37 weeks! Full-term period (37-42 wks) has begun and Ariel could be done baking any time... The bottom pic I added so you can see my stretch marks better... eek. I also noticed the dark line is appearing now above my belly button for the last week or so, although you can't tell from the pictures. Weekly midwife appointments are going well so far, my "iron" (hematocrit 32) and vitamin b12 were low last week, so I am trying extra hard now to take my iron/vit c supplements twice per day (it is hard because they upset my stomach and have to avoid dairy for a couple hours) and am now taking vitamin b12 1000mg/day that dissolve under the tongue and also eating beef for the next few weeks, hopefully they will get me to a normal level by the birth! It will be difficult for Ariel and I if we are both anemic after the delivery. Childbirth classes are going okay... I think they could be more informative and include more from the reading. It seems like too much of our time is spent chatting about useless stuff, or maybe it is just that a lot of the info is not new to me? Some of it is helpful though and I'm glad we are taking the class so we are on the same page with everything and making preparations. Every week I realize there are still little things I need to buy and hopefully I am ready now!
Very tired lately, likely from being anemic and 156.5 pounds... I get out of breath and dizzy very easy so have slowed down a lot in my activity level. Thankfully only a couple more weeks of school left plus one online test... my professors will let me turn in things late if needed. So nice to be in the nursing field!
Follow-up: Midwife appt today (Friday 25th) went well. Ariel is growing appropriately from what we can tell from the outside - 37cm to top of uterus is perfect for 37 weeks. Her heart sounds good. My cervix is softening but has not yet effaced (thinned out) noticeably and is still closed (not dilated). So hopefully she won't be here in the next week or two and just be on time!
