How to Survive and Enjoy the Last Weeks of Pregnancy

Aren’t the 9 months of pregnancy just beautiful?  Wait – there are actually TEN months of pregnancy?!  Oh…well… aren’t the first 9 months of pregnancy just beautiful? 

Am I the only one who feels like the last 4 weeks of pregnancy never end?  Maybe it’s because of the well-intentioned grocery checkout ladies that comment ‘any day now’ when you say you’re 34 weeks?  Or maybe it’s the helpful baby countdown apps that start telling you ‘baby could come at anytime and thrive’ after 37 weeks.  Possibly it’s your sweet co-workers who start popping by your office every morning exclaiming ‘you’re still here?’ as soon as you hit the 36 week mark?  Mostly, I think it’s the anticipation of meeting your baby mixed with a little bit of just being ready to be done.

I sit here today, 39 weeks pregnant with my second baby.  This morning my ‘Bump’ app asked me if I had given birth yet.  Even my iPhone apps are wondering if I’m still pregnant!  My son, who is almost 5, was born 4 days late so I’m fully aware of the reality that I might still be pregnant for 2 more weeks…or longer. (Please, no)  Despite all the aches and pains and annoyances I’m trying to embrace the final days or weeks (again, please, no) of this pregnancy because weather it’s your first baby or your fifth, when baby arrives everything changes.

This is probably my last baby, I remember people telling me when I was pregnant with my son how much I would miss feeling his little kicks and wiggles from the inside and I thought they were crazy.  With almost 5 years in between my kids I can definitely now say that I know exactly what they meant.  So, today, even thought my ribs are aching and I can’t see my feet I will try to cherish every little nudge I feel from my unborn daughter knowing that I may never feel another little life inside me after she arrives. 

Last night while we were watching tv and I was eating pineapple and drinking raspberry leaf tea (thank you for the labor-inducing suggestions, internet, they did not work) my husband rubbed my feet and we laughed imagining what life would be like when we had two kids running around.  Soon, we will be in the thick of the newborn life with a pre-schooler to care for too and these quiet moments between the two of us will be much harder to come by.  Today, I will remember that these moments of us talking and planning what life will be like are fleeting and soon we will actually see and live that life, or some version of it. 

My son loves to dance, and our kitchen is a perfect dance floor.  Last night, inspired by the answer to a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune, we cranked up ‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang and danced.  Soon, my silly little boy will be a big brother.  He’s going to be great, but sharing mom’s time and attention with his baby sister will be an adjustment for all of us. 

Aren’t the 9 months of pregnancy just beautiful?  Wait – there are actually TEN months of pregnancy?!  Oh…well… aren’t the first 9 months of pregnancy just beautiful? 

So, while we anxiously await the newest member of our family we are going to turn up the tunes and celebrate what our family looks like today because any day (or week) everything will change.