Ah, pregnancy.
Weeks 5-19, I thought that half of the population was crazy for intentionally undergoing the process of having a kid — I was exhausted, nauseous, and felt like someone had flipped a switch from old me to new me… and there was a long road ahead.
Weeks 20-36, I was on cloud nine: feeling great, energy for days, and crying happy tears every time I heard “What a Wonderful World” — which was often, because I started playing it for our little man daily.
I remember thinking: “pregnancy isn’t so bad after all! You just have to make it through that nasty first part.”
And then we hit week 37. As I mentioned in my recent post, I hit a major, invisible wall at the end of the road. I’m huge, and growing. My back hurts, I’m up at least 5 times a night to do the bathroom shuffle, and I usually have some version of cramps daily. My concentration on anything not-baby-related is totally shot, and I’m fixated on the impending reality of delivery and recovery — I’ve never even broken a bone before and can’t imagine managing the recovery process. And just to round it out, Chicago is trapped under what the media is cutely calling a “heat bubble” of temperatures in the mid to high nineties, so my lower half, fingers and face are roughly twice their normal size by the end of the day.
While my little line-up of maladies isn’t unique to me and I know I’m lucky to be in good health, the waiting game is killer. As my nurse said yesterday, “You over it? You look over it.”
Yes ma’am. Officially over it.
My prince of a husband has done everything he can to keep me positive and even our beloved kitty boy is giving me (and the belly) extra snuggles daily. But distraction is the real name of the game at this point, and I’ve developed a few tricks to help pass the time with minimal meltdowns, especially since daily pedicures would be a bit much. (…Right?) And heading into week 39 having made, as my doctor so kindly put it yesterday, “little progress,” I’ll be employing some of these tried and true tricks in force over the next week or so to power through these final days.
Six Tips for Surviving the Last Month of Pregnancy
Watch a new TV series.
At the wise age of 32, I know my strengths, and I know that patience is not one of them. I knew this last month would be tough and that I’d need some major mental distractions… cue Game of Thrones. Yes, we’re a part of a very small minority of the population that hasn’t seen a single episode of this particular show, but all you need is a compelling plot and a lot of seasons backlogged for you. Friday Night Lights and the Sopranos would also work well here. Miserable as I may be come 7PM with the weight of the day bearing down on my feet, back, and the entire middle section of my body — you better believe I perk right up when it’s time for our nightly mini-binges.
Take a bath with Epsom salts.
A half hour soak in the tub with a few cups of this magical salt does wonders: in one shot, you’ll get the major mental relaxation of a bath while the salt goes to work, soothing body aches, relieving headaches and cramping, and even improving digestion. Plus, the salt in the water amounts to extra buoyancy, so you’ll get the added perk of feeling weightless — if even just for a moment.
Check out new mom classes at your hospital.
I like to be informed, and I’m certain that my Google search history has spiked in the last 9.5 months as I’ve researched late-night baby-related fears and fallen into countless baby-forum black holes. But no amount of Googling has helped my husband and I feel as prepared as going back to school for classes at Northwestern like Breastfeeding, Baby CPR, Infant Care and the amazingly named “Great Expectations” birth and delivery class. The information was invaluable, but so was the level of confidence and familiarity we feel in the place and the people who we’ll be seeing at least 48 hours of in the next week or so.
Indulge in insurance-funded massage.
Imagine my surprise when a colleague told me she was getting weekly prenatal massages at the end of the line. What have I been doing with my life?! Upon investigation, I found out that my insurance plan covered therapeutic massage — so while I can’t roll into my favorite Chicago hotel spa and bill it back to Aetna, I did a little research and found a few chiropractors in network that were able to offer prenatal massage. Be forewarned that a clinical massage is not the most relaxing experience — this is a “hurts so good” kind of situation. But I enter feeling like a whale, and leave feeling like I’m floating on cloud 9. (Hint: be sure to ask your insurance if you have a maximum dollar limit for massage therapy.)
And on that note… Check out prenatal acupuncture.
(Also likely insurance funded!) Acupuncture is new to me, but after my best friend went into labor the day after visiting an acupuncturist, I was immediately into it — particularly in the interest of keeping busy and feeling like I’m taking action. My first two appointments haven’t been “active.” At weeks 37 and 38, they were just meant to relax me and prepare my body for labor. Basically, two rather expensive naps. (Thanks again, Aetna!) This weekend’s appointment should be more exciting, as at week 39 we can take a more aggressive approach to inducing labor. The real proof of whether this one is “worth it” or not will come around when our little guy decides to make his appearance, but since there are no harmful side effects and people all over the world have used acupuncture for pregnancy since 1100 BCE… bring on the needles.
Read positive birth and breastfeeding stories.
I have thought many times over the course of this journey that everyone that says, “no one ever tells you how hard breastfeeding is!” or “no one ever tells you the REAL DEAL about recovering from labor” must be living under a rock. On the contrary, I find that 90% of what I hear anecdotally (thanks, Whole Foods cashier!) or read online are war stories about how darn hard all of this is. And I don’t doubt that the road ahead will have plenty of bumps, but I also am not interested in convincing myself that something’s going to go horribly before I even get started. So I got to Googling “positive birth stories” and “positive breastfeeding stories.” Both led me mostly to the baby forums which — you know, take any public forum with a grain of salt — but it was so refreshing to read multiple stories from women all over the world saying hey, it’s not all so bad. I jump back into this practice whenever I start getting too freaked out about labor and delivery or obsessing about whether or not I’ll be able to make breastfeeding work for a little mental pick-me-up.
So there we have it. Six things that have been getting me through these final weeks — along with a lot of ice cream. What’s helped you through the long, final days of pregnancy?