Week 38 & 39 – The Final Few Days

In the final weeks leading to the delivery, I’m feeling hot all the time. I’m walking around the house carrying a small washcloth to wipe the sweat off my face and neck every few minutes. Excessive sweating is a new thing for me, someone who barely sweat even during exercise. I’m just not used to perspiration beads on my nose and above my lips, and I hate the hair sticking at the nape of my neck. Finally I got a short haircut just to get the hair out of the way. My heart rate is up so I’m panting a lot, but blood pressure still low. In this condition I’m really slowing down on exercise, all I want to do is sit and fan my face! It’s just so hard for me to believe when hubby said he still found me sexy, but you have to give him props for trying….

I’m often up at night to pee and can’t go back to sleep. I would sit by the bed and think for a few minutes which of the two remaining sleeping position I should take: on my left side (better for the baby but pure torture to the sciatica on my left leg) or on my right side (the sciatica is not as bad but my right shoulder gets sore really quick)? Then after a while I’d just take any position and put on the meditation guidelines on my Ipod to help me relax and go back to sleep. I try to avoid reading or thinking as it makes me even more alert.

Week 37 – Are We There Yet?

Another weekly doctor’s visit – baby Jojo was already in the correct vertex position (head down and face towards my abdomen) but the head is still not yet “engaged”, meaning it’s not dropped into the pelvic bone yet. We still had time to wait, and in the meantime I was recommended to do squatting exercise to help the baby getting into position (as if I can squat with this massive bump and wobbly legs). The doctor said that the baby is now in full term, which means labor can happen any day that Jojo decides to show up.

We’ve also made a Birth Plan, signed by the doctor and us (mom and dad). A Birth Plan is basically a wish list of what you want during the delivery, signed by you and the doctor. Of course just like everything in life, there is no guarantee that things will go as planned, but at least the doctor and the hospital staff know what you prefer. There is no rigid format of what the birth plan is like, we just divided the plan into different sections and make bulletpoint lists of what we would prefer to do/have.

My Tips On Pregnancy

Now that I’ve been carrying baby Jojo for nearly nine months, I have tips to share with other moms-to-be out there. Hope they are useful…

Read, browse, learn

Spend some time reading pregnancy books, browse the internet for more information, and write down lists of questions to bring to your doctor. Learn all you can about pregnancy, delivery and childcare. If you are a working mom, also get information about maternity leave and what benefits you can get from your office regarding childbirth.

Get cozy with your obgyn

It’s very important to have a doctor that you are comfortable with and the one you can trust. Don’t hesitate to ask a lot of questions (even stupid ones!), hubby and I have a written list of things to ask my doctor during every visit. If your doctor can’t satisfy your need for openness and discussion, don’t hesitate to switch to another ob-gyn. Ask your friends for recommendation. For me it’s also important to have an ob-gyn who prefers natural birth instead of shoving a caesarean under your nose.

Week 36 – Almost there!

Yips. Am I really at the ninth month of pregnancy?

Seems like yesterday when I showed hubby the home pregnancy test strip with two blue lines on it. But there’s no denying it… we’re on week 36, and now having weekly doctor’s visit.

Now I weigh more than hubby, and I waddle from side to side when I walk. My tummy is gynormous with a brown line in the middle, but at least I don’t have any stretchmarks.

Everything, I mean EVERYTHING, is uncomfortable. Standing up for more than ten minutes causes me intense back pain. Sitting down causes pain on the bums and hips. Laying on the couch on my back causes difficulty breathing. Sleeping on my side causes my tummy to drop at a funny (and painful) angle.

Week 35 – Preparation time

Mom called and asked if everything’s ready for baby Jojo’s arrival. Uhmmm, mentally we’re more or less ready. She asked if we had baby clothes. Yes we have loads of them, hand-me-down clothes and things from our friends, but they were still sitting unwashed in the box. She was shocked, surely the baby will come home from the hospital clad in brand new clothes? Uhmmm mom, he wouldn’t know if his clothes aren’t new and he wouldn’t care. She said she’s getting the baby a set of new clothes, no way her grandson goes home in hand-me-downs. Fine mom, whatever you say. She said we need to sort the old clothes out and have them washed as soon as possible. Okay, mom. She asked if we had baby toiletries ready. What toiletries? I asked. I had no clue what would a baby need for cleaning and bathing. Do they even need to be bathed twice a day? Are they that dirty?