34 Weeks

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Let’s just take a moment to acknowledge that it is February.  Lucky’s due date is March.  That is next month people. Holy.  Moly.

How far along? 34 weeks

 Due Date: March 17^th

Total weight gain: Up almost 2.5 pounds this week for a total of 28.2.  Thank you Maggiano’s, Maggiano’s leftovers, a birthday party, and dinner at the Rochester Chop House.  Yikes.

Maternity clothes? You bet.  But I think I’ll be able to make it without buying a maternity winter coat.  I found a blue dress coat that has actually been too big for me for a couple of years that buttons comfortably, and I have an old leather jacket of Alex’s that is ridiculously huge, but it works.

Stretch marks? Maybe, maybe not.  Hard to get a good visual of my own stomach and sides right now…

Sleep: Actually really good this week.  I wake up twice a night to use the bathroom but go back to sleep right after.  I also may have fallen asleep on the couch Friday night before 8pm… and still slept in until 7:30 Saturday morning.  Don’t judge.

Best moment this week: An unexpected snow day on Monday!  This pregnant momma needed the day off.  Although I probably shouldn’t have used that time to shovel some very wet and heavy ice/snow.  After getting scolded by several people, I’ve learned my lesson and hung up my snow shovel until next year…

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach.  Seeing my ankle bones.  Tying shoes without feeling like I’m crushing my insides.  You know, the little things you never knew to appreciate before…

What’s Baby Like? Baby is, of course, getting bigger.  Can now recognize and react to simple songs and is peeing about a pint a day.  (Out of curiosity, how do they know something like that???)

Movement: Still have the nudging, pushing, shoving going on.  Baby has been pretty active the last few days. And sometimes pushes out so hard I literally think he or she is trying to escape through my side…  My belly gets quite lopsided at times!

Food cravings: This week cereal sounds good all the time.  And sweets, too, unfortunately. Doing my best to curb that last one and get in as many veggies as a can with green smoothies during the day.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Still a surprise.  But at my last appointment Baby’s heart rate was significantly higher than usual.  It has been pretty reliably in the 140s at every appointment, but this time it was 160.  So maybe a girl.  Or maybe Baby was just really active at the time.  Who knows…  We have an adorable going home outfit for either one, so I’m ready.  On that note, I found an adorable boutique in downtown Utica this week: It’s So Me    And, seriously, if we have a girl, it’s all over.  College is off the table because all our money will be spent on clothes.  Oh boy…

Labor Signs: My midwife confirmed that, as I’ve suspected for the last couple weeks, Lucky is head down and butt in the air.  Smart Baby! 

My mom says I’m starting to nest… basically because I’m freaking out about how much has to get done in a short period of time. You’d be freaking out too if you had only six weeks until your due date.  That’s, like, nothing.  And to make matters even more stressful, babies sometimes come early.  I was three weeks early.  That is not enough time.  I’m excited to meet you Lucky; I’m just not ready.  So please, just take your time in there...

Symptoms: One odd symptom cropped up this week: an occasionally numb/tingly feeling in a tiny oval area at the top of my uterus.  The interwebs world and my midwife confirmed that this is normal and nothing to worry about, but no one really knows what causes it.  I’ve also noticed that my ankles look and feel a bit swollen. Nothing sudden or severe though.  Some mild foot cramps throughout the week.  Slightly restless legs at night lying on the couch.  And my lower back / hips are occasionally stiff/sore when I first wake up.  I think it’s from sleeping on my side.  Oh, and occasionally feeling that warmer body temperature that comes with pregnancy hormones.  Not constantly, but sometimes my hands are slightly warmer than icy, which is unusual for me!

Belly Button in or out? Still in but there’s a tiny little lip at the top like it’s trying to poke out.  We shall see…

Wedding rings on or off? On during the day.  Off when I think I might get overheated and swell: at night and when working out.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy this week, but my mood can turn on a dime.  Forewarned. 

Looking forward to: Seeing how our maternity pictures turned out soon.  I was starting to worry that we wouldn’t be able to get them scheduled in time due to my procrastination.  I kept wanting to wait ‘just a little longer’ because I didn’t feel like I looked ‘pregnant enough’ but we finally got some taken today.

33 Weeks

Sunday, January 27, 2013

How far along? 33 weeks

 Due Date: March 17^th

Total weight gain: Up just over half a pound this week for a total weight gain of +25.8 pounds.

Maternity clothes? Of course. 

Stretch marks? Maybe, maybe not.  Hard to get a good visual of my own stomach and sides right now…

Sleep: Decent this week.  I fall asleep with no problem but am having a hard time getting back to sleep after my bladder wakes me around 1 or 2 am.  It usually takes me an hour or two to fall back asleep, but I’ve found that practicing my relaxation and labor breathing facilitates that process, so I guess that’s a bonus.

Best moment this week: Baby shower on Saturday.  Time with family and friends, amazing food (Maggiano’s!), and baby presents.  What could be better?  Now the organizing, sorting, deciding, washing, and more buying can begin…

Momma also got a new set of wheels!  We decided that putting a newborn in a 10 year-old Blazer with a leaky roof and parts falling off of it would not be a responsible parenting decision, so we upgraded.  Plus, I was not about to mess around with a car seat and a two-door vehicle.  Figuring out my new car has been fun… and I’m not gonna lie, enjoying the heated and massaging seats has been a definite bonus!  Of all the fancy-dancy features though, I may be most excited about that fact that it only needs oil changes every 7,500 miles.  Awesome.

Miss Anything? Having champagne cocktails at a baby shower must qualify as some sort of cruel and unusual punishment.  Just saying.

What’s Baby Like? According to The Bump, Baby is now the size of a durian fruit.  Which is a rather unhelpful comparison as I have no idea what a durian fruit is.  Sounds like something you’d find on Star Trek.  Other, more relevant facts to note: average size is 17.2 – 18.7 inches, average weight is 4.2 – 5.8 pounds, eyes stay open while awake, breathing is starting to coordinate with sucking and swallowing, bones are hardening, and the brain is developing.

Movement: Still moving.  Movement is definitely different though.  Rather than jabs, punches, and kicks, it feels more like Lucky is nudging, pushing, and maneuvering as if to say, “Hey Mom, I’m kinda running out of room in here!”

Food cravings: Nothing that is sticking with me particularly.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Still waiting to find out.  Lots of predictions this weekend at the baby shower.  Get your votes in now.  You have a 50-50 shot at being right! 

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Some calf/foot cramps, but they weren’t severe.  Slightly restless legs at night lying on the couch.  And my lower back is occasionally stiff/sore.  Oddly though, it bothers me only very late at night if I wake up in bed and first thing in the morning.  As soon as I start moving, I feel back to normal.   I would have thought I’d get more bothered at the end of a long day, but I’ll take it.  Still feeling generally good. 

Belly Button in or out? Still in but there’s a tiny little lip at the top like its trying to poke out.  We shall see…

Wedding rings on or off? On during the day.  Off at night since I seem to get so hot while sleeping.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy this week, but my mood can turn on a dime.  Forewarned. 

Looking forward to: Throughout this pregnancy, whenever I have visualized that after part of pregnancy and getting to hold my real, live baby, I’ve been seeing sort of ‘generic Gerber baby.’  This week I realized that our baby won’t look like a generic Gerber baby.  No one knows what our baby will look like, and I am so excited to meet him or her and find out!

32 Weeks

Sunday, January 20, 2013

How far along? 32 weeks

 Due Date: March 17^th

Total weight gain: Up 1 pound for a total gain of 25.2….

Maternity clothes? Yes.   Although I just may make it in my own winter coats.  My black Guess coat is just barely fitting, and I have one more winter coat that’s been too big for me for a couple of years that I can switch to when the Guess coat won’t button anymore. 

Stretch marks? Maybe, maybe not.  What I thought were stretch marks on my left side seem to have disappeared.   Do stretch marks do that?  It’s hard to get a good visual…

Sleep: Pretty good.  Only three sleepless nights.  One for no good reason.  One because I kept waking up thirsty.  And then, of course, had to pee million times. I still generally only get up once to pee, but this night was a special case for some reason.  And then there was Saturday night with the crazy, strong wind.  I did not sleep a wink.  I was afraid something was going to get shot through our window.  And then I started to worry about what will happen when the baby comes and we have a windy night and where will we put the crib so that it’s safest and maybe we should just make the baby’s room in the basement where there are no windows and… and…. and….  My mind went to some dark places that night.

Best moment this week: Baby’s room is painted!  Pics to come soon once we get most of the furniture in there.

Miss Anything? Tequila.  Random I know.  But it’s what comes to mind.

What’s Baby Like? According to The Bump, Baby is now the size of a squash.  Baby may now be head down.  I can neither confirm nor deny that position.  Other than that, all I’ve got is that Baby may be feeling cramped…  Not a very momentous week.

Movement: Actually seems less active at the moment.  Maybe because of that whole ‘getting cramped’ thing?  Anyway, nothing significantly different here.

Food cravings: Girl Scout cookies.  This is a particularly unfortunate craving for two reasons: I can’t feel quite as good about it as I did about milk or peanut butter and I CAN’T FIND ANY!!!!!  Every other year, I feel like the Girl Scouts are everywhere.  And I feel guilty ignoring them.  This year?   None to be found.  Seriously, can anyone hook a preggo up?

(Side Note: If Girl Scouts and cookie sales are in my future, I am definitely suggesting that the troop stake out local Ob-Gyn offices.  Genius.)

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  But I do sometimes get to that uncomfortably full stage. Most often around dinner when sometimes I can’t even finish a full piece of fish.

Gender: Had my first really distinct girl dream.  I think it’s just because we’ve finally settled on a girl name, and in the dream, we were calling Baby by that name.  I’m taking it as nothing more than a sign that I really do like the name, which is good because a girl name was tough!  (And, no, we’re not telling.)

Also, in the dream, I was dealing with serious separation anxiety.  I would panic every time Baby was out of my sight, thinking that someone else was letting her roll off the changing table or chew on electrical cords or heaven only knows what else…  Of course, every time I found Baby, she was with Alex, and she was fine.  But I’m pretty sure this is normal as the delivery and possibility of actually not being in the same room at the same time for every single second of my baby’s existence approaches…..  Can I keep the baby in my uterus until he/she is a responsible adult?

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Tired legs and feet.  But my energy in general feels almost normal.  More calf cramps that were pretty severe and left my right feeling sore for a couple of days afterward.  My legs are still a bit restless at night – only when I’m on the couch watching TV, not when I get into bed to actually go to sleep.  No nighttime / early morning hip soreness at all this week. 

Overall, feeling really good still!

Belly Button in or out? Still in but pretty flat.  I feel like it’s been ‘about to pop’ for weeks now!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on but feeling snug when I get really warm – mostly overnight when I’m all cuddled in our down comforter, so I take the rings off to sleep just in case.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Kinda moody / mood swingy… 

Looking forward to: Baby shower next weekend!  Plus, after that, I can officially just buy everything that’s left and start to feel like we are actually ready for Lucky to arrive.

31 Weeks

Sunday, January 13, 2013

How far along? 31

 Due Date: March 17^th

Total weight gain: Up about 1.5 pounds this week for a total of +24.2 (making up for last week I guess…)

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? Small ones on my left side.  Strangely, I don’t see any on my right side…

Sleep: Same story from last week: great nights of sleep mixed with not so great nights of sleep.  Lots of getting up for water or the bathroom. Lots of tossing and turning because if I sleep too long on either side, my hip starts to feel sore.  And some good old pregsomnia thrown in for good measure.  I can only imagine sleep goes downhill from here…

Best moment this week: Our new kitchen table arrived!  I love it!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach…

What’s Baby Like? According to The Bump, Baby is now the size of a pineapple.  The average baby is between 15.2 and 16.7 inches and long and between 2.5 and 3.8 pounds.  All of Baby’s senses are fully developed while brain and eye development continue.  The irises now react to light. 

Movement: Most of the movements are still very gentle but some stronger ones are getting thrown into the mix now and then.  A few times Lucky actually startled me with a gigantic kick out of nowhere.  I’ve actually seen my belly, or things sitting on my belly, rise in time with the movements.  And once this week I am 99% sure I felt Lucky roll over.  Baby has stayed away from my ribcage this week.  Thanks sweet-pea!

Food cravings: Not necessarily craving anything anymore.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Waiting.  Although it’s getting tougher now that I can realistically start buying baby clothes, especially for the two holidays that might be baby’s first: St. Patrick’s Day or, more likely, Easter.  Bows, tutus, and dresses for girls.  Ties, argyle socks, and sweater vests for boys.  We’re going to go broke once I can start buying this stuff.

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Tired legs and feet.  More tired in general.  Had some bad foot cramps earlier this week.  My legs are a bit restless at night.  This actually started a few weeks ago, but I didn’t recognize it for what it was…  And the hip soreness at nighttime is worse and now also lingering through the morning.  Boo.  Also, non-pregnancy related, but I’ve got a lingering cough/sore throat/stuffy nose thing going on. Nothing super awful.  Certainly nothing like the flu that’s been going around.  But no fun.

Belly Button in or out? Still in but pretty flat.  Frequently, rather than movement, I can feel Lucky just pushing out on a specific area of belly.  Sometimes the pressure is right over my belly button, and it feels like one of these days I’m just going to be able to watch it pop out!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on but feeling snug when I get really warm – mostly overnight when I’m all cuddled in our down comforter, so I take the rings off to sleep just in case.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty normal this week.  Not excessively happy or anything but also no meltdowns.

Looking forward to: We’ve pretty much finalized plans for the nursery and painting starts tomorrow!  I can’t wait to see it all come together.  Also, one more week till the semester ends, and we get a slight breather with a few long weekends and half days during exam week.  I know, we just had Christmas break, but the end of the semester is so stressful and go! go! go! that we seriously need the downtime…

30 Weeks

Sunday, January 6, 2013

How far along? 30! weeks and a whole new year!

 Due Date: March 17^th

Total weight gain: No gain or loss this week for a total of +22.6 – Apparently the Christmas junk recovery is taking place. :)

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? Sigh.  Maybe.  Small lines on my left side that are either stretch marks or visible veins…

Sleep: It seems I either sleep really well or not all.  Two nights this week, I struggled to fall asleep at all.  The rest I slept like a rock.  My hips are also a bit stiff/sore when I wake up in the morning.  It’s probably from sleeping on my side, which I am not used to at all.  It’s not enough to keep me awake, and it doesn’t bother me at all during the day.  Just need to do some stretching/movement when I first wake up.

Best moment this week: Starting off my birthday with a relaxing pregnancy massage.  Felt sooooooo good…..  I highly recommend it!  Also, now baby presents are starting to arrive!

Miss Anything? A nice hot cup of coffee to jump-start my day when I don’t sleep well…

What’s Baby Like? According to The Bump, Baby is now the size of a cucumber.  Whatever that means.  I’m pretty sure a cucumber is smaller than an acorn squash and a cantaloupe and a whole bunch of other fruit.  Hence the bread – courtesy of The Bump’s How Big is Baby Dad’s to Be Edition! Anyway, this week Baby’s brain is continuing to develop, and Baby’s strength is continuing to improve.  Lucky could probably grasp a finger if he/she was on the outside!

Movement: Movement is getting more consistent and frequent throughout the day, but overall they still feel like very gentle movements.  It feels more like flutters and bubbles and waves than punches and jabs and kicks.  I am starting to feel what I am pretty sure are hiccups too.  Also, in my very non-educated and un-medical opinion, Lucky is either head down or flipping around so that he or she is sometimes head-down.  The small, very rhythmic and repetitive movements that feel like hiccups are always down toward my pelvis, and any time I do feel what I consider a strong movement (which I associate with kicking and therefore legs), they are up by my ribs.  Who really knows though…

Food cravings: Not necessarily craving anything anymore.   

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Surprise for everybody!  Quote from my appointment this week: “The heartbeat looks like 140, which is right in the middle, so we can’t even guess based on that.  I guess this baby is determined to remain a surprise!”

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Tired legs and feet.  More tired in general.  Occasionally, I feel a foot or leg cramp starting, but if I change position or quickly stretch my calves, it goes away.  Sometimes at the end of the day my belly feels a bit heavy.  Overall feeling good.

Saturday was a rough day though.  I was just very uncomfortable all day.  First, I woke up with a cough.  Then I think there was some sort of baby body part wedged up into my ribcage all afternoon making it difficult to move.  Then I started having some very strange and persistent back and ribcage discomfort all evening.  It literally hurt to breathe and the only thing that helped was lying on my left side with heat on my back….  I don’t know what Lucky was up to yesterday, but I’m hoping that it does not happen again!

Belly Button in or out? Still in but pretty flat.

Wedding rings on or off? Still on but feeling snug when I get really warm.  If I ever have a summer or early fall due date, I predict swelling right out of my rings…

Happy or Moody most of the time: Back to normal.  As much as I didn’t want to go back to school yet, I think I really needed the routine back in our days.  I’m already feeling the positive effects of consuming less sugary, creamy, rich, processed foods.  Although I will admit, this pregnant teacher can be a real beast.  Don’t mess with the hormones, kids.  The hormones always win.

Looking forward to: Getting the nursery painted (eeck! Still have to choose our final colors / design!) and the baby shower coming up at the end of January.  It will be nice to feel like we have a place to put this baby once he or she arrives.