1. I experienced my first true adverse symptom of pregnancy--anxiety. It started Wednesday night and looking back, I think it was because I'd been re-living Andrew's birth as I recounted his birth story, then added to it by reading a book about the finer points of birth. My symptoms were sweaty hands and feet, feeling a little "foggy-headed" and just a general feeling of something like impending doom. It was like the thought of actually having this baby soon set in--and freaked me out!
I got through the night but it started up again as soon as I woke up Thursday, to the point that I couldn't eat and was just hanging on by a thread mentally, mostly due to ominous thoughts that were completely UNrelated to birth. I had my OB appointment that afternoon and my friend offered take me to lunch beforehand and drive me there and back, God bless her. I was anxious all through lunch and couldn't touch my food--I just drank water and tried to not think about anything but the present moment. I felt better at the doctor's office and everything checked out perfectly, so I knew there wasn't anything truly "wrong." She told me it was hormonal. The sweating, the anxiety, the feeling foggy-headed...all hormones.
Friday was another challenging day with a lot of time spent on the couch, just trying to focus my thoughts and get through. Friday night, Drew and I did a lot of talking and praying and I was able to sleep better.
Saturday was my shower and I was a little better, but still not myself. I just felt...anxious! It was toward the end of the shower that I felt the fog sort of lift, and Drew said he thought it was partly because I was just anxious about the event itself--which is very unlike me!! Normally, I'd be anxious/excited and maybe have a stomach ache but the other symptoms were new to me! By the time we got home, I was so relieved to be feeling better that I just laid on the couch and chilled.
Sunday, I spent the morning in bed, again, relieved to be feeling back to normal, and spent a lot of time just resting in the Lord and praying. Drew and I got to talk more about what happened, too. I think hormones were at work at first, but were exasperated by my re-living my last birth, then made worse by the stress of the doctor visit and the impending shower. Hormones do funny things to you! Plus, it dawned on me after a Starbucks tea on Saturday, that I hadn't had caffeine since it all started, so I was probably experiencing withdrawals!! Sheesh.
Drew and I prayed about it and god was reiterating the word PEACE. So since then, I've been trying to take my thoughts captive, rest in God's peace, view my circumstances through a lens of peace and pass peace on to others--all of which have helped me feel almost 100% normal ever since--save some sweaty hands and feet!
So it was a minor hiccup but I'm glad it's over and glad to be one week from full term!
2. I had my baby shower! :) I'll post pictures on my main blog and link back here ASAP.
3. I had my maternity portrait session! Find the link in the previous post
As for week 36...I am not--I repeat, NOT--going to psych myself up for "going early."
All pregnant women probably wish for their baby to be born at about 38 or 39 weeks--nice and ripe but not overly so. And every week at the end gets you another half-pound as far as the baby's weight, so two weeks can result in a baby that's a pound heavier! For a woman having natural childbirth, you kinda hope to not have any more weight on the baby than necessary!
Having gone 6 days past-due last time, I can honestly say that I have no desire to go past my due date this time. The caveat, however, is that Andrew was born at a healthy 8 lbs. 4 oz. and has been miraculously healthy ever since...so you can't argue with that! He definitely came when he was ready. He also had passed meconium, though (and the odds increase that they will, the longer they 'cook'), which created an "emergency situation" at the end of my labor, so that resulted in a less-than-ideal birth. So I'd like to avoid that this time, too, and thankfully, the odds are in my favor.
Today marks the first time I felt pressure on my cervix--just a tad, when I stood up from the computer. Right down the middle, though, and fairly intense! Ya never know, maybe I'll be dilated a little when I go in for my 37 week appointment next week!
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