Pregnancy after bypass: Week 36 pregnancy diary

I had my first week of maternity leave this week! I have been looking forward to finishing up at work and even though I had a busy week ahead, full of medical appointments, it was time to slow down and not have the daily grind of work anymore. This week the baby is the size of a melon or something, I’m really not keen on these comparisons anymore, can you tell?

This week started off chilled out and we had a visitor for lunch on Sunday. It was nice to chill out and I had slightly less food prep to do since I didn’t have to make lunches for myself for the week. The relief I felt many times today when I realised I didn’t have to go to work the following day was amazing. While I really enjoy my job and working it just got a bit much at this stage of being pregnant.

Monday kicked off and so did my list of medical appointments for the week. I went to see the bariatric dietician at the hospital and she’s really happy with how I’m going and keeping on top of things. She’s not fazed by my weight gain at all and thinks I’ve managed it well. She did give me a prescription for Fortisip in case I struggle to maintain my weight when I’m breastfeeding but hopefully I will be able to manage without it.

Then in the afternoon I had to go and get my whooping cough vaccine, there has been an outbreak of it in NZ recently, and it was good to get it done. It only took a few hours for my arm to start hurting after getting it. It was quite sore by bedtime which made it hard to lie or sleep on my left side so I didn’t get a terribly good night’s sleep either. The sore arm only lasted a couple of days though, so while it came on early it went away quicker than I thought it might too.

Tuesday I had an appointment with my midwife and I got to see her this time, last time I saw a different one so it was nice to catch up with her. I have been getting last bits of prep done for the baby in-between all of these appointments as well, mainly washing sheets and other assorted baby stuff. I also sorted out all of the first baby toys like rattles etc and washed them all so they’re ready for her arrival.

On Wednesday I had no appointments! I decided I was not going to leave the house apart from to take my son to school and go and get him and it was nice to have a day of peace at home. I got some things done I needed to and actually took time to sit down in the afternoon and start working on a cross-stitch project that my friend gave me for Christmas. I’ve figured out I cannot do nothing when I relax so I’m going to give cross-stitch a go and see if it helps me slow down a bit more.

Thursday there was an ultrasound booked for the cat, not myself for once! He’s not been well for a little while and this was the next step in figuring out what’s up with him. I got good news from it that it looks like he just has a food allergy, not cancer, which was the other suspicion. My cat is my first baby and hopefully a change of food is going to be enough to get him back on track.

Then on Friday I had to go and get my teeth cleaned by the periodontist hygienist and have a growth scan. The hygienist appointment went well, since my teeth have been more sensitive since I’ve been pregnant she used heaps of numbing gel and it wasn’t bad at all. My scan went well too. My little girl is growing well along the line she’s been growing on and her chest measurement jumped up a bit which is really reassuring! She’s very happy in there and I’m so glad her growth hadn’t slowed down at all.

On Saturday we had a super lazy morning and because I had kept on top of everything during the week I had hardly anything I needed to do around the house. It was also really nice to get to the weekend and not be absolutely exhausted and just want to avoid everything and everyone. Even though my week was busy, not working made such a difference! I went out on Saturday afternoon to have coffee with some WLS buddies and it was really nice to see them and catch up!

How far along? 36 weeks, oh my gosh.

How big is the peanut? Big! The fruit and vegetable comparisons are just not cute anymore.

Total weight gain/loss? I went up but forgot to write it down so can’t remember how much by.

Best moment this week? Getting some good news about my cat, it’s been a bit of a worry and I’m glad my little buddy looks like he’s going to be okay.

Gender? This baby is still a girl, I had the lady check again at my scan!

Labour signs? None, I’m not really expecting anything to happen just yet though.

What I miss? All the food I can’t eat because of food poisoning worries, there are tubs of hummus with my name on as soon as I give birth to this baby.

What I’m looking forward to? Not being pregnant anymore!

Bump? Uh huh, you really can’t miss it now.