34 Weeks: My Baby's Getting Ready!

It's been a wonderful week, minus the occasional vomiting and constant sleepiness. Despite the dark times, I feel privileged to be carrying this child, and I couldn't be more ecstatic about starting a family when we are. As much as I have envied women who breeze through their pregnancies, I feel a special bond with my baby and my husband for having survived our experience. There are only a few weeks left, and the labor & delivery will be our final hurdle before a whole different set of challenges come our way. But I have a feeling we'll be just fine.

This past weekend, we had a little before-the-baby-comes party, where many friends we haven't seen in a while showed up. 2012 was a crazy year, and we were away a lot. Then I was sick throughout the pregnancy, which made it virtually impossible to see anyone - until now. This baby is already much loved, and I'm grateful to have such amazing friends and family. We received a bunch of gifts as well as a huge bag/boxes of hand-me-downs. I've started inventorying baby clothes, separating them by sizes. These little outfits are so tiny and adorable. I can't wait to put them on my baby girl.

Our baby/guest room is also almost done. Our niece is visiting soon with my sis & her hubby, who will be here for my birth. Woohoo! At this point, I'm more excited to get the room ready for their stay than for our baby, who won't be needing it for a while.

We also went to our first official prenatal appointment at the midwifery. It was like any other prenatal visits at the doctor's office in terms of getting the usual things like blood pressure, weight, and baby's heartbeat checked, but they took a lot more time to talk to us and answer our questions. After another conversation about breech babies and my concerns, I was lying on NOT a medical exam table but a comfy day bed, where the midwife touched my belly with her hands, following up with a device that only detects heartbeat by the neck of the baby - to determine where the head is. And it seems my baby girl has finally turned! Her head is down!

It's interesting to look back at what I was feeling the few days prior to the appointment. The baby was moving A LOT more than usual. It felt like the space was getting too small for her, and she was struggling to find a more comfortable position. She was pretty forceful in her movements, and I couldn't figure out what she was doing. In hindsight, she must have been turning, head down. I was worried for nothing - she was going to do this all on her own. She seems to be getting ready for what's to come. That's my girl! :)

I'm so relieved. I'd been reading about and was planning to try all types of homeopathic interventions for breech babies. Now, all I have to do is focus on eating right and doing normal exercises like walking - no more inversion exercises necessary. The closer I get to my due date, the more confident I feel about my own body's ability to do this. The occasional vomiting has slowed down, and I've been feeling relatively more energetic.

PHOTO at 34 weeks:
When my midwife was touching my belly, she said, "You are full of baby, aren't ya? It's rock hard!" My belly is getting tighter everyday. I've been using a really generous amount of oil after showers, hoping it'll keep my skin moist and elastic enough for the next few weeks of more stretching. I try not to waddle, but I do find myself walking funny sometimes, especially when no one's looking.

My version of 'bliss' with a dilemma: 20 weeks 3 days

Every morning, my stomach feels a bit fuller. I find myself reaching for my lower belly as soon as I'm awake, and the growth I detect in my hand makes me smile. The baby's movements are getting stronger, and my husband was able to feel a pretty strong kick this morning, which made both of us giggle like little kids. The fact that every life has gone through this process is mind boggling. It's such a joyful time.

Physically, however, I haven't reached such a joyful place yet. This unexpectedly long 'sickness' brings with it a lot of dilemmas. Long story short, I have to travel for various reasons, including one that involves a job I have to finish. I have hired a company overseas for a project, and I have to be there for the final review in order to officially finish it. This meeting has been postponed since July, when I couldn't get out of bed. Now, I am definitely out of bed. I even take daily showers and am able to feed myself. But I still am constantly nauseated, and vomiting hasn't stopped, which worries me when I consider traveling abroad. It's not only the 14 hour plane ride, during which I usually have motion sickness anyway; it's also all the other little changes that come with a longterm travel: the jet lag, the different foods, the environment... The reservation for our plane tickets expires today, which means we have to make the decision to either buy it or postpone it by today. This is our third or fourth time having to make this decision, and I'm getting frustrated. What are my options? The only two I can think of are either I hire another company to do the job locally, which would mean a financial loss, or postpone it until I can stand a plane ride and a long time away from home.

At the doctor's office, they say right now is the optimal time to travel because I had my big 20 weeks checkup and don't have anything until the glucose test that comes between 24-28 weeks. And I'm supposed to feel my best during this period because my belly will only get bigger, making it harder to move around later on. Then when the baby comes... It's a whole different world of struggles. So... if what they say is true, and I feel the way I do now, I don't know if I can travel at all during my pregnancy. 

So I keep looking at my calendar, trying to make some predictions, decisions. And I keep writing emails, making changes to what I said might happen. I'm frustrated at my own body that won't let me enjoy this period like all the other pregnant friends I know. 

Then the baby moves. She dances around in my womb, letting her presence known, reminding me of this tremendous miracle I'm experiencing. Maybe this is my version of '2nd trimester bliss.' I'm just really happy, despite everything. Maybe the physical part of the 'bliss' will never come, but maybe that's okay.

Now, back to my calendar.........