I am 40 Weeks Pregnant!

Today is my due date. Yep. And I’m still pregnant.

How I’ve been feeling:

Big. Huge. Gigantic. – I’m pretty much at the beached whale stage over here.

Heartburn – I never quite know how well I am going to sleep each night. Some nights leave me exhausted with heartburn, and then the next night I will be fine.

Abdominal Pain – Before Christmas I was having a lot of sharp pains just above my belly button. I was confused by the pain because it didn’t feel like braxton hicks contractions. My midwife confirmed that the pain wasn’t practice contractions. Instead, I was feeling my abdominal muscles tearing apart. Ouch! I wore a support band for a few days, and the pain stopped.

Lucky – As uncomfortable as I am feeling these days, I recognize that I have made it through this pregnancy with very few complications. I have a history of low amniotic fluid levels with my other two children. We have been monitoring this baby extra close because of that, and so far my levels have right on track. At one point, my midwife said I might have to have ultrasounds every other day to check on the fluid level. I can’t tell you how happy I am that we haven’t had to do that!

Am I ready for the baby to come?

Back in August, I wrote a very detailed checklist of all the things I needed/wanted to do before the baby came. I broke the list down into multiple categories: filling my freezer, building a stockpile, each holiday, blog & podcast, moving Noah into Grace’s room, organizing the nursery, and general baby goals.

Despite how organized I was, a week ago I would have said that we still weren’t ready. However, now the hospital bag is packed, the car seat is installed, and I finally feel prepared.

I have never had labor start spontaneously. I’ve never timed contractions or experienced my water breaking. Grace was induced when she was a week late. Noah was born the day before his due date via c-section. Part of me doubts that labor will start naturally with this little one, but that is what we are hoping for. I am an excellent candidate for a VBAC, but the risks associated with that increase if I am induced. It would be wonderful if baby could decide on his/her own that it was time to come.

Ultimately, my house feels ready and my mind/heart is feeling more and more ready as each day passes.

Pregnancy Highlights:

Pregnancy Photos – We took photos in November when I was 29 weeks along. The pictures in this post are from that photoshoot. Thank you, Cicely Berkey, for capturing this precious time for our family!

Hiccups – This little one gets the hiccups all the time. On my birthday we both had the hiccups at the same time!

Grace & Noah – These two have been so excited about the baby from the moment we told them. They regularly talk to the baby, and Grace is constantly asking when the baby is going to come.

Movement – Every night when I lay down in bed, this baby starts dancing! It is amazing to see how much my belly can move from the little one rolling around and kicking. The other night Nate could see the baby dancing around from across the room. He reacted with, “Wow! It looks like it is going to jump out!”

Names – Umm. This is almost embarrassing to admit, but we still aren’t solid on our names. Nate and I have sorta given up on picking a name before the birth. We have two boy names and two girl names picked, but we keep going back and forth on which ones are the frontrunners.

Wanna know when the baby comes?

Eventually I will share the big news here when our little one arrives. However, to be sure you find out as soon as possible, you’ll want to make sure you are following me on Facebook and Instagram.

While you are waiting, entertain yourself with my previous birth stories:

• Grace’s fast and natural birth
• Noah’s breech birth

Thank you for celebrating this journey with us!

Photos by Cicely Berkey