What week:

38

How big is the baby:

He is about 6.8 pounds/3.084kg and is over 19 1/2 inches long/49.43cm which is about the length of a leek!

What’s something new this week:

Very light cramping on and off, hot and cold flushes. I also had a great adjustment by a chiropractor who helped straighten my body out (I was apparently pretty out of whack!)

Most challenging moment:

Nothing too challenging this week, I’ve perfected my very pregnant waddle though! I have sore body parts for sure, lower back, feet, groin are all achy and I’m feeling much older than my years haha! I’ve been taking time to lie down and rest even in most random places (see pic below!) My beautiful bestie and fellow pregnant lady Claire not only threw me a lovely lunch with my closest Adelaide friends but she also took me for a spa day where we pampered our pregnant selves with massages!

Most exciting moment:

Our house is finished!!! I cannot believe it, Sunday we moved all the furniture in! Couches, rugs, throw pillows, Bodhi’s play area. Plus we put the baby’s Bednest in, change table and added all the finishing touches to our home. It’s finally complete! I also packed my hospital bag, got a labor support bag together and made my labor playlist (see below for all the details!) I’m feeling very organised now compared to last week!

Paragraphs of thanks below!

Special thanks to Matt Blatt furniture for helping us pick out the couches, rugs, bookshelves, bed, tables, arm chairs and Bodhi’s play stuff and facilitating a quick delivery! You’re our dream furniture company! (Great suggestion Lucy Cornes from She Shopped!)

Extra special thanks to my brother-in-law Kole for manning the fort and running the show, hustling to get everything finished and liaising between all who worked on our place. To my other brother-in-law Gary for his electrical work. To Anthony from Liquid Armour, these polished concrete floors are an absolute DREAM! They’re better than anything we could’ve imagined! To Rawsons Electrical for the wire work, Jason from Blackwood Sound for the rad home cinema set up, Adam from S & R Painting Services for dropping everything and painting our home very last minute with your delightful crew. You went above and beyond to help us get things finished on time! to Ltd Property Solutions for figuring out how to plaster the gaping holes haha! Lastly to Andrew Taplin for hooking me up with all the amazing people above and for being the most awesome property manager!

Then of course to Mark for being as crazy as I am and agreeing to renovate a few weeks before having a baby, thanks for being gung-ho and ripping up carpets, fences, feeding animals, lifting furniture (and slipping a disk in your back!) being my interior design partner amongst being a wonderful support and beautiful dad. So happy, relieved and grateful that it’s done!

Starting weight:

114lbs/52kg

Current weight:

I finally weighed myself on my parents scale! I’m 142/64kg which is again exactly where I finished when I birthed Bodhi at 38 + 6 weeks! Can’t believe I’m the same weight, it’s crazy to me.

Exercise:

Walking, squatting, running after Bodhi and 30 second inversions to help baby get in the optimal birthing position.

Meals:

We have been doing TONS of cooking this week!

Breakfast
Fruit salad, banana bread, smashed avocado, mangoes.

Lunch
Mediterranean plate, toasted tomato, spinach and vegan cheese sandwiches, granola and poached pear.

Snack
Dried pineapple, leaf and apricot.

Dinner
Eggplant parmesan and broccoli, homemade pizza with nut cheese, veggie pad thai, veggie pasta.

Sweetest Bodhi/Baby moment:

Today we had a dance party around the house and Bodhi kept dancing with the baby and singing to the belly!

Food Aversions:

Fish, animal meats and animal smells!

Cravings:

Sugar! I want tons of lollies and candy and chocolate and anything else that’s bad for me hahaha we went to a birthday party this week and Mark and I demolished the lolly table!

Reflections:

Labor is feeling really close now and just a day ago I feel like I really clicked in to the reality of it all. I’ve been reading Ina May Gaskins Guide To Childbirthand Spiritual Midwifery and I’ve been taking on a lot of the language Ina May uses to describe birth (contractions: rushes, pain: sensations) I also have been reading a ton of articles and watching the birth vids from Mama Natural (Genevieve is my new Mom crush!) So much prep this week from my Labor Tools, to my Hospital Bag to my Labor Playlist! In case this is helpful to anyone here is what I’ve prepped;

My hospital bag;

3 onesies
1 baby beanie
2 burp cloths
1 baby blanket
5 nappies
10 soft baby bottom wipes
Dressing gown
2 loose t-shirts
3 hair ties
1 loose dress
2 nursing bras
1 pair loose pants
3 full panties
5 pads
phone charger
mouisturizer
lip balm
snacks (popcorn/nuts/protein bar/dried fruits)
head phones
toothbrush/toothpaste

Labor Tools for at home;

Exercise ball
Battery operated candles
Rebozo Scarf
Tens Machine
Pregnancy & Birth Affirmation cards from the amazing Teepee Learning (Insta: @teepeelearning)
Birthing Necklace made by my girlfriends back home in LA
Crushed ice
Cold flannels with essential oils sprayed on them
Essential Oil diffuser

I also packed a bag for Bodhi for visiting at the hospital which has toys, snacks, books and spareness change of clothes in it.

My Labor playlist are actually 2 different ones. One more mellow (Moby, Enya, Sigur Ros, Brian Eno) the other a more upbeat/stronger playlist (Kid Cudi, Sia, The Knife, Sneaker Pimps, Florence & The Machine) I’ve been reading lately that you typically don’t want the zen music during active labor and don’t want the motivational music during early labor so I made two plays lists just to be covered!

So there you go! I hope you guys found some of the above helpful and I wonder if I’ll be back again next week?! if this is my last one then I want to say a huge thank you to all of you for joining me on this journey, I have so appreciated your love, feedback, advice and support. Till next time (or next week!) ❤️

38 Week Pregnancy Vlog by Teresa Palmer