34 Weeks!

How far along? 35 weeks and one day today! But this will review week 34.
 
Total weight gain/loss: I'm up to a very solid 122, so I'm hoping the scale bumps up a little more this week to 123 too! That means I'm up a little more than a pound from last week, for a grand total of a 16-pound increase. I'm hoping I can keep up the steady pace of at least one pound a week from here on out, which would put me at a total gain of 21-pounds for the pregnancy. I know I'm supposed to have gained 25 to 35 pounds in pregnancy, but my body has had a hard time putting it on, so I'm just glad I'm looking like I'll be getting above the 20-pound mark.

Maternity clothes? ... are kind of a must-have these days it seems. I'm trying so hard to hold out and not buy anything else maternity-specific for these last five weeks because I feel like I won't get much wear out of them. It's not really the pants I have an issue with, although the BellaBand is slowly becoming less and less of an option for me because I can't zip up some of my pants more than a couple of centimeters because of this growing tummy! I have enough pants to get me by though between the BellaBand and with a pair of skinny jeans, a pair of skinny cords and two pair of skinny colored denim that are all maternity-friendly. However, in the shirt department, things are getting more tricky. I'm noticing that if I wear non-maternity tops, my belly makes a nice "indent" in them that you can see after I take it off at the end of the day. Oopsies. I'd rather not ruin a whole bunch of clothes, so I'm trying to make an oath to not do that anymore. Unfortunately, I don't have any tanks to wear underneath cardigans or blazers that are maternity. So I did finally break down and order a few from Old Navy yesterday. Hopefully this is all I'll need to make it through!

Stretch marks? Still have a stretch-mark-free tummy as of now!
 
Symptoms: I actually felt really good this week. My back pain wasn't quite as bad, which was a really nice surprise. Still using the bathroom often, but no more "five-times-a-night" trips. The minor acid reflux persists, always beginning and ending at the same time: four o'clock in the afternoon until about seven at night. I'm having loads of Braxton Hicks contractions, which isn't anything new for me within the last few weeks, but what's different about them is the height of my uterus. I can tell my uterus is getting higher and higher into my rib cage, because my contractions are becoming extremely uncomfortable when my uterus contracts and presses hard against my ribs. I also noticed last night that my feet seemed a little swollen... so I think I'm retaining a little bit of fluid in my ankles and feet.
  
Sleep: I've noticed a few more sleep interruptions lately. Don't get me wrong: my sleep still remains pretty fully intact, but I seem to wake just enough to worry about squishing baby in my tummy with the way I'm laying several times each night. It's not like I fully wake up, but I just become aware of it, adjust accordingly, and go back to sleep.

Best moment this week: My baby shower on Saturday! It was ridiculously adorable, and we got ridiculously spoiled! My sister and sister-in-laws did a beautiful job of putting it on and even had some non-lame baby shower games to play. We had a baby quiz that made you think, a baby-shower version of my favorite bridal shower "the Newlywed" game, and a hilarious game that required teams of four to dig through a diaper to find and diaper, dress, swaddle and give a pacifier to a Cabbage Patch doll all while being blindfolded. I could honestly hardly believe that I was lucky enough to have a baby shower the whole time. It's something I truly wondered for quite some time if I would ever be lucky enough to have. We have been blessed with so much love from so many people! (Photos below!)

Miss Anything? Nothing at all :) Except for missing not eating those walnuts (ack! Five weeks to go!) and maybe not stretching out my clothes. Minor details, though, and so worth it :)
 
Movement: She'd been so great the last week and had really been wiggling like crazy in there! Until yesterday rolled around and I couldn't get her to move for anything. So I called the doc and they asked that I come in to have her monitored, just to make sure all was well in there. They basically did a non-stress test, which charts baby's heart rate and momma's contractions. It was totally neat to see the print out, and she looked just perfect. You could tell when she would move because of the spikes in heartrate when she would wiggle, and my contractions drew another line that looked like rolling hills. Anyway, it was good to see that all was well (the nurse said the "picture" of her heart rate was "beautiful"... proud mommy and daddy! Yeah, we're pretty much proud of anything when it comes to this sweet little one) and they sent me home. Maybe she was just sleepy yesterday. It was a big weekend after all, with the shower and with her cousins home to visit -- so maybe she was just catching up on some much needed rest :) She was more active today, so that's good.

Food cravings: Still nothing much. Milk and OJ pretty much... otherwise, I think I've escaped the cravings!

Anything making you queasy or sick: The same old, same old: ice cream, pizza and anything chocolate-peanut butter combo.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes! Andy says I look bigger everytime he sees me :)

Belly Button in or out? This belly button is in, and I think it's staying in! It doesn't have much time to pop out now!
 
Wedding rings on or off? On... but starting to wonder if that will change in the next few weeks!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but still anxious about this sweet baby girl. I wish I could peek inside!

Looking forward to: Our "big" ultrasound next Monday to check growth again (thanks to that marginal cord insertion). We love seeing our sweet girl! Hoping she's growing just as she should be.

Also excited for my next baby shower at my school with my staff coming up next week :)

 ... and a few pictures from baby shower day!

 Mommy in baby girl's (still in progress) nursery

 The spread... delicious and beautiful!

Funfetti dip with Teddy Grahams and animal crackers :)

One of my favorite parts... guests left little messages for sweet baby girl. They were so fun to read and will be kept forever!

The perfect decor -- pink chevron, paper straws and birdhouses (what else?!)

Delicious cupcakes!

Our family of two... soon to be three!

My sister, sister-in-laws and niece -- the most fabulous shower-throwers ever!

 
 

33 Weeks!

How far along? 34 weeks today, but this will review my time while 33 weeks!
 
Total weight gain/loss: I'm up a pound this week to 121 pounds, which I'm happy with because I was incredibly nauseous and couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything on Friday. I force-fed myself a number of times, but I probably ate half of what I normally try to eat now that I'm pregnant. Let's just say I was very pleased that when I awoke Saturday morning, my tummy was hungry again for the first time since Thursday :)

Maternity clothes? I know I say I always wear my same pants with my BellaBand, but truth be told that I really don't have that much for maternity pants as far as teacher clothes go. I have one pair of dress pants, so that really limits me to relying on my BellaBand. If the weather would warm up and seem at least a little like the mid-to-end of April, I would break out a couple of other pairs of maternity pants that I bought to wear to work and at home (colored skinny pants that I love). Anyway, it's supposed to warm up soon, so I should be starting to break out a few more things -- both shirts and pants -- that are maternity. Which is good, because I'm needing them now! My shirts are definitely becoming a bit short...

Stretch marks? Not one exists as of yet!
 
Symptoms: The discomforts of carrying around a four and a half pound basketball are starting to make themselves known. Upper and lower back pain come and go, and I'm starting to have a little bit of acid reflux. As mentioned previously, using the little girl's room often has been something I've gotten accustomed to; last week one night I woke five times. Five! I'm also noticing that my body is just tired out. My mind feels awake, but the physical part of me is dragging some days. Today I also realized that I no longer walk as fast as I once did :) I took my students down the hallway to the library and started walking with them near the upper-middle part of the line. By the time we got to the library, I was trailing at least 10-feet behind them :) Not sure if I'm waddling yet (I've been told not), but I certainly don't have the same "get up and go" that I did just a few weeks ago!
 
Sleep: Still no complaints! Most nights I'm getting a full night's sleep, only waking to go to the bathroom however many times my body needs.

Best moment this week: Having one of my sister-in-laws call me and tell me she found a Boppy and a Bumbo for wicked cheap and in pretty much pristine condition at a rummage sale! I was super excited about that, because those are spendy items! And we also recieved our stroller as a gift from my brother and sister-in-law, so that was pretty exciting, too :)

Also, having kids, coworkers and strangers mention how big I'm looking. It honestly makes my day when people tell me that they can see I'm really getting big. I'm hopping on the honesty train for a minute: at my last appointment (32-weeks), my doctor measured my fundal height at 26-weeks. This likely means nothing to many, but to those mommies out there, you know what this means. The fundal height is the measurement from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. It should roughly correspond with however many weeks along you are, within a two-week range. If you're not within that two-week range, one would suspect that baby isn't growing how he/she should. So when my doctor measured me at 26-weeks while I was 32-weeks, I became a slight basketcase. Truthfully, this was completely unwarranted, because my doctor also measured baby on an ultrasound after that, and she came out just fine. But regardless, it really bothered me. So I spent the majority of the last two weeks before today's appointment obsessing about whether or not my tummy is growing (tummy growth = baby growth). Therefore, when people told me I was looking especially pregnant, I was incredibly satisfied :)

Of course, the best best best part of the week therefore, was today's 34-week appointment (I know I'm cheating, because technically my 34-week appointment happened in week 34 and this is to review week 33, but I'll share anyway). Today we saw sweet baby's profile view (love that little nose!) and I was measuring in at 32-weeks as far as fundal-height goes. Which is perfect! It's within that two-week zone and is six weeks beyond where we were last time. So she is growing, and I am growing, and my husband who claims my tummy gets bigger all the time is right.

Miss Anything? Not a thing :) Except maybe not having to eat walnuts. I've been eating them since we found out I was pregnant because of the Omega-3's in them that help brain development and I hate them. Six more weeks!
 
Movement: Plenty of it! Today I noticed that when I push on her, she will sometimes push back :) And I can also tell she's grown because she'll push on me on the left side and the right side simultaneously. So either she's getting a lot bigger or she's an octopus baby. I'm going with option A.

Food cravings: Nothing, really. What a boring preggo!

Anything making you queasy or sick: On Friday when I was nauseous, everything. Since then I've been fine. But like last week. I just have no desire to eat anything ice cream, chocolate + peanut butter combination, and most anything pizza.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes! My dad told me this weekend that I looked like I was about to burst, and a student of mine told me today that I am really pregnant :) Love it!

Belly Button in or out? Still in! But the hubs and I are weirdos, and we did notice that the bottom of my never-ending-pit-belly button is visible now. It was crazy. Not sure if I'll be an outie by the time the next six weeks are up, though...
 
Wedding rings on or off? On   

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but as always, anxious about everything being okay in there!

Looking forward to: My baby shower this Saturday :) Can't WAIT! And for our 36-week fancy ultrasound, where they will officially check baby girl's growth again, due to my marginal cord insertion.

(Sidenote: don't ask me what the heck a "durian fruit" is. Your guess is as good as mine!)

 
 

Sweet Baby Sneak Peek!

Naturally because I'm this sweet baby's proud momma, I assume the world has been dying to see some 30-week ultrasound pictures. So, rest easy friends, because your deepest desires have come true! Here she is, three weeks ago, at 30-weeks :)

First, this one isn't very exciting, but I think it's neat. The image on top shows the four chambers of her heart. If you look closely, you can see the valve on the right side is currently open. This was the second time we've had the chance to watch her little heart work like this; the valves open and close like little pinball flippers. It's totally incredible. The lower picture shows an "image" of her heartbeat. As you can see, her heart rate was 140.70 beats per minute; it seems to fluctuate. It has been as low as 130 bpm at appointments before, but was most recently 145 at our last appointment. It all depends on if she's snoozing or dancing :)

Here's her sweet little profile!

Now she was kind of being a turkey. Her hands and arms were guarding at least half of her face at all times, and she even had her FOOT up by her forehead to block the view, too! Regardless, we got some pretty cute "half-face" shots of her, including this one where she's giving mommy and daddy a little smile :)

Now on this one you can't really see the upper part of her face, but the image of her nose and lips are so clear. Keep in mind that on the left side of the screen, covering part of her face, is her arm and hand (though we're only seeing half of it). From this image, we've decided she's got mommy's nose and daddy's lips. We'll see if we were right when she makes her big debut.

So that's her! She's changed a lot since our last fancy ultrasound at 19-weeks. We'll have one more chance to see her on this type of an ultrasound, at 36-weeks, before she's born.  At this point, everything looks super; she was measuring around the 50th percentile for weight at three pounds, three ounces. Three weeks later, at 33 weeks where we are now, she should be over four pounds... amazing! Grow sweet baby, grow!

32 Weeks!

How far along? 33 weeks today, but this will review my week at 32 weeks.
 
Total weight gain/loss: I guess I'm holding steady at 120 this week. Disappointing, to say the least. Thus an increase in snacks yet again!  

Maternity clothes? Still utilizing both maternity and non-maternity items. I am finding slowly that a lot of my non-maternity tops are starting to become too short, which means lots of tugging on them throughout the day -- which is pretty annoying, so I've had to mentally retire a few more items for the time being. I'm trying not to buy anything else as far as maternity clothes go, since I only have seven weeks left (WOW)!

Stretch marks? Still none :) Could these good genes from my momma be help me dodge the dreaded mommy marks? We'll see...
 
Symptoms: That upper back pain persists, my friends! Especially on the right side. I did do a bit of asking Dr. Google what might cause that, and it sounds like it could be due to a pinched nerve caused by compression on my ribs. Not sure if that's true, but it might make a little sense. It's worst when I sit, but lately even standing doesn't seem to alleviate it. I've also noticed an increase in times I have to use the little lady's room, especially throughout the night. Case in point: last night I woke up three times to go, and I still had to go right away when I woke up!
 
Sleep: Still going well. I have yet to get the dreaded third-trimester insomnia (which, according to my weekly updates from theBump.com, plagues 75% of mommies-to-be!) -- could it be that I'm dodging yet another pregnancy bullet? Let's hope so, and let's hope I didn't just jinx it. Stay tuned.

Best moment this week: Ordering a dress for my baby shower that's coming up in a couple of weeks! I had found it on Asos a few weeks ago, and it sold out SUPER fast in all sizes. So I lurked around the website, hoping maybe all those people who ordered it would have to return it. Sure enough, I was lucky enough to spot it in my size for just a split second and was quick enough to get it! They must not have had many, because after my order went through, my size was sold out. Anyway, it's working its way across the ocean to be with me. Hoping it fits!

Also, we've hit a major milestone: I can officially rest glasses of juice on my growing belly. Let's just say photos were taken to document this epic feat of teamwork between baby and me :)

We also finished up our last child birth class last week. We were disappointed to have the classes be over, but it's nice to not have to go out at night after we get home from work. What I liked about this last week's class was we watched the movie "The Happiest Baby on the Block", which is about how to calm your fussy baby. I read the book very early in my pregnancy and loved it. It reminded me of a lot of things my brother and sister-in-law did when they had their twins -- whether or not they read it, I'm not sure, but they had some of the strategies down. Anyway, it was a cool video to watch because it was like magic. I think we'd better start practicing the swaddle to at least have that "S" down before baby arrives... Anyway, if you're curious about what makes this guy so awesome, watch this video. I am just in awe of how fast this little baby calms down when he does a couple of his tricks.

Miss Anything? Nothing! We are so in love with every wiggle this sweet peanut makes.

And I guess, maybe I miss one thing: my sanity! I worry non-stop about my precious baby girl. Is she moving enough? Growing enough? Am I growing enough to show that she's growing enough? But, as I've mentioned before... I'm sure the worrying doesn't quit when she arrives.
 
Movement: Lots of it! While watching my tummy bounce all over the place from her kicks, Andy informed me that not only can you see her move on the upper part of my stomach, but also on the underside of it. Of course, I wouldn't know that, because I have no idea what the underside of my tummy looks like these days because I can't see underneath it! Mommy-vision is, apparently, somewhat limited :) Anyway, her movements get crazier and crazier. We love feeling her drag her little body across my tummy. I've been trying to guess what part of her body it is lately, and it's pretty entertaining (yes, I know that's lame. But I'm her mommy! So it's fun for me)!

Food cravings: Anything jalapeno, to be honest, which is kind of weird for me. Today I even bought some kind of spicy salsa Wheat Thins -- totally out of my norm, but apparently I'm feeling dangerous while pregnant.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing, really. I just have no desire to eat anything ice cream, chocolate + peanut butter combination, and most anything pizza-related. The weird thing about the pizza distaste, though, is that it sounds bad and gives me a queasy feeling until it's sitting right in front of me -- then I think it looks delish. Weird.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes!  Although I keep worrying that I'm not growing from week to week, which makes me really anxious about her growth. Andy says I'm crazy. And I'm thinking he's right; after all, my belly is brushing against the pew in front of me in mass now when we kneel, which it has never done until this Sunday. And, if I'm totally honest with you, I've also resorted to excessively measuring around my belly to see what the distance is so I can have some concrete evidence that my tummy is, indeed, growing. Anyway, as of yesterday, my tummy was measuring around 34 1/2 inches. Now, I hadn't planned on measuring today because I'm trying to be less crazy. However, Andy told me my belly looks huge today, so I decided, what the heck  -- I'll be a little nuts today and measure anyway! So where are we today? Measuring in at almost 35 1/2 inches around! Hopefully it wasn't a flukey food baby measurement, but I don't think a person gets food babies while pregnant. Regardless, I was a happy momma.

Belly Button in or out? She's still in! Getting pulled a little tighter, though!
 
Wedding rings on or off? On   

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but feeling that anxiety about baby that I've mentioned about nine hundred times today. I'm not feeling super emotional anymore, which I'm happy about, too.

Looking forward to: Our 34-week check-up next week on Monday!

(Sidenote: My doctor ran in the Boston Marathon today, so for a moment the worry about my baby switched over to worrying about my doctor and whether or not she was okay because of the bombing there. All is well and Dr. S. is just fine, but regardless, my heart still hurts for those people affected by those events. Take a few minutes to say a few prayers for them tonight before you go to bed.)

Anyway, I've been eagerly looking forward to my next appointment since I left her office last week at our 32-week check-up, actually. These visits can't come soon enough for me! 

31 Weeks!

How far along? 32 weeks today, but this will recap my time as 31 weeks.
 
Total weight gain/loss: Weighing in at 120 pounds! That means I'm up 14 pounds from the start!

Maternity clothes? Utilizing both tops and pants that are considered maternity, but I still have plenty of regular clothes that still work. I'm just enjoying the extra length on the tops of the comfiness of the pants :)

Stretch marks? None to speak of!
 
Symptoms: Still pretty emotional, using the bathroom even more often than last week (I didn't even know that was possible!) and lower back pain.
 
Sleep: Still going well -- just waking to use the bathroom once or twice each night. I've come down with a nasty cold the last few days, which has really put a wrench in my sleep schedule, but that's not sweet baby's fault!

Best moment this week: While I was away on Saturday, Andy was sweet enough to put together baby girl's crib and changing table :) And last night, we put up her mobile... and it's perfect. We both practiced scooping an invisible her up out of her crib to see what it would be like to lean over the railing. We both were in awe of her little room after the mobile went up... we just stood in the doorway and stared. We can't wait!
 
Miss Anything? Not one thing :)
 
Movement: Her movement continues to be so much fun! That little lady presses up against my tummy and slides a foot or what I'm thinking is her backside across. It is ridiculously awesome!

Food cravings: Again with the OJ and milk! And otherwise, nothing sounds all that appetizing. But I'm still keeping up the heavy snacking -- gotta get that little baby growin'!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really making me sick, but again, just not finding anything overly appetizing really.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes!

Belly Button in or out? Still in! But the ridge on top is getting tighter and bigger. My students even commented that they could see my belly button through a shirt I wore last week because of that silly ridge.
 
Wedding rings on or off? On   

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but feeling anxious about baby's growth. Is she still growing in there?! Somedays I think I'll be sad when my pregnancy is over, but other days I think I'll be glad because I won't worry about what I can't see. Then again, once she's born, there will be a whole gamete of other things to worry about! Guess that's called being a mommy.

Looking forward to: My baby shower in a few weeks and baby girl's rocking chair coming in to add to her nursery :)

30 Weeks!

How far along? 31 weeks, two days today, but this will be recapping week 30. I know I'm pretty late in posting this week, but we moved over the weekend and didn't get internet access back until today, so I have a good excuse for my tardiness!
 
Total weight gain/loss: GREAT news. Yesterday I weighed in at 119 -- woohoo! That's a total gain of 12 pounds.


Maternity clothes? Starting to feel like I'm finally getting big enough for some of my maternity tops, so I've enjoyed wearing those :) Also wearing a few maternity pants, but otherwise sticking with my BellaBand and regular pants. Still have four pair of pants that fit without the BellaBand!

Stretch marks? None to speak of!
 
Symptoms: Emotional to the max, my friends. It's interesting, because the more emotional I become, you would think the more impatient I would become with my students. Not so! Those little third graders are some little people I have buckets of patience for it seems. Maybe I use it all up during the day, so when I get home I can't hold myself together anymore. It's really not that bad, but I did cry on account of my husband being on the phone with CenturyLink customer service for 30 minutes the other night. So it's not that I'm crabby emotional -- just weepy emotional. Aside from that, I'm noticing more low back pain and many urges to use the little girl's room throughout the day.
 
Sleep: Going well still! Just waking to go to the bathroom once or twice a night usually.

Best moment this week: Seeing our sweet baby's face at our "big" ultrasound last Monday! She is growing beautifully. You may remember that I have a marginal cord insertion, which poses a threat to baby being provided with enough nutrients to grow at an appropriate pace. Not so for our sweet baby! She was weighing in at an estimated 3 pounds, 3 ounces last week, which is right on track for 30 weeks. Everything is measuring almost exactly on-date, which eased mama's mind wonderfully. We also got to see her in 4-D again, and she looked so much more filled out this time around. Unfortunately she was blocking her face with both arms and hands, as well as her FEET! Yes, our sweet baby even had her heels up by her forehead :) Apparently she's a little gymnast! Regardless, we were able to sneak a peek at half of her face at a time, and we've decided that she's got mommy's nose and daddy's lips.
 
Miss Anything? Not one thing :)
 
Movement: I am loving the movement rather than kicks that she's blessing me with right now. She makes these huge movements that allow us to see some body part (heel? Elbow? Butt?) drag from one side of my tummy to another. I am also noticing that I can feel kind of a hard spot in my belly at all times of the day, and if I rest my hand there for just a few seconds, it moves and I can tell it was her there. It's more amazing than one can ever imagine. She also has a tendency to get the hiccups... which she has as I type this out :)
 
Food cravings: The orange juice and milk cravings continue! I seem to be having a turn-off to pop lately, too, which is definitely a new thing for me. I'm finding that I'm heading back in the direction of "nothing sounds good to me" again. Dang.
 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really making me sick, but again, just not finding anything overly appetizing really.
 
Have you started to show yet: Yes!

Belly Button in or out? That belly button is still in! But the ridge on top is getting tighter and bigger.
 
Wedding rings on or off? On   

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but emotional in the weepy sense.

Looking forward to: Our doctor appointment next Monday at 32 weeks and my baby shower coming up in a few Saturdays!