How far along?  39 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  watermelon

Total weight gain/loss:  I gained 4 lb in one week!  Wow!  I was super surprised since I’ve had a cold and I thought I was eating less than normal.   So now I’m up 31.5 lb.  I guess my body has decided to pack it on now suddenly?  Looks like I’ll probably have about the same amount of gain as I did with Matthew.  I am totally fine with it, just so long as it’s going at least partly on ME and I don’t have a gigantic baby.  Midwife just said not to overdo the carbs and sweets and I’ll be fine.

Maternity clothes?  Yes, and they are getting tighter!

Sleep:  Doing about the same.  I wake up sometimes I think from a Braxton Hicks and feel very uncomfortable when I roll out of bed to go pee.  Today I have been super tired for some reason, despite an okay sleep at night and a nap.

Best moment this week:  Finally being able to breathe again now that my cold is mostly gone!

Movement:  Still moving fine, some movements can be painful, especially down where his head is.

Food cravings/aversions:   no one big craving and I’ve had several days where I feel a little queasy here and there

Belly Button in or out? Out, it’s kind of hard to even tell I HAVE a belly button

What I miss:  Not worry about WHEN I’m going to go into labor.  I am 39w2d and I had Matthew at 38w6d.  So since I’m past the point I had him, I keep wondering “is this it?” every time I start having a few contractions.

What I am looking forward to:   Having the baby!  I’m excited to meet him.  The only thing I wish was that we could be more decided on a name.

Weekly Wisdom:   A watched pot never boils.  ;o)

Milestones:  I am PAST the gestation at which I had Matthew.  Less than a week till my EDD.

Symptoms:  Braxton Hicks are happening quite a bit.  And then also some real contractions here and there, but nothing too intense OR regular.

Midwife visit last week:  Doing fine.  My pulse was a little fast at 92, but BP was great.  Baby is in a good position.  I can tell when he goes posterior so hopefully he will be easy to “flip” if he tries to get into that position in labor.  Really we have been over most everything important already.  My last schedule appointment is this next week and then I will additional ones as needed if I go past my EDD.

 

How far along?  38 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  watermelon

Total weight gain/loss:  up another 3 pounds at my last appt, yay for 3 lb in one week!  So that’s a total gain of 27.5.  I am pretty happy with that, maybe I will get up to 30!

Maternity clothes?  Yes

Sleep:  I still have insomnia at night.  I ditched the egg crate mattress (which was keeping my hips more comfy) because it’s just too hot.  The temp is set to 73 and yet I still feel so freaking hot!  This is foreign to me because I am usually pretty cold natured.

Best moment this week:   Last night I was watching a video on youtube on swaddling (wanted to brush up on the technique) and all of a sudden I could just see myself with my new baby and all of a sudden I felt READY  in a way that I haven’t until now.  )  I am not super anxious for him to come, but I will be happy when he does.

Movement:  He’s still moving plenty.

Food cravings/aversions:   nothing in particular, but I’ve been sick lately (more on that later)

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  Feeling well.  Ugh.  I am on day #5 of a cold (Matthew as well) and it SUCKS.  I really thought I’d be feeling better by now.  My main concern is wanting everyone in the house to be feeling good when baby arrives, so I guess I’m not *quite* ready for him until I can totally kick this cold.  Right now I’ve got stuffed up nose (and THAT certainly isn’t helping with sleep either, it’s horrible) and sore throat.  Matthew has a super runny nose and bad cough and has been as I said to David today “a bundle of misery”.  It could be worse, he’s just very whiny about everything because he doesn’t feel well and not sleeping near enough either.

What I am looking forward to:   Getting over this darn cold!  My mom coming soon and hopefully baby coming maybe just a liiiittle before his due date?  We’ll see!

Weekly Wisdom:   Houston.  Summer.  Pregnancy.   Alex, what are “3 things that should not be combined”?  Seriously!

Milestones:  2 weeks away from my due date.  Less than a week to the gestation I had Matthew at.

Symptoms:  Cold symptoms, blah.  Back hurts, hard to get in a comfy position sitting or laying down.  And did I mention I feel HOT?  Oh and right around when my cold first started (I didn’t think I was getting sick, I thought it was allergies), I had a day with quite a lot of Braxton Hicks after doing too much house cleaning.  I also think baby was posterior that day.  Anyway, I have been taking it more easy since then…I don’t want to take the chance of baby coming just yet!

Midwife visit a few days ago:  Everything is still going great.  My BP was up a little 124/70, but she said that’s likely because I’m not feeling well.  I was measuring 37.5, I think, so that was right on.  She said she still thinks baby is fairly small, 6ish pounds.  She also was feeling trying to figure out where he head was, it wasn’t lined quite up with my pelvis but more off to the right.  But after pushing around on him a little he did straighten his head back over towards the center.  I think he still has enough room to move around in there, even though I’m sure it’s more cramped.

 

Finally trying to finish playing catch up…months after the baby was born! 

How far along?  37 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  watermelon!

Total weight gain/loss:  no new weight

Maternity clothes?  Yes

Sleep:  it’s taking even longer to fall asleep at night but I am still tired during the day.  I sure hope the insomnia goes away after baby gets here!

Best moment this week:   I got a double stroller off Craigslist for $15 so that was pretty cool!  And David and I got a date night.  We got dinner and then went for dessert (Blizards) at Dairy Queen and talked about baby names.

Movement:  Still moving a lot and I feel limbs more on my left side.

Food cravings/aversions:   fruit

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  Energy!  And I feel like if I do too much, I worry that baby might come too soon.  So I am trying not to overdo it.

What I am looking forward to:   Getting all the crap that I just ordered off Amazon, hah!  Seriously once all that comes in I feel like I will have all the “stuff” I need.  And then it’s just a matter of  finishing (well, David finishing) little projects and picking a name.  (We are down to 4 names now though!)

Weekly Wisdom:   ?

Milestones:  3 weeks from my due date!  At this point 37w3d, I am less than 2 weeks away from the gestation that I had Matthew at!  Kinda scary.

Symptoms:  I have felt kinda spacey a few times, hoping it’s just being tired.  Also I noticed that I have stretch marks on my belly this time!  But they are only on my left side.  I will have to make sure to take a picture.  I didn’t get them last time…or at least only a couple waaaay down low that I didn’t notice till after I gave birth.  So I will have to see if these new ones fade or not, or if they stick around.  And here I was thinking I was lucking out!

Finally trying to finish playing catch up…months after the baby was born! 
How far along?  36 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  honeydew melon

Total weight gain/loss:  Gained 1.5 pounds from last time so now I’m at 24.5 pounds total.  Not shabby, I would like to get up to 30 if I can!

Maternity clothes?  Yup!

Sleep:  same old stuff, I go to bed late, have trouble falling asleep and then I want to sleep in!  Sometimes I get to and sometimes not.  Still napping or trying to.

Best moment this week:   Got my maternity pics taken!  I did them with Matthew and David along as well so we got some family ones, some of David and I and then some of Matthew and I.  It was our first time taking pictures outdoors and I think we got some great shots.  They were taken by two mom friends, one just does it as a hobby and the other wants to do it professionally so she is doing it free right now for portfolio building.   I’ve only posted one on facebook so far and got TONS of compliments on it.  Really makes me enjoy this last bit of being pregnant in some ways because I feel like I am getting all this attention and people telling me how great I look.  It’s nice.    Once I have the baby, all the focus will be on him, rightfully so of course!  But I still enjoy this part for now, haha.

Movement:  Still active.  I think he has gone posterior a few times but then he does go back anterior.  Still mostly his butt on the right side and then I feel his little foot or something on my left side a lot.  When he pushes around down low sometimes it causes me to have that pain in my groin/upper leg.

Food cravings/aversions:   Sweets

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  I feel like I’ve been having less energy lately.  And like I WANT to get stuff done but then don’t really feel like putting out effort to do it.

What I am looking forward to:   Getting last minute stuff done.  Picking a name, ack!  We really need to have it narrowed down at the very least.

Weekly Wisdom:   ?

Milestones:  They wouldn’t stop labor now.  I go in for weekly midwife visits.

Symptoms:  Some emotional days.  Have to watch out for that, b/c anxiety could mean PPD later.  Since I think I had a little with Matthew I need to have David and other family keeping tabs.  Same old late pregnancy stuff, back pain, tired.  And man it is hard to get up off the floor if I sit down!

Midwife visit:  Went fine.  Baby was sticking his butt up in the air making my belly have a big point!  BP and all that is great.  I was measuring 35 cm but she said it’s normal to slow down at the end.  She still thinks baby is pretty small so I need to have him bake a bit longer, which is fine by me.  We talked about the birth plan.  David is feeling like a water birth would make him worry and since I had no problem pushing Matthew out, I plan to get out of the tub when it’s pushing time.  David plans to take off 2 weeks after baby arrives, I’m very happy about that.  Midwife stressed the importance of me taking it easy the first couple weeks and said if I do that, then I should heal well and get back to normal quicker.  We are hoping someone else can watch Matthew so that my mom can come to the birth and be our photographer.  I don’t plan on any graphic photos, but I want some of me in labor and tons of right after his born and also some video of just afterwards.

 

 

How far along?  35 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  honeydew melon

Total weight gain/loss:  Gained 4.5 pounds from last time!  So the 2 I lost, plus an extra 2.5.  Total gain 23 lb.  I’m happy because before I got weighed she said she’d like to see me get to at least 25.  So I think that is certainly do-able and hopefully I can get up to more around 30.

Maternity clothes?  yes, I actually bought a couple new things too.  A dress for maternity pics coming up and a ruched shirt that I must say I look awesome in.  I get the best compliments while preggo!  All my mom friends are telling me I look great and I’m all belly.  And I took Matthew to McD’s the other day for dinner and playtime and had a woman tell her friend “I never looked that cute when I was pregnant”  It helps me ego!  )

Sleep:  still trouble falling asleep at night, I think it’s something to do with my legs, like they feel kinda restless I think?  I am getting up to pee super often now too.  If I don’t get a nap each day then I am not a happy woman.

Best moment this week:   Baby shower yesterday!  My mom’s group had one for me and it was a combo pool party for the kids and shower for me.  They had some decorations set up like sailboats since that is my nursery theme.  Little snack holders that looked like boats that said Skippyjon (baby’s nickname) and rice krispy treat sailboats instead of a cake.  Matthew had fun in the pool and even got a little more comfortable in the water wearing his life jacket and floating around and jumping off a small ledge towards me.  I got several baby outfits and then was surprised that I got a Visa gift card for $180!  They all chipped in so we could buy something big that we needed like a double stroller.  Not sure yet what we’ll use it for but we do have several things on our “to buy” list that we still have to get.

Movement:  Still pretty active, every now and then the way he moves will hurt!

Food cravings/aversions:   I really want a fancy cupcake because people on facebook keep talking about them.

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  Umm, apparently I was a little deluded and have come to my senses after seeing a friend with a toddler and 8 week old.  I was thinking it will be so nice after baby gets here and I don’t have to worry about Matthew jumping on my belly and hurting baby accidentally.  But actually I think it’s going to be MUCH harder once baby is here in person!  I do want to hold baby quite a bit of the time but now I am wondering how that is going to work with Matthew always wanting to climb/crawl all over me!  My friend had the baby’s bouncer up on her kitchen table…which I’m sure was to keep her daughter from messing with him!

What I am looking forward to:   Next week I have maternity pictures and my 36 week midwife visit.

Weekly Wisdom:   Being silly with your toddler really does help make them cooperate!  (Recently I brush his teeth while making up songs to the tune of Elmo’s world and today when he didn’t want to go in his room for a nap I made choo choo sounds and pretended we were a train going in there.  Proud of myself for doing this stuff because it does take more effort than just saying “you have to do XYZ”)

Milestones:  Less than a month till my due date.

Symptoms:   I had a couple super emotional days.  Ugh.  Still wanting to next and worrying about “stuff” getting done.  And I have been getting more of those pains in my upper legs/groin area when baby moves a certain way.

The rest of the details on the midwife visit:  BP 112/62, baby’s heartrate from 132 to 180 bpm, he got super excited moving around in there!  I asked her about giving up dairy and she said to cut back on actual milk but she still wants me to eat yogurt/cheese, etc, because it’s good protein.  Then if baby has issues I will give it up after he arrives.  I asked her several other questions but I don’t really remember right now everything we talked about.  I have a crapload of pills to start taking as I get close to the end and before my next visit we have stuff to fill out on our birth plan.  (Which I guess means I NEED a birth plan!)

 

How far along?  34 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  honeydew melon

Total weight gain/loss:  no new weight, will have an update in a couple days

Maternity clothes?  yes

Sleep:  insomnia, trouble falling asleep at night, and even if I do hypnobabies.  It isn’t putting me to sleep the way it used to or else I wake up once the track ends and can’t get back to sleep.

Best moment this week:   Just getting some stuff done in general while my mom was here.  Nesting central! 

Movement:  He is running out of room, maybe a touch less active, but still plenty for me!  He pushes around everywhere.  He likes to swing his butt up on my right side a lot.  And I keep feeling something way down low on my left side jabbing me.  Maybe a hand or elbow?

Food cravings/aversions:   I can’t stop eating the funfetti flag cake that I made for 4th of July.  So sad it’s almost gone.

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  Feeling like I have time left!  It feels like I am so close to being done and it’s kinda freaking me out!  This baby really needs a name and David is so laid back about it and I feel like we aren’t getting as much time to talk about name choices like we did with Matthew.  Always so busy with either work or Matthew or things around the house.

What I am looking forward to:   Midwife visit coming up in a couple days.  I *think* I should be getting a baby shower and I’m having maternity pictures done. 

Weekly Wisdom:  ?

Milestones:  ?

Symptoms:   A little crazy emotional, worried about getting everything done, nesting.  I’ve also gotten some sharp shooting pains on my upper right leg up into my groin.  I think it’s baby pressing on a nerve.

Found this older post that I need to publish.    Most of this is from about a month ago at least.

 

Matthew has said lots of funny things lately.

-A few weeks ago he was naked and pointed to his penis and said “big”.  I was thinking WHAT?  Haha.

-He also patted one of my boobs after nursing one morning and then said “big”.  Thanks buddy.

- My tummy however is another story.  In Matthew speak “B big” means “too big”.  The other morning I he touched my belly and said “B big”.  Guess he is noticing it.

-My husband asked the other day if “that baby was still nursing”.  Um, yes!  He finished the other morning, smiled at me and said “Good” with a huge grin.

-He will go off in a corner or into a closet or the pantry to go poop.  If you ask him to go to the potty instead, he flings his hands at me in a “go away” motion and says “Noooo”.

-He still loves a good game of “git choo” where I chase him and tell him “I’m gonna get you!”

-When he wants to do something himself, like turn book pages or hold something, he will insist “Mattoo!”

-He seems to know all his colors for the most part.  Most of them are pronounced a little differently – geen, boo, wohwoh

-He just recently started saying “bagel” instead of “beagle” and it makes me sad.

-Strawberries are known as “aw-bees”

-He counts to 10 but skips the number 7.  David thinks it is because that’s the only 2 syllable number.

-He asks all the time for “moo-gik”, which means he wants me to turn a music CD on.

-If the 3 of us are out walking together, he has to hold both our hands.  He will hold one hand out and say “Dada han” and then the other “Mama han”, so so so sweet.

-He has had a recent obsession with the attic since he saw his Nana go up there.  He keeps talking about the “aggic” and will say “Nana aggic.  Up stairs”.  One evening he was saying “teetee aggic” (kitty attic) so I asked him if he wanted kitty to go up in the attic and he grinned huge and said “Yes!”   Poor kitty, haha.

How far along?  33 weeks

Baby is the size of a:  honeydew melon

Total weight gain/loss:  the weeklong stomach virus caused me to lose weight.    I lost two pounds so now my total gain is 18.5 lb

Maternity clothes?  yes

Sleep:  I am falling asleep much easier now that I am doing my Hypnobabies tracks before bed at night.  I figured I might as well do it even if it’s late because it takes me forever to fall asleep anyway, another 30-40 minutes listening to a track is no biggie and half the time I go totally to sleep while listening to it.

Best moment this week:  June 25 (yesterday) was the first time Matthew spontaneously said “I yuv you”.

Movement:  Flexing around with a few kicks/jabs here and there.  Sometimes it is actually a little bit painful!

Food cravings/aversions:   Dairy

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  Letting Matthew climb all over me or cuddle or do whatever and not having to be careful that he doesn’t hurt my belly by accident.

What I am looking forward to:   My mom is coming to visit again later this week.    And July 4th weekend, hopefully David will have a 3 day weekend.  He worked part of the weekend this past one and it sucks!

Weekly Wisdom:  ?

Milestones:  ?

Symptoms:   Tired more easily.

I had my midwife visit this past week.  As I already mentioned, I did lose 2 lb which my midwife was not that surprised about it.  I’m hoping to make up for it and then some here in these last few weeks!  Everything else was great.   BP was 100/60 and baby’s heart rate ranged between 132 and 161.  (He got excited there for a little while.)  She checked to see where he was and was pretty sure he was head down but not positive as his head was a little softer than she expected.  Since she hasn’t had much practice with the ultrasound machine, we got a little peek in at Skippyjon to make sure he was head down.  Matthew and David only stayed for a minute and then went out of the room because David thought it was freaking Matthew out to see me laying down on the exam table.   I got just a little glimpse at his face and got to see some big looking hands, ribs, heart.  I tried to check and see if he still had his little boy parts but it was too hard to make out what was what (and again, my midwife was not experienced at doing u/s).  I *thought* I saw testicles at one point but who knows.  For whatever reason, I have been nervous of the ultrasound being wrong this time around, though I’m still about 98% sure that he’s a boy!  I had her talk to David some about waterbirth because apparently he was watching “The Office” where they were talking about how the placenta floats to the top and then he started thinking about what if the baby started breathing under the water.  I think it probably freaked him out when my midwife started talking about how they use a little net to scoop out any fecal matter that comes out while pushing, LOL.  I was thinking, don’t give him any more to worry about!  I was surprised that she said about 30-50% of women do a water birth (I thought it would be more).  She said virtually everyone labors in the tub, but for various reasons, not everyone wants to actually be in the tub for the pushing part.   I guess we’ll see how it goes.  She talked about starting perineal massage soon and later David was like “yeah I don’t know about that….”  Hah!   Can’t remember what else we discussed…it’s a little harder to talk about things when Matthew is there because even with toys we have to keep redirecting him from opening cabinets, playing with the stirups on the exam table, etc.  I only have one more evening appointment that David will be at (36 weeks) which is when we go over my birth plan so maybe I can get someone to watch Matthew while David and I go to that.

How far along?  32 weeks.  I missed week 31, but we can sum up that week just by saying I had a stomach virus on and off and it was miserable.  I didn’t throw up, but I had bad diarrhea, stomach cramps and generally felt awful.  The stomach cramps were worrisome because I had to make sure it wasn’t contractions.  I may have had just a few and now I think I am noticing Braxton Hicks here and there (including now that I am well) which is different because I didn’t notice them at all while pregnant with Matthew

Baby is the size of a:  squash

Total weight gain/loss:  no new weight

Maternity clothes?  yup

Sleep:  Bad insomnia at night, it takes me forever to fall asleep!  Plus I’ve been havings lots more trouble getting comfy.  I’ve been using an assortment of regular and body pillows but I just broke down and bought a pregnancy pillow.  So far the verdict is still out on how much it is helping.

Best moment this week:  Starting to feel better and being able to eat again!

Movement:  Lots of flexing around in there.  I think I see his butt around the middle of my tummy sometimes so I think maybe he is anterior.  I have also gotten a few sharp kicks to my ribs lately, takes my breath away for a second each time!

Food cravings/aversions:   Nothing in particular, I’m just happy to be able to eat real food again!

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  Being sick really sapped me of my energy but I think it’s coming back somewhat, or at least to “normal” for pregnancy.

What I am looking forward to:   Midwife visit tomorrow! 

Weekly Wisdom:  ?

Milestones:  Only 8 weeks till my due date.

Symptoms:   Had some bad heartburn/reflux a couple nights ago.  Same stuff other than that, back pain in the evening, getting tired more easily.

31 weeks:

 

How far along?  30 weeks (oops!  missed 29 weeks)

Baby is the size of a:  squash

Total weight gain/loss:  up another 7 lb from my last appointment.  Total gain of 20.5 lb

Maternity clothes?  yup

Sleep:  Decent lately, I have gotten to sleep in more mornings too since my mom has been in town so that helps.

Best moment this week:  Midwife appointment went well!  It was nice having David, Matthew and my mom all there.  Matthew got a little too energetic towards the end since the appointment is an hour long but luckily I had other there to keep him from destroying the prenatal room!  Mom got to tour the birth center.  We talked a little about how labor *could* go much faster, like 4-6 hours and that freaked David out.  I also think maybe I won’t have to worry as much about David tempting me constantly wanting to buy ice cream and cookies (the man is on a sugar binge lately!) because my midwife was saying too many sweets and ice cream late in pregnancy can cause a big baby.

Movement:  Movements have gotten more and more like flexing around rather than kicks (most of the time anyway).  I can see my belly blob around through my shirt when he moves.  He’s most active in late evening and I swear he has some kind of midnight/ 1:00 a.m. dance party thing going on!

Food cravings/aversions:   Not really

Belly Button in or out? Out

What I miss:  More energy/being more able to bend down and move around freely

What I am looking forward to:   Getting more nesting done.  We have been working on clearing out some rooms and doing various home projects the past few days since David took a few days off work.

Weekly Wisdom:  ?

Milestones:  3/4 done!  (or more if I go early)

Symptoms:   Same as before, a little back pain the evenings and pain under my boobs from belly pushing up so high.

 

29 weeks in the baby pool

 

 

Giving baby a kiss