32 Weeks

Just 2 more months. Just 2 more months. That's what I keep telling myself when my ankles disappear or everything hurts or I'm exhausted but can't sleep because I can't get comfortable. I'm going to try and enjoy the next 8 weeks with Pat while it's just the two of us. I know life is going to change dramatically as soon as this baby comes so I'm going to savor this normal before a new normal begins.

Ankle swelling is still off and on. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn't. I think it's actually worse when I have to sit for a long time. It grosses me out. The last couple of days I've had bad pelvic pain when I walk. It's fine as long as I stay sitting.

Baby has been kind of lazy the last couple of days which this mama doesn't really like. Makes me nervous sometimes. It's picked up a little bit today though which is good. This happened after Thanksgiving as well so maybe Baby gets worn out from holidays.

I still continue to have contractions when I try to do anything. It's rather frustrating. I think some of it stems from not drinking enough water during the day which I'm trying to get better at.

Daddy was sick for a week and is finally feeling better but I have caught what he had which is unfortunate. We're headed to Ames and MN this weekend and I will be really bummed to be sick around all my kiddos I don't get to see enough.

Braxton Hicks

It seems strange that right now I have to do everything I can to make contractions stop and in 5 weeks I'll be doing everything to keep them going. Right now it's frustrating to keep getting them and then I'll be frustrated to not have them. Can't win!

31 Weeks

I dropped the ball and didn't get a post up yesterday. No excuse other than just plain forgetting.

I officially stopped liking pregnancy after my last update. Everything sort of went downhill as far as comfort and enjoyability. Hormones kicked in and I became an emotional basket case. I've also gotten significantly more uncomfortable and am just ready to have this baby. I knew this would happen eventually I was just hoping it would be a little closer to the end instead of when we still have 2 months of growing. I think the most frustrating part is all of the the contractions I get whenever I try to do anything. Last Friday night I was having a lot and probably should have called the doctor but instead just did what usually makes them go away. I think I stressed myself out at work which started them and then they just kept happening. Hopefully no one thinks I'm irresponsible for not calling the doctor but I wanted to try everything I could to make them stop before making a big deal of it and they eventually did. I'm starting to feel a little guilty about it now but I'm pretty sure everything is fine.

My ankles have begun to disappear in the couple of days which is oh so lovely. I'm trying to drink more water and keep my feet up as much as possible. All of these things are making it very difficult to keep up with my house.

Pat has been sick for a couple of days so we are sleeping in separate beds. He snores terribly when he's sick which didn't used to be an issue when I could sleep through the night but now that I wake up all the time it makes it a little tricky to fall back to sleep so until he can breathe I'll be in the spare bedroom. Hopefully he gets to feeling better very soon as we're spending Christmas in Kansas City this year. I'd hate for him to be miserable the whole time we're there.

We have absolutely no snow here and it's been in the 30's and 40's lately and will continue so it's making it difficult for me to believe that it is Christmas. The only thing convincing me is our tree; the stockings; and my pine smelling candles. Without those things I would be convinced it's October.

I had another stranger at the hospital tell me she thought we are having a boy. Some of my co-workers are saying girl but that's just because that's what they want me to have not necessarily what they think it is. I found a couple of gender predictor tests online and both said boy but I guess we'll just wait and see! We'll be thrilled with either one.

Merry Christmas

30 Weeks

I'm starting to feel H-U-G-E. I'm not sure if it's due to being 7 1/2 months pregnant or all of the Christmas cookies I've been eating. Probably a combination of both. I'd been bragging a little bit that all of the weight I've gained has gone straight to my belly until I tried a pre-pregnancy skirt on this morning and found it to be tight in places not my belly. I found out where some of the weight has been dispersed to!

We had a doctors appointment on Monday that went pretty much like every other one. It was with a different OB since they want me to meet some of the other ones. She was great and if she's the one on call when I go into labor I will not complain. She told me more about the lovely fibroid that is growing on the outside of my uterus and it sounds like out of the 3 or so types you can have it's probably the one I would pick. It's called a pedunculated fibroid (which is a hilarious word all by itself) which just means it grows from a stalk. If the fibroid were on the inside of the uterus it can cause abnormal bleeding and make it difficult to get pregnant (not our case here); if it were in the lining of the uterus it could cause preterm labor because there's not enough room for the baby to grow; a pedunculated fibroid grows on the outside of the uterus and and during pregnancy usually just gets shoved to the side and doesn't cause any problems. The risk of this type is that the stalk it grows on can twist which I've read is extremely painful. Sorry if that was more than you wanted to know.

Baby is likely around 3 pounds now although I'm going to guess our little baby with a beer belly is more than that.

I've had a couple of people at the hospital tell me they think I'm having a boy. It's always interesting hearing peoples opinions. I'm keeping my opinions to myself until after this baby is born :)

We had our final baby class on Tuesday and we covered epidurals and what to expect after the baby is born. I'm starting to get a little nervous about this whole parenting thing but am still so excited to meet this baby even with all the fears that will come along with it.

29 Weeks

This last week went fast! It's hard to believe I'm almost out of the 20s. We're getting closer!

We had our first child prep class at the hospital on Tuesday and had a tour of the maternity floor and learned a little about what to prepare for. We'll have one more class next Tuesday. They showed one short birthing video and I think Pat got to see more than he wanted. He asked me later if he was going to have to see all of that and I said yes unless he wants to look at my face the whole time. I think he's a little more freaked out about birth than I am but I think he'll be a great coach.

I have a doctors appointment on Monday morning which starts my rotation with the other doctors in the practice as well as 2 week check ups. I got a letter the other day saying I passed my GT test which means I don't have gestational diabetes. Good news there! She also said that I'm borderline anemic so if I start feeling "extremely tired" to take an iron supplement. That didn't really surprise me because every time I've tried to donate blood I've been turned away because I need more iron. So far I don't think I've gotten to the point of feeling extremely tired but I've wondered how I'll be able to tell in the future if the tiredness is just because I'm in the third trimester and not sleeping well or if it's because I'm anemic. I guess I'll just wait and see!

I'm still enjoying the baby rolls that are going on. It's crazy to hold my hand on my stomach and feel a body moving back and forth. Sometimes it feels like the baby is knocking on my hip bone which is a little weird because it lasts until I change positions and every once in a while it feels like baby just shivered. I'm not always sure what's going on in there. It'll be fun when the baby is born to try and recognize those movements on the outside.

Braxton Hicks are slowing me down here and there. Mostly when I'm trying to clean the house. I'll have to sit down every so often so they go away. The also tend to happen whenever I have to pee which for the last couple of days is every time I stand up. Not so enjoyable.

28 weeks

Hello to the 3rd trimester! (although a few would say it started a week ago). It's hard to believe we only have 12 weeks left! I still have so many things to do but just need to find the time and energy to get them done. We finished our gift registry on Sunday night so that's one more thing to have out of the way. You never realize what babies require until you look at everything and realize it's a ton of stuff! I'm not even the type that thinks we need everything but there's still a lot. I feel like a baby registry is much more difficult than a wedding registry because when you get married you have an idea of what your house needs. When you are having your first baby you have no idea what that baby will like therefore having no idea what you really need. You just kind of go off the advice of others.

Sleeping has started to get a little more difficult lately. I've had a hard time falling asleep this week due to restless legs and indigestion. Sunday was awful because the baby hadn't been moving as much that day so I was freaking out a little which made for terrible sleep. Maybe it was a growth spurt because there has been much more activity since then which makes this mama much happier.

Braxton Hicks have come to my attention recently as well. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out if it's a contraction or just the baby trying to push its way out of my stomach. I guess when it's baby it's just part of my stomach and contractions take over the entire thing. They aren't painful but they are a little bit uncomfortable.

Christmas decorations have started to make their appearance in the house although the tree isn't up yet. That might not happen until this weekend. There's some rearranging that needs to happen first and there hasn't been much time for that.

Monday was my golden birthday and Pat and I met downtown for lunch and then just hung out at home that night. Nothing too exciting but birthday's aren't a big deal anymore. He was going to surprise me by having a couple of our friends over but there was some miscommunication so they came over on Tuesday night instead and we had ice cream cake and hung out.

This weekend we are going to the Iowa wrestling meet on Friday and the Nutcracker on Saturday. We like to stay well rounded with our entertainment around here! I'm pretty excited about both events.

(Can you tell I haven't gotten much sleep?)