Singles Countdown

Today I am 31 weeks along. This means the countdown in my pregnancy is now in single digit weeks… 9 weeks until my due date. YAY…. 9 weeks (give or take) until I don’t have to be pregnant anymore. But on the flipside, YIKES…. 9 weeks (give or take) until I have an infant to care for – which is terrifying.

I do not feel prepared to have a baby around here. I have a car seat, so I guess they’d allow me to leave the hospital with a kid. I have some onesies and a few other clothing items that people have given me, so the kid would have some clothing items. We’ve ordered a crib and also have an Arms Reach CoSleeper that was bequeathed to us so baby has somewhere to sleep.

Last week I had a doctor’s appointment. It was pretty routine, but they did go over my blood glucose test results. (If you recall, they said they would only call if it indicated gestational diabetes, otherwise we’d just review the results at a follow-up appointment.) So based on that, it’s pretty obvious that I don’t have gestational diabetes. But the interesting thing is that the “normal” range for a random (non-fasting) blood glucose test is 80-120 mg/dL. My test results came back as 52. Hypoglycemic symptoms usually appear when the measurement is lower than 60. My midwife said that was very surprising and odd for having just consumed such a sugary drink. She told me to make sure I’m snacking and if I feel dizzy to make sure to eat. I feel like I’ve been eating a ton, I know it’s not really a TON… but it is physically and mentally uncomfortable for me. (ED talking, I’m sure.)

The baby’s movements are kind of painful now, it feels like he/she gets twisted into a position and gets stuck there for a bit… so pressure builds up until all the sudden it feels like the kid twists around and releases.

I have had swelling in my foot and ankle… that’s right, just one foot/ankle. My left foot has swelled up by the end of the day a few times. According to Dr. Google I either have a blood clot and I’m going to die at any moment or the baby is hanging out with its back mainly on that side. Judging on how much kicking/punching/whatever I feel on the right side of my belly, it seems likely that the kid’s head and back are more on the left.

The pain in my hips/glutes is really getting unbearable. Last night while cooking dinner, when it came time to drain a pot of pasta it actually caused me physical pain to pick the pot up and dump it over the colander! That small amount of weight took my breath away! It doesn’t matter though, I’m so sick of cooking meals at this point. I’d be perfectly happy having overnight oats, smoothies or Subway veggie sandwiches for every meal now. I don’t have much of an appetite these days and the thought of doing anything over a heated appliance fills me with dread right now.

Jade The Boxer got sick this week with a bladder infection. She had several accidents in the house and kneeling to scrub the carpet was painful. Not to mention the fact that cleaning up urine from carpet is just EW!

I loathe that things that should be simple things around the house are now so awful, I don’t like feeling helpless. I was raised to be independent… but I’ve probably been a little too independent throughout this. (I’m too independent in general!) I have never once begged my husband for any kind of pampering or had him take on any chores. I’ve never sent him out for weird food cravings or any behavior you see illustrated in movies/TV that I’m not sure are reality. For me… they’re not.

People tell me that I’m not that big, but I feel GINORMOUS. It’s kind of hard to carry this extra weight around in front. And I’m still supposed to grow for several weeks… it’s hard to see how that is possible. My skin feels like it’s going to rip apart and explode at times. I think my abs are separating, something I am not looking forward to dealing with postpartum.