Today I am 37 weeks pregnant. And boy have things been different this time around. Being older, I am definitely reflecting more on where I am in my life and what is different this pregnancy. So much is different both in the pregnancy and in my life. For instance, this pregnancy , I have low iron and gestational diabetes. I was nauseous for about 18 weeks which lead to food aversions that never went away. I also can't do milk. The amount of heartburn I have could probably put hair on 5 babies with how bad it is! I can't breathe through my nose and the aches and pains I have definitely remind me I am not 10 years younger! On top of that, because of my age and the GD, I've had WAY more scans. By the time this baby comes I will have had 10 varying kinds of u/s! I'm use to having 2. That's it! However, I have enjoyed being able to see baby girl more often! Oh, and we can't forget baby girl's movements. Oh my Lord this girl can move!! And sometimes her movements are so strong they hurt! But it's good to know she is a strong and healthy baby! Hopefully she listens and stays put till her c-section date!
And then there are differences in my personal life. When I had my first 2 kids, I had already been living in the town we were in for like a year and we had friends, my ex had a good job, and we just bought our house. We were well established in a church and lived an hr away from my mom and bff. Our church and friends put on baby showers for us and set up a meal train and basically took good care of us. My mom stayed with us for like a week or 2 and helped out as she could. My ex inlaws came for a weekend visit and my bff for a day visit.
With my 3rd baby, we had just moved to a new town. We had only been there a month and a half and the one person we knew well had moved away a couple weeks before my kid was born. We had an acquaintance in town who helped my ex get his job at HP but we were no way close enough to have them watch our kids when baby came. We had it set up that my mom would come down the night before my c-section and stay with the kids. She lived 3 hours away. My kid had other plans and came 2 days early and the acquaintances ended up watching our kids thanks to the friend who called them to help, so my ex could join me. We had no meal train, no friends to come over and hang out. No church family (yet). And my mom only stay for the weekend so we only had her for a small amount of time. I don't remember when my ex inlaws visited but they did at some point. And because we had moved, a friend decided to throw a meet the baby shower instead which worked out!
This time around I am married to someone else. I threw my own baby shower. While I go to church, they don't have a clue who I am and the only way they ever will is if I go to a small group which is not happening at this stage in my life. My mom lives 15 mins away instead of 1hr or 3.5hrs and will help out as much as she can. I also have my niece the same distance away as mom who will help as well. Plus I have 3 older kids who are so eager and excited to meet their baby sister and help out with her. I have 2 sets of inlaws now and one will be here when baby is born and the other will come up later. I have a friend community here but no where near like I had before. We are definitely doing more of this on our own and while I will have a support system, it will definitely feel and look different. It's not necessarily a bad thing but definitely a different thing!
I actually love this stage of my life. It's the first time I have truly been happy (even with the struggles we have). I love my husband to death, I love his parents to death (and his sister) and I am so excited to share our little girl with them. I love how welcoming and excited they are for this little one. And I do have some amazing friends who check in occasionally but this will be the first time that my husband and I will have a very different looking support system in place. This baby will be well love and very spoiled (just like her siblings!) and we are so excited to meet her. But I am curious how her birth will look, how recovery will look, and how our new life will look. What changes will we see and what will our support system do and look like? Only time will tell! 2 more weeks till this baby is here! So close!
