Monday 24 October 2016

Pregnancy at 34 Weeks

34 Weeks is kind of a big deal around here.  It's a milestone in preemie land.  I can give birth in a more local hospital, plus my midwife has hospital privileges.  Babies born after 34 weeks typically do very well.  They may need some help breathing and eating, and a short hospital stay will be required, but nothing that I can't handle.  Although I would like to avoid it if possible.

I've thought I was in labour many times since 26 weeks.  Partially because Parker was a preemie, partially because I've just been feeling so lousy.  And so I still feel like this baby will be early.  But maybe that's just because I really can't imagine feeling like this for another 6 weeks.

I have mixed emotions, I so badly want to meet this baby and give it a name.  And yet I'm terrified to have a newborn.  I'm looking forward to a four month old, but not so much the whole newborn thing.  It's a lot of work!  But apparently, they come out as newborns, not as four month olds, so what can you do.

  • Braxton hicks have gotten pretty intense.  I get them whenever I stand up and do anything
  • Bought the baby a baby book, which is my last baby necessity.  I just need to buy some size 1 diapers so that I'm prepared if I happen to have a baby too big for all these newborn diapers that I have
  •  I'm back at work this week.  Making it to 34 weeks makes a huge difference I think.  We were really trying to prevent going into labour before that.  Now that I've made it, I still want to keep this baby in, but it's more an "am I actually in labour?" than an "oh crap, if this is labour it needs to stop"  Because I'm comfortable with having a baby now, if necessary
  • Sleep is still very uncomfortable, the other night Parker woke up at 3 and I didn't get back to sleep until 5:30, and got up for work at 6.  It was part discomfort and part just insomnia I think
  • I don't think I have any stretch marks, but I seem to have a lot of visible veins in my belly so sometimes I wonder if I see a stretch mark, but it's hard to tell
  • There are a few odds and ends that could get done before the baby, but if the baby came now we are ready.  We don't have the car seat installed yet or anything, but we know how to do it, and until 37 weeks I know that it's unlikely that the baby would come home with us, so we would still have time to do that and tie up other lose ends

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