Growing girth and impending birth.

I will be full term at 37 weeks in a few days. As per doctor's advice, I was to stay ambulated and to keep walking about so that the baby can start engaging and getting into position. Our bodies actually start preparing for labour a month well ahead of it. You'll know that labour is at hand when your baby 'drops' or is what is called 'lightening,' and it happens a few weeks before labour starts. It's when you feel a heaviness on your pelvis and less pressure on your lower rib cage which now makes it easier to breathe.

I walked around the mall and ran errands with my mum until I started to feel a little tired. It's odd walking around and grasping my belly as though I had just stolen a watermelon or bowling ball and was hiding it under my dress. I can feel my baby moving and trying to get into position. There's a slight pinching sensation around the vaginal area and your perineum feels the pressure of the baby weight too. Oh I kept moaning when I got home. Moaning about back pain, moaning about how short of breath I am and how difficult it is to find a comfortable sitting position (or any comfortable position for that matter). 

I am so tempted to just lay down all day! But of course, that doesn't help the baby transition any. There were moments last night when I felt like I might start going into labour. Since I'm a first-time mum, I'm glad I asked my doctor about the things to look out for before checking myself in. Coming into hospital too soon will cost me more money than time. So she basically narrowed it down to looking out for three things:

• If you start having contractions, time them and see if they are within 10 to 15 minutes of each other within a 2-hour span. This is accompanied by extreme pain (duh, you're going into labour!!)

• If your water breaks, then you definitely have to go and get checked in. If you notice a leak and it doesn't smell like urine (yes you'll have to smell to be sure), you'll still have to go in because that means there is a leak in your amniotic sac and that is going to expose your baby to deadly bacterial infection. The most urgent thing is for your baby to be protected. In this scenario, if you haven't started getting contractions or going into labour yet, you will need to be induced.

• If you notice a mucoidal vaginal discharge that's tinged with brown, pink or red blood, that's what's called a "bloody show." This means that you passed your mucus plug and that you are going into labour in about 1-2 days. DON'T GO to the hospital yet. You might want to wait for the two above-mentioned signs instead.

In other news, sleep has become even more elusive to me now. I went to bed at midnight last night and woke at 2am due to pretty bad heartburn. It's like when you swallow a capsule and it doesn't go down at all; it's just stuck in your esophagus. Switching positions is such a painful task because the baby's weight is fully pressing down on you and you need to do it slowly because it's a roll cage for him in there. Your best move when it comes to any feeling, sensation or sign is to get in touch with your practitioner immediately. Text your doctor or midwife no matter what time of night or day if there is something you're experiencing but aren't quite sure about. There's nothing like peace of mind to aid us in our home stretch in this pregnancy.

So here I go. A walkabout I will go and pray that my son comes out soon. :)