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37 weeks pregnant
May 5, 2021

37 Week Pregnancy Update (Baby #2) + Maternity Leave Plans

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Wow, 37 weeks!! We are really getting down to the wire now all of a sudden!

Could be any day now, or could be another month… we’ll see. 🙂

37 weeks pregnant

In case you missed them, here are my other baby #2 pregnancy-related posts:

  • My pregnancy announcement/first trimester recap post at 15 weeks
  • 23 week pregnancy update with baby #2
  • 28 week pregnancy update with baby #2
  • Outer Banks Babymoon Weekend
  • 34 week pregnancy update with baby #2

Pretty much everything from my last update at 34 weeks (cravings, exercise, symptoms, etc.) is still accurate, so this time we’re going to mix it up with some bigger updates, like baby’s position (we finally know!), my maternity leave plans, and a baby’s room update!

Please note there are affiliate links in this post.

37 Week Pregnancy Update (Baby #2)

First up: 

Baby Position!

Big news: we found out at our 36 week ultrasound that unlike his big sister who was breech, requiring a scheduled C section, this little man is head down!

My doctor says I’m a good candidate for a VBAC, so we’re going to give it a shot!

They won’t induce me (rupture risk due to my previous C section, although apparently not all doctors agree on this) so I’ll just have to hope I go into labor naturally before our backup C section, which is scheduled for 40 weeks + 6 days (the latest I could convince them to let me go). 

I’m excited and also nervous because potentially going through actual labor and delivery is all new to us. 🙂

I’ve been interviewing last minute doulas (I didn’t want to hire one before I knew he was head down, because last time we had one and then it was too late to cancel once we learned Riese was breech) and I’m feeling good about having that support during the process. 

Eek! 

Time to start eating dates and drinking raspberry leaf tea, I guess (both are apparently supposed to help with labor?)! Any other ideas, send them my way. 🙂 

The baby is measuring average (they said Riese was measuring small the whole time last time), and they think he’s already bigger than Riese was at birth (she was 6 pounds 5 ounces when born), so we’ll see if they are right! Maybe he’ll come early?

I definitely feel like my belly is already now as big if not bigger than it was at the end with Riese (here’s my 40 week update blog post when I was pregnant with Riese for comparison photos) – this picture below is from 36 weeks!

37 weeks pregnant

Maternity Leave Plans

I learned a lot last time about what I don’t want to do this time in the immediate postpartum days. 

We are planning for this to be our last child, and I want to make sure I don’t feel I’m missing the newborn cuddles this time because I’m busy and distracted by work and trying to keep too many balls in the air.

I also know firsthand just how intense the early days are emotionally and I want to be a lot more gentle with myself and my expectations of what I can get done (especially with a toddler underfoot as well this time, eek) than I was last time, when I basically rushed right back into work. 

Over a year ago I hired a team member, Taylor, to work for me behind the scenes 20 hours a week, and as a result I’ve been running my business very differently, focusing on working smarter and more strategically vs. just endlessly churning out content.

We’ve spent a lot of time the past year working on updating and optimizing my old blog content (primarily the recipes) for Google search, so that my blog gets more steady traffic vs. large peaks and valleys on days I post vs. don’t post.

Taylor has also been instrumental in helping me plan ahead for maternity leave this time so I can take a real step back while still keeping the blog going with fresh, new content (and she’ll still be working behind the scenes while I’m out, too). 

Together we’ve planned out and pre-written 1 new blog post per week scheduled to be shared starting next week (May 12) through Labor Day.

The blog posts are all ready to go, and will be published every week on Wednesdays. They are all recipes or recipe-related posts, and I won’t be publishing any new lifestyle blog content this summer.

I’ll be back in mid September, and we will take things from there! 

I will miss sharing real-time life updates with you all over the summer, and there’s a chance I may pop in with a birth story while that’s still fresh, but we’ll see how I feel.

I’m planning on taking a step back from social media as well (except for pre-written and pre-scheduled posts sharing the links to my Wednesday recipes), but I’m sure I’ll share some occasional updates on Instagram if you want to follow me there and see how things are going with the new little one. <3

I have a lifestyle blog post coming to you this Friday and am also planning a weekend recap on Monday, but the current plan is that that will be my last lifestyle update for awhile, and on Wednesday, May 12 will begin the pre-scheduled “evergreen” (meaning relevant anytime) content that will just be once a week on Wednesdays moving forward. 

I appreciate you all sticking with me and hope you love the recipes we have coming at you this summer – there are some really delicious ones you won’t want to miss!

And a huge thank you to Taylor for being awesome because I wouldn’t have been able to plan ahead and take an actual maternity leave without her. 

I’ll be taking a break from my AnneTheRD nutrition coaching this summer, too – I only have a few active clients right now because I didn’t take any new clients on for basically all of 2020 thanks to the pandemic and having no childcare, and then this year I knew I’d be going out on leave so I didn’t want to start to ramp things back up.

The clients I do have right now are long term/maintenance mode clients, so we’re just going to check in occasionally via email over the summer and pick back up with calls in the fall. 

Baby’s Room

We’re just about done with the baby’s room now! It feels good to have it pretty much finished and ready to go. 

The painting hanging on the wall by the window in the picture below is actually one that my aunt painted for me when I was a baby – fun to get to re-use it! It’s a little circus type theme and we thought it went well with the room colors.

On the blank wall to the right, behind the crib, we’re waiting on a cool mountain-themed decal Matt ordered for us from Etsy that I’m sure is going to be a huge pain to put up but we think it will look really cool. We hope, at least – we’ll see what it actually looks like in person!

We’re re-using Riese’s crib, her old sheets (baby boys like flowers, too!), her baby toys and books, and a few other things I’ll mention in a minute.

baby boy nursery

The rocking recliner we got is this one – quite cozy.  

Matt put up the white blackout curtains for us last weekend (plus these white curtain holdbacks and a white metal rod and clear glass ball finials), which help make the room look a lot more cozy and finished vs. before when we didn’t have curtains in there.

The table lamp also helps – isn’t it cute? It’s this moon-themed lamp and the bottom lights up as well as the top part, or you can have one lit or the other. The bottom light is more like a nightlight – soft and cozy and textured to look like the moon.

The little white circular table is Riese’s old one (hence all the stickers on it) – it’s smaller and it looked better in this room vs. the new bigger rectangular one we originally bought (which is now in her room and holds her 239408230948230948 books she wants to look at before bed). 

baby boy nursery colorful

The wall color was already like that when we moved in, and we like it – a pretty medium blue color.

I’m obsessed with the rug we got – it’s from Novogratz – so cheerful and bright and it’s the same company that made Riese’s rug, so they look nice together when looking into both rooms (which are side-by-side) from the hallway. 

I got a new dresser for the baby that came awhile ago (this one – I like that it has two open areas to put baskets of toys/books/supplies, multi-purpose!).

The wicker diaper caddy we got is this one, and the changing table topper is the old one we got for Riese and just moved over.

I made sure the new dresser was the same brand as Riese’s dresser – and the same depth – so we wouldn’t have to get a new changing table topper. 

baby boy nursery

Unfortunately Matt put up the shelves (old ones that the previous owners left here and we thought would work well in baby’s room!) before we remembered we were moving over the changing table topper, so they are a bit lower than we’d like. 

We may have to move them but are going to play it by ear for now because it will be a pain and require some dry wall repair – and we don’t have any matching paint for touch ups… oh well! 

—

And that’s all I have for you today! It feels like we are getting so close now and we are really excited to finally meet baby boy and welcome him into the family. <3

I’m planning for this to be my last dedicated pregnancy update. Thank you for sharing in this special time with us, I appreciate you being here!

- anne
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32 comments
  • Ana May 5, 2021 · 9:24AM:
    Enjoy every minute with your new little one!
    Reply
  • Emily May 5, 2021 · 9:43AM:
    Best wishes for a safe delivery, Anne! I had a VBAC in January - I was stunned that the recovery was harder than my previous c-section in a lot of ways but I found the emotional healing I needed. I also tried to be more focused on baby and myself this time and soak up all of the snuggles (and supporting my toddler through the change). I think you will be so glad to have planned for this time! All the best!
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 5, 2021 · 9:58AM:
      Thank you Emily! <3
      Reply
  • Emily May 5, 2021 · 9:54AM:
    I have been eating dates too (I'm at 39 weeks) and always think of you because you have mentioned dates so many times since I've been following you. Good luck in the upcoming weeks and months with your delivery and two littles!
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 5, 2021 · 9:58AM:
      Those dates are quite multi-purpose, aren't they?! Still my fave running fuel when stuffed with a little nut butter :) Good luck vibes to you, too!
      Reply
  • KaTie May 5, 2021 · 12:20PM:
    Good for you for prioritizing your health (physical and mental!) after baby comes! That newborn time is so precious, you deserve to soak it up and enjoy!
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 5, 2021 · 2:53PM:
      Thanks Katie <3
      Reply
  • Gina May 5, 2021 · 12:41PM:
    Oh gosh, I HEAR you on the shelf placement. This is totally something we would do and dry-wall fixes/paint matching is a hard no. LOL. I'm sure it will be great. What a sweet nursery for your little guy. Best wishes with your delivery and newborn days ahead. Wishing you a peaceful, healthy next few months with your family.
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 5, 2021 · 2:53PM:
      Haha yep! Thank you!!
      Reply
  • melanie May 5, 2021 · 12:42PM:
    Wishing you all the best. I tried a VBAC with an induction and after 24 hours of hard labor had to go with the c-section..I will not lie it was a much harder recovery vs a schedule c-section. I hope yours is successful!! The room is beautiful!!
    Reply
  • Jamie Dowd May 5, 2021 · 1:43PM:
    My friend Stevie is an amazing doula (and person)! Check her out at: http://embodiedalchemy.weebly.com/
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 5, 2021 · 2:54PM:
      I actually just interviewed one last doula this morning before deciding who to go with, but thank you!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner May 5, 2021 · 3:13PM:
    Very exciting, Anne, thanks for the update and description of your plans and the preparation. You are clearly very well organized and ready to go. Very best of luck as you count down to the arrival of the little guy!
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 5, 2021 · 3:29PM:
      Thank you!
      Reply
  • TrackBuddy May 5, 2021 · 5:34PM:
    Good for you for a solid plan to take a real maternity leave this time! I made a similar decision with my 2nd - and it was AWESOME. Best of luck and big virtual hugs to all
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 6, 2021 · 10:28AM:
      Glad to hear it worked out for you, too! Can't wait for fall run dates :)
      Reply
  • Heidi May 5, 2021 · 10:49PM:
    Best of luck with your birth and the newborn stage! I had a c-section for a breech baby too and then three subsequent vbacs. All three were relatively easy births and so much better recovery than c-section.
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 6, 2021 · 10:29AM:
      Nice, hoping I follow in your footsteps (minus the 2 other kids part... we are done after this)! :)
      Reply
  • The Many Thoughts of a Reader
    May 6, 2021 · 2:30PM:
    Looking good! Hope everything goes smoothly for you! My second baby was bigger than the first by a few ounces but that birth went a lot smoother. As my midwife said, your body knows what to do now! ;)
    Reply
  • Kris S May 6, 2021 · 3:26PM:
    So excited for you three to welcome the new little guy! Thanks for the update on the blog plans, now we know what to expect. Excited for those recipe posts! Almost there, so exciting! :D
    Reply
  • Cindy May 6, 2021 · 8:10PM:
    I’ll be thinking of you all and wishing you the very best! His nursery is absolutely precious. 💕
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 6, 2021 · 9:25PM:
      Thank you :)
      Reply
  • Courtney Wilton May 6, 2021 · 11:41PM:
    Best of luck Anne with the birth and the fourth trimester. Hoping it all goes well and you cherish the bubble with your new bigger family! That newborn time does go by so quickly so soak it all up x
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 7, 2021 · 10:14AM:
      Thanks Courtney!
      Reply
  • Cailin May 7, 2021 · 10:14AM:
    I am so excited for you to take a summer break and be fully present with your growing family! You absolutely deserve it! I hope you have a smooth delivery and transition to a family of four!
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 7, 2021 · 10:46AM:
      Thank you Cailin <3
      Reply
  • Jen May 7, 2021 · 12:59PM:
    This made me so happy to read :) Baby boy is so lucky to have you, Matt and Riese! Xoxo
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 10, 2021 · 10:47AM:
      :) xo
      Reply
  • Lily May 8, 2021 · 11:17AM:
    What a beautiful baby room! I absolutely lives that rug/carpet! ❤🌼 Praying you have an easy birth and a wonderful maternity leave with your little one and family.
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 10, 2021 · 10:47AM:
      Thank you Lily!
      Reply
  • Rebecca May 15, 2021 · 12:09AM:
    Best of luck to you Anne! I attempted a breech delivery, with hospital support, for our first. After it was clear he didn’t want to exit that way I had a c section and was devastated. Since then I’ve have 4 vbacs and since our babies like to gestate a bit longer I’ve really had to fight for them as they all arrived close to or on 42 weeks. I hope you get the opportunity for a Vbac-it’s incredible in so many ways!
    Reply
    • Anne
      May 22, 2021 · 9:49AM:
      Thanks, Rebecca! I hope so too!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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anne mauney

I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

When I’m not writing or cooking for fannetastic food, you can find me running, coaching nutrition clients, or on an adventure with my family. Feel free to reach out - I'd love to hear from you!

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