Third Trimester... the Final Days...

I've hit 37 weeks.  Baby is full term and can come out any day now.  My other two were both born a few days before 39 weeks.  This baby seems much larger to me.  I've already surpassed my pregnancy weight when I gave birth to the other two.  Well, they were pretty small... one was 6 lb 5.8 oz and the other was 6 lbs 9 oz.  This baby is estimating to be over 7 lbs already.  Why so much bigger?  Well, perhaps it is because he is a boy... or perhaps I've just really indulged and not paid attention to all the ice cream and chocolate I've had throughout this pregnancy!  Normal weight gain is between 25-35 lbs and I'm already over 35 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight.  Guess it is never too late to start keigel exercises, back exercises etc to strengthen the pelvic floor.  I've been using my busy life and two other kids under the age of 4 as an excuse to the lack of discipline and exercise I've had this pregnancy.  But perhaps I just had a false sense of security thinking that I was in such good shape (after all I did run 26.2 miles at 9 weeks) and that that would just carry me through all 9 months!  Wrong... I really should have been exercising as much as I can throughout.  I think I'd be experiencing much less back pain and discomfort...  


Regardless, here I am heading to the final days and starting to worry if all will go smooth.  The problem with going through residency delivering about 50 babies in a high risk population is that I start to think about and worry about all the potential complications that can happen before, during, and after birth.  I could list them all here but then this would become a pretty depressing read and I believe that in many cases ignorance is bliss.  Better to just take things one thing at a time and worry about whatever it is if there is a need to worry about it...


So here I wait.  I better start getting my overnight bag ready and getting sitters in place for who knows when I'll have to rush off to the hospital.  Especially since this is my third... things may go much faster than expected.


Here is a list of things that is supposed to help one go into labor:

• Eating spicy foods or pineapple
• Walking (especially going up stairs)
• Doing the hanky panky (or nipple stimulation if sex is too uncomfortable)
• Certain teas (like rasberry leaf or cinnamon stick)
• Accupressure
• Your physician can also strip your membrane

Well, maybe the next time I write baby will be out!