Baby #2: Final Pregnancy Update

Well, here we are on the home stretch and time for a final pregnancy update. My due date is less than a month away, and I've gotten the all clear for labor to proceed whenever it should begin. I'm hoping he'll hold off for another week and a half or two, but we'll see.

How are you feeling?
It depends on the day and sometimes the moment. Earlier this week, I was a real bundle of joy as I was fighting a cold, exhaustion, and lack of space. I feel like my internal real estate is fully occupied, and that can sometimes be pretty uncomfortable. Generally, I'm feeling pretty good with a little more tiredness each day and a 4pm heartburn alarm clock, but I'm grateful for the occasional bursts of energy when they come. While I am uncomfortable a little earlier than I recall being with Madeleine, I still feel incredibly grateful to not experience really nasty pregnancy symptoms like back pain and swelling.

How are you sleeping? 
I've been sleeping pretty well, especially considering the crazy insomnia I experienced during my pregnancy with Madeleine. I find myself making more than one bathroom break more and more nights, but I'm usually too tired to do anything other than pass out again. I find that I get some benefit from napping, even when my mind is going too much to actually let me fall asleep, and I definitely miss naps when I'm working.

Are you still doing yoga? 
Yes, I try to catch both classes each week for about four hours of weekly yoga total. To be honest, yoga is pretty much my only activity, though I did rock an hour aerobics class at 33 weeks. I credit yoga with keeping me feeling strong and limber even this late in the game.

How's your appetite? Cravings? 
I go back and forth between having light nausea/lack of interest in food and wanting to eat everything in sight. George may disagree, but I haven't really had any strong cravings this pregnancy.

Are you seeing the same doctor you did with your pregnancy with Madeleine? 
No, for better and for worse. I loved the OB who followed my pregnancy with Madeleine, but I knew I needed to give birth (and attend the 83 prenatal appointments) a little closer to home now that we live farther from the freeway and have a Madeleine on the scene. For the first half of the pregnancy, I saw an OB about half as close to home, but I chose to leave her after it became clear that we had different ideas of how the birth would ideally go. I'm now happily established with a midwifery practice that delivers at the hospital 10 minutes from our house. I'm definitely in the right place now, though I admit to missing my OB who was one of a kind!

Have you had contractions? 
Oh yeah. I had my first bout of contractions at 19 weeks. Fortunately, they didn't really come back until little over a month ago. At this point, I'm having contractions on and off almost constantly. They could get stronger, closer, longer and turn into labor at any point...or continue to be sporadic for the next month or more. In other words, the fact that I'm having contractions isn't necessarily a sign that labor is near.

How are you handling the heat?
I'll admit it: the heat has been harder than I expected. I do think that being pregnant in the heat is slightly more comfortable than having a newborn sticking to you in the heat, but being pregnant in the heat requires careful management to not put the baby at risk. During the few weeks of heat we've experienced this summer, I have struggled to stay fully hydrated and have ended up spending a lot of time enjoying the cool comfort afforded by our heat pump and the shade in our backyard. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a toddler who follows directions and plays independently so that she doesn't have to sacrifice too much when I don't want to be very active.

Are you nesting?
Ha! Have you seen the blog lately? I've spent most of my nesting energy in the nursery, which is very nearly ready for its occupant to arrive. George and I have been working through a huge laundry list of house projects - everything from inventorying our wine to organizing our paperwork to cooking food for the freezer to changing out some hardware - and we're making progress but not quite done. Surprisingly, my nesting is much less cleaning-related this time around. I must be getting used to having a toddler!

Does the baby have a name? 
I believe so. Now let's just hope that he looks like his name when he is born!

At this point, we're on full baby alert with our bags packed and friends keeping their phones on for the call to come and get Madeleine. In the mean time, we keep plugging away at our to-do list and enjoying every moment with our first born.

What is your must-do to prepare for baby's arrival? 

And, in case any readers are also preparing for the arrival of a second child, check out this humorous look at the "adventure" that's about to ensue.