38 weeks, 1 day

38 weeks!!! :) REALLY pregnant now, lol! So close to meeting this little boy, it's so exciting!

I feel quite a bit more settled and happy now, due to a few different things:

The evening before last, someone from church messaged me and said I should email a prayer request to the church about my little manny, for better rest at night for me, and for him to grow. I can't think why I hadn't done that yet!! Anyway so I did it right away, and while I was at it, I put out a prayer request at MOMYS as well (should have done that earlier too). The more people praying, the better! :)

I have slept a bit better these past 3 nights. All 3 nights I have had that bar of soap under my fitted sheet near my feet - this weird "cure" for Restless Leg Syndrome and cramps that Megan sent me an article about. I am definitely still getting restless legs at night, and some leg cramps too, that don't go when I put my foot on the soap (like it DID work for a zillion others). But there has somehow been a change of some sort all the same, since using the soap. My legs feel heavy and tired and.... dare I say it? Comfortable, lol! Since having soap in the bed. The first night I noticed it right away, and my toes felt sort of buzzy with it, and I didn't like the feeling and wondered what was up. I went to sleep maybe within an hour, which is a HUGE improvement for me, and my legs didn't bother me nearly so much as usual. On thinking about it the next night, this heavy comfy leg sensation is something I think I remember from like decades ago or something (!!) - I think it might be NORMAL tired legs! I had no idea my RLS has become so bad, and have just got used to it bothering me pretty severely every single evening and night time. They never feel at rest, are never anywhere close to the description of "comfortable", and just feel light and fidgetty and itchy down to the bone ALL the time. It's horrid! The contrast of relaxed, tired legs is such a delicious feeling. So I think something about having the soap there DID help.

The second night I definitely had RLS which bothered me a bit and wasn't relieved by the soap. BUT it wasn't as severe as usual, and I still had some heaviness in my legs as well. And I went to sleep within about 30 minutes!!!! Whoop whoop! Both those nights still started too late and finished too early, and were broken up a fair bit, but I was encouraged by the improvement, however slight!

Last night, I think I had my best sleep in at least a couple of months! I had trouble with RLS, possibly a tad more than the previous night, BUT still not as bad as usual and I still had the heavy comfy feeling behind it to some degree. I think it took me somewhere within an hour to fall asleep, and I was asleep before MIDNIGHT!!!! That's hours earlier than I've managed to fall asleep for ages! :) Not only that, but my sleep seemed restful. I woke at 2am, feeling like I'd been sleeping for hoooours - I had to check the clock. Samuel's feet were in my face, lol! He actually didn't wake at all last night. I am not sure if that's a first or not - he did stir plenty before I fell asleep, but settled back off sucking his thumb rather than breastfeeding. Anyway, I don't know if his feet in my face woke me up, but I really really had to wee, so that might have been it as well. After I went to the toilet, I fell back to sleep really quickly, and THEN Samuel slept until 6.15am!!! That sounds crazy early to most people, probably, but that's a BIG lie-in for Samuel at the moment. He is usually awake for the day an hour earlier, and sometimes 90 mins earlier than that. Hard-going!

Anyway so I felt really rested! The other boys were all up already (I have always had early early-risers for my little ones) and full of energy downstairs with Neil, so I took Samuel down and then went back to bed for another hour. I couldn't really sleep, but I dozed a little. I felt SO energized compared with normal this morning! I did become really tired out mid-morning and struggled to stay awake when putting Samuel to bed for his nap around 10am. I've been very tired since then but it was a much better start to the day, thanks to the sleep! :) I REALLY hope the trend continues, as I desperately need this kind of sleep from now until when Elijah arrives, especially if it's true that the lack of it has been linked to his slowing rate of growth.

The other very encouraging thing is that yesterday (the day after sending out the prayer requests), I had a good breakfast, and Heather and her daughter came over and played with the boys and were generally lovely company. While they were here, I became kind of lightheaded and shaky, as though I was over-hungry, but it was only mid-morning. So I had a banana. An hour later, after they'd left, I went to make the boys' lunch, and found that I was shaky and woozy with hunger again. That's when I suddenly remembered that the feeling was familiar from times during all my pregnancies when my baby is having a growth spurt!!!! :D And it also told me how it's been unusually long since I have had that kind of feeling, this pregnancy. Usually I think I get that roughly every 3-5 weeks through my pregnancies, and at more intense times of growth for the little one, it's a bit more often than that. My "baby growth spurt" symptoms tend to be incredible hunger that lasts 2-3 days, followed by feeling horrible and slug-like for a couple of days after that (no idea why!). I can't remember when I last felt hungry like this, this pregnancy, but it was definitely 2 months ago or more - a longer gap than I've ever had before between growth spurts. So I was reeeeeeeally encouraged! :) I hope so much that it means my little man is growing well at this very moment, not just growing, but having a SPURT of growth. I hope...

I was also craving protein and carbs along with the hunger. I was so hungry that I couldn't even stop to make the boys' lunch before having my own! I made a 3-egg mushroom omelette, two pieces of toast, and chucked a load of baked beans over that, washed it down with a huge glass of milk, and then ate digestive biscuits and half a bag of chocolate-covered raisins for dessert! I didn't feel stuffed either, and needed to snack again 2 hours later. The boys were wide-eyed at lunch, saying, "I can't believe how much you're eating!!!" and "I can't wait to tell Daddy what you've had for lunch!" hehe!

I had a pretty big dinner, but felt sort of overly full and a bit kicked in the guts (!) during the evening. The same thing has happened today. I needed lunch QUICKLY so I had a can of vegetable soup and cooked half a cup of rice to mix in - it barely fit in our biggest bowl, haha! We made brownies today and those are going down pretty well too! ;) And pot roast for dinner, yum! Tummy ache this evening though.

We're wondering if the improved sleep finally enabled the growth spurt, or if I'm sleeping better because of the eating - although I didn't start with the big appetite until the sleep had started improving. My appetite was never poor before all this though. One thing I am certain of is that sending out a prayer request the night before the sleep and appetite (and hopefully baby growth) improved is no coincidence! God is so faithful! :)

I decided from nowhere to find a tape measure and measure my own bump last night. A bit daft, but I just wanted to. I know that's not the most accurate thing in the world, and the midwife had just measured me the day BEFORE anyway, but I just felt like checking for myself. I know how to - pubic bone to fundus, and I am very familiar with finding both. To be sure I didn't "cheat" (haha!) I measured by feel only, lying on my back without looking at the tape measure. I held the place on the tape measure for checking afterwards, and it was spot on 35cm, so 35 weeks. I am sure I was as accurate as I could possibly be, so I'm encouraged that it was the best measurement I've had yet. The day before I had measured 34.5cm with the midwife starting the tape a tad below my pubic bone. And I checked Elijah's position and his head was still partially engaged, it hadn't popped up again or anything. So I was encouraged by that as well. If I do measure 35 weeks, then my bump has grown a week's worth since my previous measurement a week before (at 37 weeks), which is GOOD news! A week's growth in a week - never mind that I'm still 3 weeks behind gestationally, it's still growth! :) I hope the little one reflects that in his own growth. I have exactly a week to find out, but I will for sure be checking my own bump measurement again in that time to get a heads-up.

Heather was also very encouraging to me (as always) when she was over yesterday. I am now down as "low threshold" for transfer to hospital if I have a homebirth, and we talked about that a bit. She reminded me that it totally depends on the results of this next scan, and if Elijah's growth is acceptable or fine, then the low threshold thing should NOT apply, and she will help me to be firm about that when it comes to it, if need be. So that was reassuring. She also asked me what my gut instinct was about him. I was like, "Huh?" ;) I hadn't really thought about it. She said a mother's instinct about her baby counts for a lot. I paused for a moment to really think about it, and you know what? Every fibre in my being thinks he's absolutely FINE. I don't have any anxiety or concern about him if I block out all the bombardment of worries and stats and such that have come my way in recent weeks, and just consult my gut instinct. It was quite a surprising feeling to discover that! :) When I told Heather, she said, "Then I am sure he is absolutely fine." If my gut instinct changes, that would also be something to listen to. I feel a lot more confident about things, just from these few changes and reassurances in the last couple of days.

I am counting his "episodes" of movement now, as Mandi told me he should have 10 episodes of movement within a 24-hour period, rather than 10 individual movements (minimum). I had always thought it was individual movements, but the main thing is, he should be staying within his norm for activity, and if he changes from that then I need to call the hospital right away and get him checked out. Yesterday I started counting from when I woke up for the day, and he had 10 episodes of movement by the time I went to bed, each one consisting of a ton of wiggles and kicks, and hiccups one time, lasting varying lengths of time from a few seconds to 5-10 minutes. Today I did the same thing and right now he is just doing some slight wiggling which begins his 10th session of movement since I woke this morning. He hasn't moved about for very long in some of his episodes today, but two of them have involved hiccups, and one of them was a lot of REALLY hefty kicking about, more so than usual! I think he's FINE in there, I really do. I love feeling him move about!

The other new thing, which is a typical thing for me from MUCH earlier in my other pregnancies, is Braxton Hicks contractions. I really haven't had many of those this pregnancy - well, I have had them, but I'm used to long evenings of regular distracting BHs from somewhere in the 20s, week-wise. Not this time. But yesterday evening and tonight, my entire evening has been constant Braxton Hicks that are uncomfortable enough to distract me. Exactly like I'm used to in other pregnancies, but finally occurring at last this time around! I'm not thinking of them as "gearing up" for labour at all, since I am so familiar with them from other pregnancies (when they had nothing to do with labour whatsoever - I still went past 41 weeks last time even though I was phoning the midwife at like 27 weeks due to the regularity and intensity of BHs for hours on end!). But it's nice to know there's something working towards the end of pregnancy! They are not very comfortable but I am enjoying them. They don't hurt at all, just feel tight and make me feel a bit weird and breathless at times. I haven't bothered timing any of them, but they're definitely coming more often than every 5 minutes, and one or two have for sure been only a couple of minutes apart.  I do notice quite a few during the day times as well, but I'm so busy and distracted, and I don't think they come nearly as often anyway, as when I sit down during the evening. I notice them in bed too.

OH! The most lovely thing happened last night! A guy at church who we've known for a very long time - Neil and I used to babysit their four children (all same age gaps as ours - the only other family we know!) who were aged 5 down to baby at the time, when we were dating and during our engagement, and now the youngest is leaving school!!! Yikes! Anyway, he phoned last night. He referred to the prayer request and said that if we needed anything we should just call them. He has become a talented photographer in recent years and has a photography business now as well as his usual job. He told me that he and his youngest daughter were looking into areas of business that they hadn't already done, re. photography, and they haven't done any newborn photography yet. They are wondering about going that route, but have no portfolio or experience, although he has a lot of experience producing fantastic photos in terms of portraits, weddings, families, etc. They were JUST talking about it, and thought that since I was just about to have a baby, they might ask me if I would mind (MIND?!?!!) if he took some photos of my newborn baby, because it would help them out (!!!) and I would get some free photos of my baby on a disc to keep! Um, let me think about that for a minute.... YES PLEASE!!!!! :D Lots of people are pregnant at church, but my baby is the nearest due, and I'm so happy about that right now! ;) I just didn't know what to say, I was so so so pleased and thankful! I have wanted some nice newborn photos with my last two babies, but have no possibility of affording such things, and am waaaay too amateur to do it justice myself. It has to be done very early on, and I'm too knackered to set up to take proper photos of my new babies at the right stage, I find.

So, my absolute rule about staying in bed for 2 weeks after giving birth? Yeah, I'm totally throwing that out of the window to get professional photos of my tiny one within the right time-frame! :) I will rest up afterwards, right? ;) These things really have to be done within 10 days of the birth, and the earlier the better, for the baby to be sleepy/calm enough, and (most importantly for the cute factor) malliable enough for various poses whilst sleeping! Ahhhh, so sweet! Because this guy works office hours, and has his studio in his home, he is thinking I need to go over with the baby on the first Saturday or Sunday after giving birth. I am REALLY hoping that I don't therefore give birth Wednesday or later, as far as that is concerned! I think it would be an exhausting ordeal within 4 days of giving birth - I really am not that able to get up and about much in that time without feeling rough. From 5 days onwards things improve I think, so I'm hoping in terms of convenience for photos, he might come on a weekend or a Monday/Tuesday. But obviously whenever he is meant to arrive is PERFECT for me, and the photos will have to work around things. I am just so excited about getting really nice pictures of one of my babies at last, when they're that tiny and gorgeous! I have none so far, just snapshots in poor light and such. So anyway I'm really excited about that news! :)

Okay it's 10.20pm and I'm wondering if it's worth going to bed, since my getting-to-sleep time has improved so much? How lovely it would be to get to actual sleep at a decent bedtime, never mind before midnight! In the past I've found that going to bed earlier = more hours awake and pulling my hair out in frustration than going to bed later. I guess I will just have to get up again if that happens, but here's hoping it doesn't. One time I tried going to bed literally when the boys did, and slept much quicker and easier that way, so it was good - but it all changes when I go to bed any later than that. Hopefully I will get to sleep easily tonight and sleep well, as I feel very tired right now. Also these BHs are distracting me a bit and I'd rather go to sleep and not notice them for a while.

Oh, I forgot to say last time about breastfeeding - it's now somewhere between uncomfortable and sore, and sometimes makes my skin CRAWL to nurse my little two (either of them really, and especially both of them at the same time). I know that's normal for where I'm at, and hormonal, etc. Just making note. Last week I hand expressed a tiny bit to see what was there (there's hardly anything from what I can tell) and still got white milk quite easily, although it looked like a colostrum mix which I've been seeing for a couple of months now. Samuel unfortunately happened to spot me doing this, and has taken to seizing my nipple and scrunching it when I offer him the breast, trying to copy my hand-expressing in a much more painful manner than I do it, lol! He likes to see the beads of milk and taste them :) Today he was asking me to (I usually don't) and I decided I would - such a push-over, lol! Anyway I could only express clear, sort of golden liquid, so it looks to me like it's purely colostrum now. I was mentioning it to Neil when we were getting the boys ready for bed, and Arthur has been learning about colostrum in terms of animals' milk when they have new babies, and was very interested to hear WHO had colostrum. I told him I did, and he got so excited because he said it must mean my body is getting ready for Elijah to be here. He started dancing round the living room, singing, "We're going to have a new baby brother, soo-oooo-ooon!" over and over! :) Sweetie!

Well, my BH contractions are coming every 2 or 3 minutes and although they don't last long, they're slightly annoying, so I'm going to get up and change position, and probably get ready for bed now. I'll update again soon! Thanks for the comments and support! :)