Struggles of Late Pregnancy

You’ll constantly hear pregnant women complaining about being uncomfortable the last few weeks of their pregnancies.  The waiting for baby can be exhausting and nerve-racking and the bigger baby gets, the more physically uncomfortable late pregnancy becomes.

But you never really hear what exactly about those last quiet days of late pregnancy makes it so miserable, so after 4 times down that road, let me clue you in:

Baby is big and uncomfortable, too.

As you get bigger, so does baby except s/he can’t stretch out on the couch.  Instead, s/he will stretch out as far s/he can in your tummy and it’s not always fun.  I distinctly remember Doodle stretching his loooong legs completely straight often towards the end and I could feel all the way from his little bum to his little feet, nearly a foot long, from one side of my torso to the other.  TWELVE inches…

You will run out of room.

As baby takes up residency in your abdomen, all the bits that usually reside there have to find a new place to go and as baby takes more and more room, often the only spot left is up under your ribs, where there isn’t a lot of extra space nor is that region particularly accommodating of extra stuff.  The feeling of my lower ribs being stretched is, for me, one of the worst feelings of late pregnancy.

You will need to pee a lot.

This may not be news, but what is, is the fact that baby moving can make you nearly pee your pants, that having a full bladder can cause baby to freak out and/or move into places where you don’t want him/her, that sometimes baby will lay so that you CAN’T go when you want/need to and that any/all of it can cause contractions (not labor, though, unfortunately).

The bigger baby gets, the bigger his/her movements will get.

Sounds logical but what you may not realize is how those bigger movements can startle you, catching you off guard (some of Doodle’s even used to make me yelp) and might even cause discomfort or pain depending on how/where baby lays until baby repositions again.

Sleep will become harder and harder.

You won’t be able to sleep because you have to pee, you won’t be able to sleep because you’re uncomfortable, you won’t be able to get comfortable because that huge belly gets in the way and moving it around to get comfy takes a lot of work.  A lot of people claim this is to prepare you for life with a newborn and whether or not that is true, it sucks.

You will feel completely useless and helpless.

Bending over, getting onto/off of the floor, sweeping, loading/unloading the dishwasher or dryer, getting on your older child’s level to talk to him/her, putting pants on, tying/buckling your shoes, getting in/out of a low car…  Pretty much anything that involves getting near the floor will prove problematic.

The pelvic pressure is insane.

At some point you’ll probably start to feel baby pressing down on your pelvic floor as s/he engages for delivery.  And it will feel like you’re walking around with a bowling ball in your lady parts.  Or like the baby is going to fall right out of you (it won’t, unfortunately).

Everyone will have an opinion.

You won’t be able to go to the grocery store without someone asking you when you’re due and speculating on how much longer you’ll be waiting.  You’ll be informed if you’re carrying low or high and whether you’re huge or tiny.  Plus you’ll constantly be checked on by well-meaning friends and family members who want to know how you’re feeling.  Any contractions yet?  Are you ready?  And everyone wants to be the first to know when labor happens (I personally like to keep labor to myself, though, and share the news when baby has arrived!)

The anticipation will nearly kill you.

Waiting for baby can be quite an emotional ordeal to.  You’re excited to meet him/her yet you may have worries about being a good mommy.  You want your pregnancy to be over (like, NOW, please!) but you may have anxiety about giving birth.  It’s all par for the course, embrace it and let it be.

Eventually you’ll just be DONE!

Unless you deliver early, you’ll undoubtedly reach a point in your pregnancy when you’re just over it.  The discomforts, the exhaustion, the excitement, you’ll just want to hold that baby so bad you can’t stand it and you’ll do anything and everything to try to get him/her out of your body and into your arms.  And it’s okay, that’s completely normal and natural, do whatever you want or need to do to get things going (I know I will be!)