Second Pregnancy, Month 8

The countdown has begun! I am officially in my last month of pregnancy… according to my due date at least. Silas came at 41 weeks so I’m not holding my breath for an early baby.

It definitely feels like the last month of pregnancy. I need naps in the afternoon, my hips and back feel looser and I am constantly feeling baby pressing on my bladder with all his might. I’m slower moving these days, but I still feel really good overall. The nausea I had during the first trimester made a brief comeback this month, but that seems to have passed already. And I’m still lifting weights. I feel confident at this point that I’ll be able to keep it up until the very end and I am so happy with how strong it has made me feel during this pregnancy. I was pretty lazy when I was pregnant with Silas and labor was long and difficult for a number of reasons so I’m hoping that working out this whole time will make a difference when it comes to labor.

Speaking of labor, we have almost all of the supplies we need for my home birth. I had to start ordering things early because ordering anything from the US takes a few weeks-forever to get here, but almost everything has arrived already. In preparation for labor, I’m also working through the Blissborn homestudy program (hypnosis for childbirth) with my husband. For those of you who are unfamiliar with hypnosis for childbirth, there are several programs available and they all pretty much focus on managing pain through relaxation and visualization. I did the Hypnobabies homestudy course when I was pregnant with Silas and I was kind of disappointed in how it worked for me. Its lack of efficacy might have had more to do with me doing that course alone vs. with a partner, but I was ready to try something completely different this time. So far I’m really liking Blissborn since it’s a little less ‘out-there’ and it’s very partner-heavy. I’m hopeful that all of the stars align and that this labor is smoother and easier than the last one.

This month we also almost completely finished the baby’s room and we finally got our pool completely cleaned and ready to use. I have another busy month ahead of me so my fingers are crossed that the days continue to fly by. The mental and emotional drain of the last month of pregnancy with Silas was the worst part so I’m really hopeful that I can manage a bit better this time. My mom flies out in 4 weeks so delivering before then isn’t even on my radar.

I’m looking forward to one more pregnancy update and then a baby announcement!

Weeks 13-35!

You can find my past updates from this pregnancy here.

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