Oh my god, how has it only been 32 weeks?! I have been pregnant FOREVER. I keep having to double check my pregnancy app because eight more weeks sounds so ridiculously long that I assume I have made a mistake. But, nope, I’m just currently experiencing the world’s longest pregnancy.
I’m being asked how long I have left to go a lot at the moment, I actually think this is why time seems to have slowed down. When you are saying “Another eight weeks” fifteen thousand times a day, it sort of feels like more time has passed and surely, surely it must be seven weeks by now?!
The baby is now the size of a junior tennis racket. Hey, here’s an idea, pregnancy app creators, why don’t you choose more streamlined items to avoid filling the hearts of pregnant women with stone cold fear? There is no way I can fit a tennis racket out of there - junior or not.
Week 32 has mostly been a week of discomfort and moaning. I dug out my birth ball in the hope that it would provide some relief from the backache I am now experiencing. But it turns out, if you don’t sit on the ball, it doesn’t help. I haven’t really spent much time sitting down this week, I’ve been busy trying to get things sorted before the baby arrives. I’ve just finished decorating my office which took a lot longer than expected. Everything is taking so long now, I think I am the slowest I have ever been. Even getting dressed in the morning seems to take 10 times longer than it usually would.
I’ve also noticed that pregnancy insomnia has started to set in this week. I don’t seem to be able to get to sleep as easily as I once did, my mind is too busy compiling a never ending list of things I need to do before the baby arrives. If I do manage to fall asleep, I very quickly wake up in need of a wee. Sometimes I don’t even get all the way back to my bed before I realise I need another one. I think this baby must have hold of my bladder and is using it as a squeeze toy.
I find myself pottering about more these days, I seem to have less motivation than ever. I have the best of intentions but never quite seem to get all of my jobs finished. Whereas I usually rush home after the nursery run so I can fit in as much work as possible, I’m now starting to take things a little easier. I’m very aware that by this point in my last pregnancy, I had just one week of work left before the start of my maternity leave. This time, I’ll be working right up until my due date and I’m starting to feel the weight of that.
I feel huge and yet my bump growth doesn’t seem to be slowing at all. I can feel it pushing outwards and stretching more throughout the day. I’ve also been getting plenty of Braxton Hicks, usually in the evenings but occasionally throughout the day too. They are so annoying.
I’ve also started feeling a bit anxious about the birth. Not about giving birth, but that I might be refused a home birth due to staff shortages on the day. This happened to a mum locally last week and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. I’m going to have to speak to my midwife about it at my appointment next week because the worry is keeping me up at night. I’ve started reading Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth and that is filled with beautiful, positive birth stories which is helping to put my mind at ease a little bit.
Missed my 31 week pregnancy update? Catch it here.
