The Time of Zwischen

Yesterday marked my 37th week, a significant day as this is the point where babies are now considered full term and should be born between now and 42 weeks.  This was also they day in my pregnancy with Elena in which my water broke and less than 12 hours later I birthed our sweet bundle of light.

Some call this time zwischen, German for between.  "The last days of pregnancy— sometimes stretching to agonizing weeks—are a distinct place, time, event, stage. It is a time of in between. Neither here nor there. Your old self and your new self, balanced on the edge of a pregnancy. One foot in your old world, one foot in a new world"  Jana Studelska CPM/LM, www.mothering.com.  This aptly describes my emotional and physical state right now.  I've never been good with transitions especially once I have come to accept what will happen but have to wait.  So between physically aching, feeling motion sick, constant bathroom breaks, acid reflux, unable to sleep, constantly hungry, fluctuating hormones and being stuck in between--as one could imagine, I'm mentally a roller coaster.  This is a place I never visited while pregnant with Elena, she just came too early.

We are ready for our next bundle, this one seems to have energy, strength and endurance based on his acrobatics in my belly.  While everything isn't perfect around the house, it is functional.  The crib has been reassembled, this time we have a sheet--washed and on the crib.  We have clothes washed and ready to be worn.  My bag is packed, car seat ready to go.  All things that weren't ready when Elena arrived.  Plans for what to do with Elena when the time comes are in place.  And fortunately I've been lucky enough to have started my maternity leave.  I've enjoyed a week of bonding with Elena, relaxing (including a massage), napping, cleaning up our home and finishing a quilt for our new addition.

As a side note/update: at 35 weeks 4 days, we had our 3rd ultrasound to measure this boy's growth.  He has consistently measured big with his tummy greater than 97%.  His body was measuring the average size at 37 weeks, his tummy was at 41.5 weeks for a whopping weight of 8lbs 3oz at the time of the ultrasound.  Of course these measurements are estimates and it seems the weight can be off by 2lbs in either direction.  Either way, if you consider he should put on 1/2 pound a week for the last few weeks, his estimated weight comes in at 8lbs 3oz to 10lbs 3 oz (I can't even think about the possibility that he's measuring smaller than he actually is).  I've put on 10 pounds less with this pregnancy than with Elena, yet it appears he'll be at least a pound heavier, most likely more.  This boy loves food just like the rest of us :)