Waiting is the hardest part

Well, here we are at 39 weeks and 3 days, still 1 cm. dilated and 50 percent effaced, still no contractions or other signs of labor ... all the same stats as last week. Evan's still moving great and everything looks fine, apparently he's just comfortable in there.
I'm tired of hearing myself complain. By any standard, this has been an(other) extraordinarily easy pregnancy and even now I'm not uncomfortable or in pain, just impatient to meet Evan. Today the doctor said we could induce at any point now but I want to wait and let him come on his own time if he will. I'll be 40 weeks on Monday and my next appointment is on Tuesday.

Since this practice doesn't like to let you go more than a week past the due date, I'll probably have to schedule an induction on Tuesday if Evan hasn't surprised us before then. We shall see ...

A milestone

At 39 weeks even, today I'm officially the most pregnant I've ever been. At this point with Claire I was in the middle of a 25-hour stretch of labor; she was born six days before her due date. I have no signs whatsoever of labor, but I didn't with her, either, so I suppose he could come anytime.

At my 38-week appointment last Thursday I was 1 cm. dilated. At Amanda's 38-week appointment she was 5 cm. dilated and was holding her baby four hours later. I wonder who's living right?

When I made my 39-week appointment (for this Thursday morning) the secretary gave me the doctors' on-call schedule. I would strongly prefer that Evan be delivered by one of two doctors at the practice, and they happen to be on call for a combined five days this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but not getting my hopes up.

When Matt gets home I'll try to remember to get him to take a belly picture, since (hopefully) the baby bump will be gone soon. I have actually lost two pounds in the past couple of weeks -- due, I'm sure, to my muscles wasting away from not running in a week -- but my stomach is huge. Friends and strangers alike enjoy exclaiming over it. The bigger issue is that this baby is just crazy low -- I really don't think he could drop any lower. I only own two shirts that fully cover my stomach. It's so low that even underwear doesn't fit right anymore, never mind my jeans. I cannot wait to be back in my regular clothes.

I haven't had an ultrasound since the gender-reveal one and none of the doctors have estimated Evan's weight, but I have a feeling this is going to be a big baby. Come soon, little man!

Memories are fickle

I had my 29-week appointment today. I was supposed to have a 28-week one last week, but it got rescheduled because my doctor and his backup both got stuck in emergency surgeries the afternoon of my appointment. Everything was fine and routine today, as usual, thankfully -- good heartbeat, good movement, etc.

For the next six weeks I'll have an appointment every two weeks, then it will be every week until Evan's born. I have a feeling this pregnancy's about to start really flying by. I can't believe we're already at this point.

I have been feeling so pregnant lately. Not necessarily in a good way, more in a "None of my clothes fit, I'm running like a duck, I cannot easily paint my toenails" way. Running has gotten hard and awkward and uncomfortable, and it doesn't help that this is maybe the hottest summer on record.

I don't remember feeling so big and just ugh so soon with Claire, and I was planning to write a whiny post to that effect. But this is where it comes in handy to have Claire's baby blog for reference.

Check this out: The top picture is from when I was 30 weeks pregnant with Claire ... and the bottom one is from tonight (29 weeks and 2 days).

(The fact that I'm wearing nearly identical pajamas is just a coincidence.)

I also see that I spent most of my week-28 Claire post complaining about how hard running had gotten.

I'm really glad to know how I look and feel is right in line with the last pregnancy. This plate of chocolate chip cookies is helping my mood a lot too. So I'll cut the whining short and focus on them.

And he shall be called ...

Evan Bryce Kirby. My only hangup with Evan is that it's gotten so popular, but all of the boy names we really like are popular. Anyway, Bryce is much less common so helps balance it, I think.

And here's a belly shot. It is kind of a strange picture, taken while I was playing cornhole at the beach a few weeks ago. So it's from when I was probably 24 weeks pregnant. I have not taken a posed belly shot photo this whole pregnancy but maybe one of these days I will.

This might sound crazy and I might be imagining it, but I do think I'm carrying this baby Evan differently from how I carried Claire. I think he sits low, whereas she was always high until the last couple of weeks, when she dropped.

I've arrived at that lovely stage of pregnancy where I have to pee all the time. Before I leave for a run I think through my route and make sure there are places for pit stops (woods, port-a-potties or even actual bathroom facilities). With Claire it seems like this only lasted a few weeks, so I'm hoping for the same this time.

I just read on Claire's blog that 27 weeks, which I am today, marks the beginning of the third trimester. I can't believe we're two-thirds of the way there -- this one is flying by!

Healthy naval orange

I had my monthly doctor's appointment this morning. Everything seems fine. The doctor said the heartbeat is very strong and is at 150 beats per minute.

In other 15-week news, I think I've started to feel the baby move some, which is one of my favorite developments. I'm still feeling great although the supposed second-trimester energy hasn't kicked in yet.

I wore a belly band for the first time yesterday, with dress pants. I didn't have to, but it was more comfortable because dress pants sit higher than jeans, which still feel fine. And I knew I'd be overeating after church (Tripp's brunch with friends). It was a good call. I don't have a legitimate baby bump yet; I'm at that enviable point where my stomach's not totally flat and casual observers probably think I should cut back on the beer.

Our next appointment -- where we'll find out the sex! -- is June 7.