37 weeks pregnant: Reminiscing about my pregnancy

37 weeks pregnant and reminiscing… Prior to actually being pregnant, there were a few things that I associated with those particular 9 months.  I thought of the pregnancy glow, pregnancy hair, morning sickness, desserts, getting some special attention (not gonna lie), Mexican food (seriously yum), gaining pregnancy weight, pregnancy fatigue, swollen pregnancy feet and hands, stretch marks, big boobs, pregnancy sex, and nesting.

I never got the lovely pregnancy glow that I’ve heard about.  And while a few people have said, “You are just glowing” I know that they are full of crap.  The pregnancy glow is just not there and now that I’m nearing the end of my pregnancy at 37 weeks, I am simply okay with this.  (But I do have my fingers crossed that I am graced by the pregnancy glow the next time around!)

I did get the pregnancy hair, but it’s not exactly what I was thinking it would be.  I’ve always had thick hair.  I will admit, it’s nice hair that I have.  Long, shiny, thick, and all the other adjectives that go along with what you think of when you hear pregnancy hair.  Since my hair has always been thick, being pregnant has made it even more thick, which translates to a lot of hotness in the summer time, which means many, many ponytails.

It’s quite sad really, I went from styling my hair to putting it up in a ponytail all of the time.  In my mind that tells me that I need a haircut.  No one should wear their hair in a pony daily; it’s just not good.

My husband, on the other hand, is not onboard with me.  Not in the sense that he’s one of those weirdo ones that controls what the wife does, but he just asked me if I would wait until after having the baby… you know, to make sure that it’s not my hormones talking right now.

Perhaps he’s just a smart man and realizes that every single time I’ve ever cut my hair drastically I’ve hated it.  And this is over 6 years worth of haircuts.  I have agreed to listen and wait… but it does not mean that I’m enjoying it one bit.

Morning sickness.  I had it and I hated it.  Sure, it could have been worse, but no matter what level of morning sickness you have when pregnant – it just really sucks.  Throwing up and feeling nauseous are two things that I could have done without.  And I do not buy that line that people tell you to make you feel better:  Morning sickness just means that your baby is really healthy.  Yeah, right.  In my mind, that’s a crock of shit.

Desserts.  I will say (proudly, even) that I have really come to love desserts while being pregnant.  Desserts have never been a regular part in my diet prior to being knocked up so I have really enjoyed partaking when I feel like it lately.  Now that I’m at the end of my pregnancy, I have really been taking full advantage because once this baby is out, it’ll be bye-bye to the dessert world for a while.

Getting special attention, no matter how big or little, has also been nice.  While there have been people who have completely overstepped their boundaries, those stories were too far and few to focus on.  I like the extra smiles from people, the not so annoying questions or conversation starters, the door openers, and everything else that is pregnant when you see someone that is clearly pregnant.  It’s nice to know that there are still nice, caring, and decent people still in the world, despite all of the bad we hear so often.

Mexican food is delightful.  Being from Texas, it’s like a rule to like/love Tex-Mex.  Being pregnant has just completely magnified my love for Mexican food though.  It sounds good to me day and night.  Too bad that my husband isn’t as big of a fan of it, but he’s a good sport most of the time.

I’ve always known and been okay with the fact that people gain weight when pregnant.  It’s just what happens and it’s not a big deal at all.  Back in the second trimester there was a 4-week period that I gained 9 pounds.  Even though I’m okay with gaining weight, that was a lot to swallow for some reason.

Once I got over myself and realized that it was fine (and that it was the only 9 pound month I’ve had), I haven’t worried about the scale at all.  There is not one good, valid reason that I can think of as far as why I should care.  My OB isn’t worried about my weight and I’m not either.  It’s just the losing part after pregnancy that I am dreading.

Pregnancy fatigue is an interesting one.  In the beginning I don’t remember ever feeling like “Oh my gosh I need to sleep now”.  I do think that part of this is because I don’t have a job to go to daily.  If I don’t sleep well at night, I can always take a nap during the day.  But I really expected to get hit with the pregnancy fatigue bug in the third trimester.  It seems like I’ve heard from everyone just how tired and sleepy I should be.  But I’m not.  At all.  In fact, I feel like I am the same that I’ve been previously (minus being a whole lot slower).  I tend to lean towards the side of insomniac, if anything.

I always, always, always associated being swollen on some body part towards the end of the third trimester with pregnancy.  Again, not so true.  (Or maybe I’ve just been lucky thus far.)  My hands and feet are bigger, but not necessarily swollen.  My ankles are the same way too.  I feel like everything just grew a size (or two) larger, but nothing is swollen and fat.  I don’t have cankles and I’m hoping it stays that way.

Stretch marks fit into the same category as swollen limbs.  I was always afraid of having a big pregnant belly because I thought it automatically meant stretch marks would be present.  I was wrong.  I don’t know if it’s genetics, the cream I use, or the fact that I’m just one of the lucky ones, but I don’t have any to report.  (And to all of you that have left me comments saying that you got them after delivering, no offense, but I hope that I don’t join you in that.  I will continue to do the same thing I’m doing and hope that it works.  LOL.)

At the end of my first trimester (I think) I posted a blog post about having porn-star boobs.  It was like they grew overnight back then.  Since that first trimester’s growth, I have had nothing to report.  They stopped growing.  I went up one size (so far) and they’ve been at a standstill ever since.  Of course, they might have changed some, but do to my ever-growing belly, maybe I just have not noticed.

Pregnancy sex is something that hasn’t happened all of the time like I thought it would.  I’ll spare you the details because we’ve blogged enough about it, but I want to focus on sex in the third trimester.  Now I don’t know about you, but sex in the third trimester should just be put to rest until after the baby comes.  I mean, really.  I can’t speak for all pregnant ladies, but it’s just not enjoyable for me this late in the game.  It’s awkward trying to find a good position, not to mention how unflattering some of the positions can be.

I will admit that I completely ruin some of the moments during sex because I have to pee so badly.  I’ll ask Tarzan, “Uh, are you close?”  If he says that he is, then I will be a good sport and hold it for a little bit.  If he isn’t, then we must pull apart and I waddle off to the bathroom.  There was one time in particular when he, um, finished, and then I was like “help me up NOW because I have to pee”.  He helped me up, I went to the bathroom, and it was almost orgasmic to just pee.  And I’m not kidding.

And finally, the last term that I associated so often with being pregnant is the infamous nesting that you hear about.  Like the lack of the pregnancy glow, nesting has not been a part of my pregnant life.  Haven’t you read my post on the dirty dishes?!  I really got excited about the whole nesting experience, if for nothing else than to just give my house a good cleaning.  It’s weird to say, but I was excited about getting the urge to clean the ceilings at 2 am.  I have heard from some that nesting might kick in as labor approaches, so maybe there is still some hope for me after all!

You might also want to read:

1. 39 weeks pregnant: OB pregnancy appointment
2. 38 weeks pregnant: OB pregnancy appointment, date night, & my labor dream
3. 37 weeks pregnant: Full term OB pregnancy appointment
4. 34 weeks pregnant: OB pregnancy appointment
5. 37 weeks pregnant: The phone calls have started and I’m not looking forward to this part

Tagged as: 37 weeks pregnant, First Trimester, morning sickness, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Fatigue, pregnancy glow, Pregnancy Week-By-Week, Pregnancy Weight, Stretch Marks, swollen pregnancy feet, swollen pregnancy hands, Third Trimester