Week 34: The one where I'm not done being pregnant

By Published On: January 5th, 2016

As this pregnancy moves along, people’s comments regarding my appearance […]

week 34As this pregnancy moves along, people’s comments regarding my appearance turn to questions regarding my preparedness for the baby’s arrival.

You know, all the classics:

“Are you ready?”

“You’re still pregnant?”

“Are you sure they got your due date right?”

Through gritted teeth, I find a way to respond (although, as time goes on, my responses get less and less polite).

But then I get to thinking. Am I ready? Um, no. Not even a little. The truth is, at least for the time being, I’m perfectly fine with still being pregnant. I’m only 34 weeks. The baby’s not cooked enough. It needs to stay in there. Plus, it’s just easier this way. I can feel the kicks and punches and know the little peanut is there and doing well. But I don’t have to change diapers, or feed the baby, or any of the other newborn related activities that I’m not ready for just yet. I mean, we don’t have a swing yet. And the newborn clothes are all tucked away somewhere, not clean, not sorted, not ready to be put on a baby. And the thought of going into the attic to find them … or logging onto Amazon Prime and deciding which swing I want delivered to my front door is just too much right now. It’s possible I’ve reached the epitome of lazy.

In a few more weeks, the story will change. I’ll be done. I’ll be so large and uncomfortable that I’ll be willing to trade the (relative) peace of life without a newborn for the ability to sleep on my stomach again. I’ll be ready for the diapers and the feedings and the crying and the sleeplessness. In fact, I’m sure that in a few more weeks I’ll be begging for the baby to be born a little bit early (which I’m also sure won’t happen). But for now, I am perfectly content for this baby to stay put.

FullSizeRenderI could do without the heartburn. Oh, the heartburn. My diet consists of a healthy dose of Tums every day. The jury is still out on whether or not it actually helps. I’ve had heartburn at some point in all of my pregnancies, so you think I’d be used to it. But I’m not. It’s still unpleasant and something I could do without. And it’s likely that it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

I’ve been having Braxton Hicks contractions for quite awhile now, but just in the last week or so they’ve become more noticeable. They’re still nothing compared to the real deal, but they’ve become strong enough that I stop what I’m doing and take notice. Because, like I said, I’m not ready for the baby to actually be born. So it’s cool if my body wants to practice getting ready for labor. But let’s just keep it to practicing. For now.