Surviving the Last Week of Pregnancy

It’s the last week of my pregnancy and I feel like I’m barely holding on! My 2-year-old is being a crazy man and I’m going nuts with the anticipation of baby’s arrival. The last week of pregnancy is the hardest. You are counting the days and minutes until your due date and the big arrival. It’s really hard to stay calm and relax, which is really what a pregnant woman in their last week should do!

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Pregnancy Update

This is how I’m surviving my last week of pregnancy. How am I feeling? Am I ready? These are questions I’ve been thinking about a lot and they are hard to answer. This pregnancy has been so different from my first, especially at the end.

At the beginning of this journey, I really wanted to try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). The thought of another c-section recovery with a 2-year-old to take care of honestly scared me. The closer to the end of this pregnancy I got, the more I started to question this decision. I know what to expect with a C-section. Since I have never technically been in labor, it would all be new to me, I’m not even sure I would recognize it.

Read about my first birth story and experience with preeclampsia.

Even though I was nervous about it, I decided to push forward with trying for a VBAC. In order to avoid additional risks of a uterine tear (as is a risk with a VBAC), I scheduled a C-section for 40 weeks. This allows the time for natural labor but keeps the pregnancy from going late.

Final Preparations

That deadline of 40 weeks is quickly approaching. With days left in my second pregnancy, I’m scrambling to finish my preparations. I have a freezer full of meals, the cradle is put together, I’ve collected all the important supplies (i.e. diapers), and cleaned…well…half my house. I spent time preparing both my dog and my son. Now, do I feel ready?

For about how I prepared for my second baby, read my A Growing Family series: Part 1: To-Do list, Part 2: Supplies, Part 3: Preparing Your Dog, Part 4: Preparing Older Sibling, Part 5: Weekend Family Getaway.

The short answer is no. Despite all the preparations, I still feel like I could have done more. That I SHOULD have done more. I had wanted to have the nursery completely decorated and it isn’t. I still have a lot of my stuff in boxes from moving a few months ago. There are two closets full of stuff that isn’t organized. I have at least 4 unfinished projects. It’s easy to get wrapped up in everything that didn’t get done.

Focus on the Positive

I constantly have to remind myself of how much I have done and that it is ok that I didn’t do it all. In reality, I did a lot. I have about 25 meals prepped in the freezer so that I don’t have to cook. The nursery furniture is put together and in place and I finished the outfit for his newborn photo shoot (Peter Pan).

The reason other things didn’t get done is simply that I’m pregnant! Pregnancy gets in the way of productivity. You need to take breaks and relax, even when you want to push through. Reminding myself that the most important things are done and focusing on the positives has kept me sane through this last week. I’m way more prepared than I was with my first!

The Emotional Side of It

I am just over this pregnancy. On the emotional side of thins, I am more than ready for this baby to make his debut. According to my doctor though, my body is showing no signs of labor. My original hopes of having a natural birth are slowly going out the window as I’m scheduled for a C-section in just a couple days.

At first, I was really disappointed by this. It’s not that I feel like I’ve failed. Having another C-section just seemed like it would be so much more difficult. The fact is, that my body just doesn’t seem to want to cooperate and I just need to accept that. However he arrives, soon I will have another little bundle of joy in my arms.

Planning out Help

I am fortunate in the fact that I will have help (and that I’ve learned to accept that help). My mom will be in town while I’m in the hospital to help care for my son. So will my in-laws. This means that my son won’t have to stay at the hospital longer than he can tolerate and my husband can stay with me. We don’t have to worry about our son or our dog. And once we go home, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will not only allow my husband to stay home from work for five weeks, it will pay him to do so.

Of course, he won’t get as much as if he was really working, but the bonding time he will get and the help he will be able to give me will be worth it. Recovering from surgery is tough, and having him there to support me will be amazing.

Once he returns, I’m blessed that my parents will return to help for another 2 weeks. That means that I have help in the house for the first 7 weeks of recovery.

I Will Survive!

Focusing on all these positives makes me feel much better. So am I ready? In the ways that REALLY matter, yes!

I’m ready to meet my son and be done with the aches and pains of pregnancy (including the carpal tunnel that makes writing this difficult). Once he arrives, whether by C-section or naturally, all my worries will melt away. It will all be worth it! There are only a few days left and I am anxiously awaiting his arrival!

How did you survive your last week of pregnancy? Did you have any nesting urges? Tell me what you did in that last week to survive in the comments below!

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