Well, it's happened, as it does every pregnancy for me. Some women gain all their weight in the first trimester, or throughout second trimester growth spurts. Not me. Oh no, I gain it ALL at the end!

My weight has jumped five pounds in two weeks, despite my calories only being as such to be gaining maybe 1/4-1/2 pound per week. Some of it is the baby, who is putting on weight as well. But most of it? WATER RETENTION! My tissues are swelling a bit in anticipation of birth, my amniotic fluid volume is very high, and all the contractions I have been having are causing my abdominal and pelvic muscles to work and retain fluid, just like after any exercise session. I know what is causing it, and that a few Reeses Eggs (ehehehe, yeah...) didn't do it. But that doesn't make it less frustrating. I am okay with the weight gain in that I know it was necessary, but I definitely wish it were not so!

My weight today, Tuesday, was 231.0. It has been in the 230-232 range for days and looks like it will stay there. I am 38w2d pregnant today, and he feels like a much more substantial baby than his sisters (who were both in the 8-9 pound range, big but not huge). Most of my frustrations are pregnancy centered, these days. I will have bouts of strong, timed contractions that taper off. He will move very low (I can easily feel his head with a cervical check, resting on my pelvic floor) but a night of sleeping and he will have disengaged and rolled to another position, usually posterior. My entire family is ready to have him here, my husband is burned out and ready for his biggest vacation of the year, and I am so thoroughly done with the wait-and-see mode it is ridiculous!

What's interesting is that I was perfectly content to go over my due date with my girls. I didn't get antsy until the midwives or OBs started looking at their watches. But for some reason, I am not able to achieve the same zen-readiness with Seth. I want him OUT, I want him BORN, and my life is stuck in stasis until then. I am unwilling to hurry it along with anything but natural induction methods or positioning exercises, at this point, but my gut tells me he really should be born any day, and the day passes with some promising signs and ultimately nothing.

I know I just need to pray for more patience (as opposed to praying he'll be born, which is my current plea) and to wait on God's timing on this, but it is very hard for me to do right now. I'm just a little anxious in the waiting, which is unusual in and of itself, and ready to go through birth and get it over with.

My contractions have tapered off from the strength they had over the weekend, and I am not sure if that is good or not. Fortunately I am able to rest (I've been wiped out) and not been too bothered by them, so that is a small mercy. My pelvis, thanks to the regular chiropractic and massage, is also more comfortable than it has ever been in this stage of the game. The next point of order is the OB appointment I have later today. I'm expecting it to be uneventful, as always.

That's my crabby rundown, anyway. My eating hasn't been great, I am craving junk hugely, but I still make every effort to start off a meal well and still log what I am eating if I am at all able (some restaurant food is tricky to guess). At this point, I can safely say weightloss isn't hardly on my radar, birth is. In a few weeks, one way or the other, the focus will shift back to the purpose of this blog. Until then, beware of crabby tangential posts about how NOT in labor I am.

/end grump.