What it’s really like to be 35 weeks pregnant. How you feel at 35 weeks has so much to do with so many things. Physically baby is starting to get heavy, but mentally we’re getting into the home stretch.
Excitement is building because the end of pregnancy is really just the beginning of this whole parenting journey. Work on that to do list! Go shopping for baby gear! Read baby books. Enjoy the time with your partner. Here’s the real deal about what it’s like to be thirty five weeks pregnant.
(Over) Protective
Every week that goes by I feel better about the baby. At first I was worried- about miscarriage, pregnancy symptoms, my health and subsequently the baby’s as well. Little by little I started to feel better about it.
Around 24 weeks I breathed the first sigh of relief; at 31 weeks again, and now every day feels a little better. As I rapidly approach full term, my only real concern is some unknown genetic condition that the monthly ultrasounds couldn’t pick up on.
But otherwise I am feeling more happy and less concerned as the time goes by. Could it be that I have almost gotten used to the crazy hormones?
M, on the other hand, has become extremely protective of me. As the time has gone by, he has let me do less and less.
At around the time that I was first starting to feel more confident, M began taking over the carrying of groceries, bring up of laundry and putting in our water bottles.
As the time has gone on, he has been adamant about not letting me carry much, making sure I take my vitamins, and not get out of breath too much by cleaning like I used to. Sometimes, I feel he’s a little over-protective; I’m not an invalid after all.
I think, though, that as my belly has grown and movement can be not only felt, but seen, from the outside, the situation has become more real. Daddy’s getting ready to take care of us, and that’s a good feeling all in all.
Sciatic Nerve Pain in Pregnancy
…is a pain in the ass. Literally. It won’t let me sleep; it won’t let me sit; it won’t let me be. Instead I find myself running up and down, pacing around the house, flipping back and forth from side to side, and cringing every time.
I think I have more empathy now for the women that are really uncomfortable throughout their pregnancy. Because despite everything, I’ve been mostly lucky with my symptoms. They haven’t overtaken my life, and even though they may slow me down. I am still the boss. For now.
M says the new man is boss. Maybe. Or soon anyway.
I hope this is the worst of it. I’m ignoring the fact that in 4-8 weeks I might be in a lot more pain. Ok?
[Update to pregnancy sciatica – Since I first typed up this post a couple of weeks ago, the pain has been on and off but mostly gone away. I credit its disappearance with the diligent return of my daily walks].
Update: There is a real, better solution for this! I finally figured out how to get rid of sciatica as one way to have an easy pregnancy. Click through for all the details!
Med School Baby Shower
This was our Mexican style baby shower. Meaning it was hosted at a restaurant, and nobody has to make food, and it turned out really well! We had fun games: baby trivia, how many candies in the box, circumference of M and I hugging. We also ate (and some drank) well, and we had a really good group of people.
It was super nice that M was able to hang out with his friends and be celebrated as well, even though he claimed it was “for me”. The staff was very attentive to our large group, and everything flowed. And for dessert we brought out a La Casita (chocolate w/cream cheese frosting) cake. Mmm…cake.
We also got lots of great gifts that are so appreciated because I know how difficult it is to shop for baby stuff here. It turned out to be a really fun evening and I really felt that Baby Boy was celebrated!
Layette
OR: Clothes. Why do they have this funny name for baby clothes I couldn’t tell you. So let’s talk about our layette, or lack there of. Or just skip to the next section as I ramble on and on. 😉
I’ve been dawdling around with Baby Boy’s wardrobe for far too long. First I thought we would get a bunch of stuff on our USA trip. That was a no go. Then I thought I might get some at the baby showers, which I did! (Thanks all!) But after consulting several resources, I had maybe 2 or 3 day’s worth of clothes and I really really don’t want to do laundry every other day for that.
So I needed to stock up and I had been totally indecisive because boy clothes are just not that cute. I was sick of looking at light blue everything. Even though I know I should just get multi-packs of onesies, I want Baby Boy to be a little bit stylish.
Sometimes I just wish we weren’t “the first” to be having a kid, because some hand-me-downs would be totally welcomed, and solve my dilemma of how much to spend- quality/quantity/style-ity?
Online Shopping for Baby Clothes
Once I realized how expensive clothes are down in Mexico, I started stalking a bunch of sites for sales and that only made me more crazy and frustrated. So I tried to go shopping locally again, this time dragging M along. Once he saw the prices he decided to get involved.
I mentioned that I had seen a cute onesie on sale at the Gap. M agreed that it was cute. Saying of the day: “if I was a baby, I would want to hang out in these things [onesies] every day”. So with our two laptops we managed to compile a good amount of stuff and get it ordered! Finally!
*The only kicker is that I won’t be able to pre-wash, since we’ll only be getting the clothes once our family comes down here. But for what we got, non-ugly-pretty-affordable-wardrobe, I can deal with that.
Pregnancy and Birth: The Essential Checklists Book Review
So I know this is the third week in a row with a book review, but I just had to write this one. Actually I feel a bit like a cheater since I don’t actually own this book, and read it almost in its entirety in one sitting online.
Nevertheless, I love this book- Pregnancy and Birth: the Essential Checklists. It has all the information of all the other resources I have consulted yet a lot more concisely. And its advice is totally up to date, which is awesome.
The main reason I liked it so much, though, is that the list format helps me see the big picture in a really organized manner, consequently put together my own to-do lists. It is also a quick glance to remember an answer to some random question I have, and in my current baby brain state, that is a godsend.
Here are the other baby book reviews:
And here’s where you can get all my most recent tips:
How have you felt at 35 weeks pregnant? Were you all stocked up by then?
