigerator.

But that is on a normal week.

And this week was not normal.

For starters, I'm pregnant. That alone is not normal. I have an entire blog series dedicated to how not normal this whole experience is.* (*Compared to not being pregnant.) Expect the unexpected. James Bond. Fast and the Furious. I'm just naming movie series I've never seen before.

Here's the scene: Jason had gone away for the day to do some maintenance on his work equipment. I was at home when the acid reflux hit. Suddenly, and for the first time in a very long time, milk sounded like a good idea. There wasn't a lot left in the open gallon, but we had just gone to the store that day so I didn't think anything of any imminent milkgate scandal. Soon after, Jason came home. I was already one glass into my milkception when I decided I needed another. He was telling me about his day as I scooped a few spoonfuls of Ovaltine into my cup and proceeded to re-open the milk jug. And then I did it. I poured last of the milk into my Ovaltine-filled cup.

But a peculiar look came over Jason's face as I did this; it was a look of dejection - as if along with the milk I was pouring out his hopes and dreams.

I saw this look on that face of his and realized what it meant. It was as if time slowed just long enough for me to process all that was happening as the milk was still falling.

"Wait... Did you even get milk today?!"

"No."

It turns out the one day that the need for milk overcame me was also the one day we went grocery shopping and he didn't get more milk for himself. I learned later that he had been thinking a glass of milk would have gone really well with the cinnamon buns he brought home and now I had gone and drank it all.

"It was a prety depressing moment." - Jason

-Actual husband quote.-

In Heaven I am going to request to see slow-motion video of this upset.

Anything make you queasy or sick?

Just the acid reflux for which I now have the milk to cure. Also, Tums are your friends.

...not food.

Ok, sorry I had to do it.

Movement:

Lately I've been having tightness in my belly a couple times a day that sometimes I would like to think is a contraction of some kind, but then I realize it's just the baby sitting on my rib cage.

Have you started to show yet?

Trust me, there is no doubt about it anymore. This week while we were at K-mart I was asked from 30 feet away when I was due.

Missing anything?

Sleeping through the night! Heck, I wouldn't even mind waking up multiple times in the night if I could fall back asleep every time.

Gender:

Baby is going to be a surprise. (:

Labor signs?

Other than being between a 2 and a 3 now, I haven't really had any labor signs. Still no contractions at all that I know of. However as of this morning there was some pink, so. You know.

Belly button:

Kind of going inward again. But then sometimes the middle almost sticks out. It kind of has a mind of its own.

Wedding rings on or off?

On all the time!

Happy or moody most of the time?

Happy most of the time! Although I definitely used up one of my four-yearly cry sessions earlier in the day that we took this picture.

Weekly symptoms:

Very itchy bumps on my legs and arms, can't really bend over to pick things up (squats all day), lots of pee trips, acid reflux, stiffness after sitting/standing for extended periods of time, it hurts to bend over now since the baby's head is so low, lightning pains, pelvic pain, bones grinding against each other, rhinitis of pregnancy (nosebleeds), sciatica

Looking forward to:

Waking up one day and having my baby without having gone through labor at all.
That's how this works, right?

Survey time!

Since I have no idea when the baby will come and since there have been some labor signs here and there, (like what if I don't even make it to the 40 week bumpdate and don't get a chance to do this?!) I thought what better time to have a fun little survey where the good people who read my blog can anonymously cast their vote! What will baby be? What day will baby be born and how much will he/she weigh?