40 Weeks

How far along? 40 weeks

Weight gain? 42 lbs

Baby is the size of - a watermelon

Stretch marks? I'm seriously beyond shocked (as I'm sure some of you are as well) there have been no signs of stretch marks

Sleep? There is no sleep anymore, it's more like quick naps interrupted by excruciating pain.

Miss anything?  Sleep, having energy, being pain free

Cravings? Apples covered in about half a jar of peanut butter, sea salt and Nutella.  Sweets as well.  I had some Reese's cups packed in our L&D bag for John while we are at the hospital but I couldn't resist the urge anymore, they are now in the fridge and quickly disappearing!

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Nope, other than things prior mentioned

Symptoms? Pain, pain, pain…  so much pain that I'm actually looking forward to delivery day knowing that it's the only thing that will make this pelvic pain go away!  I've had some mild contractions this week but nothing major.

Belly button - In or out? My "turkey timer" says he's done…hehe!

Wedding rings - on or off? They are still off

Any movement? Jaxon still isn't slowing down, he's full of movement and stretches all the time.  Sometimes my stomach gets hard as a rock and I'm unable to move because of his position.  Take the hint Jaxon, you need to come on out!

Happy or moody? I've been more moody this week but I try to control it.  At this point in pregnancy, I would love to know of someone who's full of sunshine so I could find out what kind of drugs they are on!

What emotions have you been experiencing this week?  It's been an emotional week for me.  We went to our appoint on Friday (40 wks 2 days) so excited and left feeling completely deflated.  So much excited, not to mention so much pain and we both had in our minds that this was the weekend we'd welcome Jaxon into to the world.

Looking forward to - Seeing John hold our son for the very first time.  I know it'll absolutely melt my heart a million times over.  Maybe this sounds a little selfish, but I'm also looking forward to not having to share my body with Jaxon; it's getting beyond painful.  I'm looking forward to bringing him home and starting our new chapter in life as parents.

Week 40 Fun Fact - Jaxon IS stubborn just like his momma and his daddy agrees!  Also, this will be the last pregnancy blog update since I will be induced this coming week at 41 weeks & 2 days.  We're hoping and praying that he naturally makes his appearance before he's forced out but either way, he'll be here by next week!



So our "due date" has come and gone with no signs that Jaxon is ready to come out.  Since our appointment Friday was past our due date I was hooked up for NST monitoring.  NST is short for Fetal Non-Stress Test and let me tell you, there was no stressing on this momma-to-be either.  I got to kick back in a recliner as John and I listened to his heart beating.   I had a few mild contractions while hooked up but nothing crazy.  Jaxon's heart rate stayed around 130bpm with a high of 158 and low of 95.  We were told everything looked great on the monitor so we were put into an exam room so I could be checked for dilation.  Still only 1.5cm dilated.  The excited feeling completely drained right out of us upon hearing that.  The OB told us that she'd have her assistant schedule us for induction at the hospital in the coming week and that I would need to check in the night before for cervical ripening.  It took all I had not to completely fall apart at that point and the rest of the day to be quite honest.  We'd planned to go out for eggplant parmesan after the appointment but after hearing that I wasn't dilating I didn't know if it would be safe to induce labor.  Since they won't induce me at the hospital without dilating me first I wasn't sure I should try it.  If anyone knows if it is safe or not, please let me know! If not, and if things don't progress naturally, we are scheduled to check into the hospital on Thursday and I'll start pitocin early Friday morning.  In ways I think that it would be nice to go in the night before and have that time for just me and John and have everything more on a schedule (I'm a scheduled type of person) but on the same token I know every day he's in me at this point the risks get higher for him.

Saturday was John's birthday and unfortunately he had to work.  Boooo.  I'm really loving that he's not in Afghanistan anymore but I'm not loving the fact that he's always working.  He headed off to work and I tried my best to find a comfy position to get some more sleep.  I woke up a few times but laid in bed the majority of the morning just trying to relax.  Although the later in the day it got, the harder it got to relax because all I could think about was how I wished Jaxon would make his appearance for John's birthday.  It was a hard realization to come to and there might've been some tears momentarily shed over my disappointment that it wasn't going to happen.  People mentioning how they hoped he'd be born on his birthday only made it harder.  I know there was nothing I could've done to had changed it but deep down I couldn't help but feel like a total failure that it didn't happen.   After John got off from work I met him at Biltmore Estate where we took a nice waddly walk, yes, I waddle I have no shame to admit it at this point, and then we got some ice cream before heading to dinner.  We had Italian at Pomadoros.  It was our first time eating there and we will definitely be going back!  We headed home after that where I surprised him with some gifts and a Smores Blizzard ice cream cake from Dairy Queen!  Part of his birthday includes what will possibly be our first night out after Jaxon's arrival.  We will be going to see ZZ Top perform at the Biltmore Estate in July.  Yes, a babysitter is already lined up for us to get away for a couple hours that night!  It was a good day after I was able to be with him.  He has a way of putting a smile on my face when no one else can, especially the past few days.