As my pregnancy winds down, I can honestly say that I feel nothing but pure joy, enthusiasm and relief at seeing it go. I haven’t enjoyed being pregnant at all, and I won’t miss it when it’s gone. If you ever, someday in the future, hear/see me say/write something along the lines of, “I miss being pregnant,” know that the childbirth hormones have brainwashed me and erased all of my real memories of pregnancy. There have been a few fun moments (namely the first handful of ultrasounds and kicks), but honestly, this has been one seriously painful, exhausting journey and I’m ecstatic that it’s at its end.
The last few weeks, I’ve been doing everything I can think of to get this baby out. Spicy food. Raspberry leaf tea. Evening primrose oil. Sex. Long walks. Exercise balling it to the max. HypnoBabies “Come OUT, baby!” track around the clock. Ultimately, it may be cervadil and pitocin that finally does the trick. I have some reservations about the prospect of being induced and keep hoping she’ll make her appearance before Thursday, but if she doesn’t, I won’t be sad to sacrifice the birth I want if it means a few less days in the kind of pain I’ve been in the last few weeks. At this point, I don’t really have the energy to care. I’m just ready not to be pregnant anymore and to finally have my baby here.
What I’m looking forward to, post-pregnancy:
- Being able to sit, stand, walk, bend over, lay down, etc. without being in pain.
- Wearing something other than stretch pants.
- Wearing a bra. (Yup, haven’t worn one of those more than a couple of hours at a time since Christmas. Too painful.)
- Margaritas.
- Not hearing a bunch of comments about my body and my appearance.
- Not having to answer a bunch of questions about my health or my baby’s health.
- Eating without worrying about how bad the heartburn is going to be later.
- Going to the gym.
- Deep breaths.
- Toilet paper savings. (Going through a roll a day ain’t cheap!)
- Not being a giant sweaty mess all the time. (I really, really, really hope that goes away and isn’t a permanent change.)
- Margaritas.
Oh, yes. And I guess I’m looking forward to the whole baby thing, too. 😉 I’m very, very ready for her to be out and here.
We should have a baby by the end of the week. That feels so good to say!
Cute gif! I am a little jealous that you can bare your belly at this stage, my stretchmarks are not ready for public viewing. Anyway it will all be over soon, hang in there!!
On the sweating, in case no one’s told you this, it’s common to get some crazy postpartum sweats, especially night sweats, as your body goes through still more hormonal changes, but they don’t last too long.
I’ve been so grateful that my stretchmarks have been at a minimum. I have them, but they are mostly on the other side of my belly from these pics and are pretty faint. I guess they have 4 more days to really get ugly, but I’m thinking I may have escaped relatively unscathed…this time. 🙂