The Milestone

37 weeks! And our little lady Bubbles is still snug inside the belly. We have reached a major milestone in this pregnancy, for 37 weeks is considered full term. 

We've had a bit of an anxious period in the 7th month. A lot of memories of Noor Isolde's sudden early birth came to the surface, which were accompanied with fear for being repeated in this pregnancy. This was not just triggered by getting closer to 31 weeks, which is when Noor Isolde was born. I started to have painful Braxton Hicks (practice contractions) with occasional cramps.

The gynecologist wanted to be on the safe side and had my uterine tensions and the baby's heartbeat monitored and my cervix measured for signs of early dilation. All seemed to be in order, but since I had a higher risk on a preterm delivery, the gyn wanted me to come in for an extra check with every change I felt and have more frequent regular checkups. Plus, I was strongly advised to take more rest.

Getting there

The weeks passed, with continuing painful Braxtons and occasional cramps on the one side and a steady heartbeat of the baby and a strong and long cervix on the other side. And so we neared week 34 of pregnancy. From week 34 on a baby is considered to be strong enough to do well in the outside world, with a minimum of support. This means that a spontaneous birth will not be stopped from then on, but the baby will have to stay in the incubator for a few weeks.

Having made it into week 34, took away a great deal of anxiety. Even though not yet full term, should lady Bubbles decide to come into the world then, it would've been a whole lot less risky than it had been before. Still, Are and I were not looking forward to getting into another incubator episode. We wanted to keep our baby inside for at least a few weeks more.

Both us as parents and the gyn's were very pleased that we had made it this far. At the same time, my Braxton Hicks were getting less painful and I had less and less cramps. I felt more at ease and a calmness had descended over me. Very reassuring.

Faith

Baby was also doing good, although it appeared that the level of amniotic fluid was a bit low. A new concern, since it could be a sign that the placenta was not doing its job properly and lady Bubbles was not getting enough nutrition. More examinations; baby's heart rate, uterine contractions, blood flow in the umbilical cord, blood flow to the brain and the growth of our lady Bubbles. 

All looked well, most important was the continuing growth of our baby. Weird enough, the necessity for these extra examinations did not manage to take me down! I felt that everything was good, that she was safe. I regained faith in my own body, being able to bring this pregnancy into a positive conclusion. And I was not having that taken away from me.

Enjoy a bit of summer

A few more weeks passed, with more faith, growing excitement, nestling urge. After we'd moved into our new apartment and we'd had the basic things ready at home, we just couldn't be bothered to finish it all up. Tired of the last year we were just happy that the place was livable and that we had a place of our own. We no longer saw the stacked up boxes and the loose ends. It was hectic enough with daily life, the pregnancy and anxiety that came with it, Noor's busy schedule.

We thought it better to enjoy the bit of free time we had and how to do that better than go to the beach, especially when that's within 10 minutes walking distance, the temperature is between 25 to 30 Celsius and you have friends and family from Norway spending their holiday with us in Katwijk. It was lovely! And well deserved.

With the weather changing from week 34, also our home started to look different. I guess I infected Are with my nestling urge as well, or, maybe I just ordered him around hehehe. Anyway, it felt good to get our home ready.

Growing well

Yesterday we had a checkup at the gynecologist. Besides the standard examinations, the gyn paid extra attention to the amount of amniotic fluid and how our baby was flourishing under the circumstances. It's getting really cramped inside the belly for her, especially since there is very little water to swim around in. 

Yet, there is no reason for concern when it comes to her growth. On the contrary; at 37 weeks plus two days of pregnancy, her weight was estimated to 3.28kg (±0.3kg)! Just to explain, the average birth weight in the Netherlands for girls is 3.3kg at 40 weeks, and average growth during the last few weeks of pregnancy is about 300grams per week. And, just to remind you, my body is not exactly average to Dutch standards. Gyn: ¨That must be the father's genes¨. Oh, how am I going to get this baby out??

Ready!

The biggest transformation is yet to come; the arrival of our lady Bubbles into our family. We're ready for her now. Since we've reached that major milestone of 37 weeks, our focus has completely changed, from keeping her inside safe and sound as long as possible, to getting ready for birth and longing to hold her in our arms. I'd never imagined that I could be one of those expecting mothers to be actually waiting for the baby to come, wondering about how labor will set in and how life with a newborn will be. Now that everything seems to be so 'normal', it could even take a few more weeks before our little girl will be born. That is for our baby to decide. We just have to sit back, relax and be patient. A new challenge!

37 weeks bump