39½ weeks

[j4]

My bump is now so big that I look at it and just think "How does that even stay up?" and despite my best efforts with the "bio-oil", moisturisers etc. I am getting big stretch-marks. Ho hum. :-/

The what-I-believe-to-be-Braxton-Hicks-contractions (bump goes rigidly tense all over for a while & then relaxes) seem to be getting more frequent and lasting for longer, but they don't hurt or anything (though it's a bit uncomfortable when they happen while I'm cycling). I'm also getting quite a lot of feelings of not-exactly-pain-but-more-like-someone-squeezing-me around the pelvis area. To be honest the only things that really hurt at the moment are the various aches and trapped-nerve-like pains I'm getting in my left shoulder from lying in the same position all night. I will be so glad when I can lie on my back again! Or even just lie on my side without propping up a bump, and then turn over onto the other side.

I had my last Intergrowth scan today (wasn't sure I'd even make it to this one!) and the research midwife who's running the study was very impressed that I'd cycled to the hospital. (To be honest if I'd realised it was going to rain all the way there and back I might have given in and got the bus this time, even though it's massively more inconvenient... but by the time it started raining I'd left it too late to get the bus. I note that putting waterproof trousers on is far more difficult than cycling!) I am so glad I've been able to keep cycling, I'd've gone crackers if I'd had to faff about with buses every time I wanted to go anywhere (walking is difficult, I get a stitch really quickly; we did manage to walk to Verde on Cowley Road on Monday night, which is about a mile away, but it took me ages).

Anyway, the scan was OK, but they couldn't measure the baby's head this time (or get any sensible pictures of her) because her head is now too far down -- which is a shame for their data-gathering (though they still got lots of the other measurements they needed -- legs, stomach, etc) but a good sign from my impatient point of view! I sort of assumed I'd've noticed it feeling significantly different if the head was starting to engage, but I wouldn't've known if they hadn't told me; the books say things like "it'll feel like you've got a bowling ball between your legs" (now I have to admit I've never actually had a bowling ball between my legs, but really, it doesn't feel anything like that) and loads of people said the bump would 'drop' (as far as I can tell it hasn't -- still looks really high, I'm still getting loads of heartburn, and baby is still kicking me in the ribs).

Unfortunately being unable to measure the head also meant that they couldn't estimate baby's size, so we'll just have to see how big she is when she comes out. (I'm guessing around 7.5lb -- feel free to place your bets now! No prize except the smugness that comes from being right. ;-)

So now I guess it's just a question of waiting (hopefully not too long). We'll let you all know when anything happens! (But no, I am not going to live-blog or live-tweet through labour/birth -- you wouldn't believe how many people have asked me...)

Comments

[j4.livejournal.com]

Walking, buses when necessary, eventually cycling -- we're hoping to get a Dutch bike (a Bakfiets or similar) but probably won't be able to do that until she's a bit bigger (and sourcing the bike requires tuits because there's nowhere in Oxford that actually stocks them though the Electric Bike Shop says they can do some kind of deal with their sister shop in Cambridge).

Mind you, buses will annoy me less when walking isn't such a strain -- at the moment part of the problem is that there's always at least a 10-minute walk at at least one end of the bus journey, & that tires me out, so getting the bus feels like I'm paying money for something that takes more effort than cycling!