Week 32

The appointment on Friday morning went well, she sounds healthy and strong which is great! My blood pressure is good and I have no swelling (knock on wood). She is head down with her back on my left side.

Symptoms:

Emotional, cranky, and irritable. I thought I was going to be able to get through this pregnancy and be pleasant the whole time, but I feel hormones creeping up on me and I just can't control them, gosh darn it. It seemed like I cried a lot last week which I don't like to do. But Brian had to work up north (2 hours away) all week so I didn't get to see him until Christmas Eve at like 9 pm. So I was very emotional about that and I think it led to my cranky and irritableness (is that a word?). I was just kind of in a funk all week. We were able to have a good Christmas nonetheless.

Tired. I am definitely feeling lazy as I don't ever want to do anything that requires physical exertion, but I'm forcing myself to go for walks-even in this rainy weather. I just can't stand being on the couch any longer!

Braxton hicks, I think. On Monday I had what I think was a braxton hicks, but I'm not really sure. I had 3 more throughout the week and my rookie guess is that they are braxton hicks, but who knows.

Nausea. Still feel nauseous on and off throughout the day and I'm not sure what causes it, I take a Tums and drink water which sometimes helps a little. It's not horrible, 1st trimester, nausea, just more of an inconvenience.

So excited. As my due date gets closer I become even more anxious to meet Bria, I've started having dreams where I'm in labor. I just can't wait to see what she looks like and bring her home, it's so close! 8 more weeks until my due date, which means 7 more weeks of work, wahoo!


Baby:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

So I don't have a belly picture yet (I will take one this week), but here is a review over the last couple months:

6 weeks

9 weeks

14 weeks

17 weeks

20 weeks (I totally thought I had a belly-little did I know...)

23 weeks

26 weeks

29 weeks (now that's a belly!)

Whew, that belly sure is growing!

Week 31

Symptoms

The week started out pretty good, but half way through I started feeling nauseous and uncomfortably full. I also experience shortness of breath often-It feels kind of like asthma, my chest gets really tight and I start taking more frequent breaths. It happens when I'm just sitting down relaxing which is kind of weird, I just attribute it to the fact that she is getting bigger and longer so she's stretching upward, and sitting down probably scrunches her.

Bria has been getting the hiccups more often which is pretty funny, sometimes they last quite awhile. I can feel when she stretches out because both sides of my stomach will be pushed out and it feels like she's going to come through the side! It's usually just a quick stretch but it definitely catches me off guard.

At night if I stretch too much or move too fast I get this stabbing pain on the right side of my stomach, it made me gasp out in pain the other night and I had to breath through it. Maybe they are the round ligament pains I've heard about?

The other night we were in bed ready to fall asleep and Brian rested his hand on my belly, he couldn't believe how much she was moving. He was like, "How do you sleep with her moving around so much?" I just laughed and said the hiccups interrupt my sleep more than her moving, the moving actually kind of comforts me. I liked that he got to feel how much she moves at night.

Nesting. I was putting away the laundry and decided that I just had to organize Brian's sock drawer, I just had too. Well, let me tell you, it's a good thing I did because...wait, no, there is no reason that someone HAS to organize a sock drawer. It's definitely the nesting :-) I also re-organized some kitchen cupboards and moved the baby cupboard to a different one-didn't I say I was going to do that? ;) We'll see how long it last where it currently is, as of right now I'm really happy with it-I think.

Big. I'm feeling bigger that's for sure. Fortunately I'm not sleeping too bad these days even with my 2 potty breaks and big belly. I'm not complaining about 2 potty breaks either because I know other women have a lot more trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. However, during the day I go about every hour. Sometimes I'll go to the bathroom and no joke, 15 minutes later I have to go again.

Baby:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Week 30

I had my 30 week appointment yesterday and it went well, the doctor said she's measuring right on schedule and her heartbeat sounds great. She said the blood work from my glucose test looks fantastic, she was in shock about how good my iron level is. It was something like 38 and she said that is almost unheard of in a pregnant woman. These prenatals (Target brand) must be magic pills because I was anemic all through college, plus I'm not really eating meat right now so it definitely has to be the prenatals. Or maybe the cereal I'm eating has iron in it ;) I think I'll keep taking them after Bria is here since obviously they are doing a good job. My appointments are every 2 weeks now, I love that I get to hear Bria's heartbeat every 2 weeks, it's a beautiful sound.

Symptoms:

Holy cow, I'm 30 weeks! That is huge, I've entered the 30's which has been a huge milestone in my head and I'm actually here, it's very surreal. I guess it doesn't feel that different than yesterday when I was 29w 6d, but I still need to let it sink in.

Sleeping is getting tougher and I blame my occasional grumpiness on that. When I get up to go to the bathroom I have a hard time going back to sleep and Brian's snoring doesn't help. If I can get him to turn over he usually stops, but he's a bear when he's sleeping so disturbing him just a tiny bit is scary. He says not to wake him even if he's snoring, he likes to say, "Well at least one of us should get good sleep so don't wake me." Sweet, thanks babe.

Nothing really new this week, just the same old stuff. Even though I just complained about sleep, I really do feel good still. I have a pretty good amount of energy (thank you prenatals) and am able to still get stuff done when I get home from work. I organized our junk drawer and sorted through one of our kitchen cupboards to make room for baby stuff. I'm still deciding what cupboard I want for baby stuff so I may change my mind - in fact, I'm sure I'll change my mind a few times - and that's my prerogative.

My maternity pants are fitting better which means I don't spend 3/4 of my day pulling them up, just 1/2 now. It also means I'm getting bigger, and not just in my belly.

We bought diapers. We thought it would be smart to buy a Costco size box like once a month to help spread the cost out, plus there was a coupon for it. So I got a box of 216 diapers, size 1-2 (up to like 15 pounds). Then next month we'll get size 3, we like being prepared.

The next milestone I'm looking forward to (besides my due date) is 35 weeks, I'm not sure why but I think that'll be another "whoa" moment. Only 10 weeks until my due date-can you believe that?


Baby:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

29w 4d

Baby Shower!
Oh my goodness Saturday was so much fun. I cannot thank my wonderful hosts enough, Sara and Tiff threw me a wonderful baby shower and I just appreciate them so much. I had an absolute blast with all my girlfriends, the food was delicious, the games were so much fun, and Bria got spoiled. It was just such a fun time, I am now even more excited for Bria's arrival which I did not think was possible.

Here are my gracious hosts and myself:

Tiff had lots of fun games planned, one being the belly size game. Everyone cut a piece of yarn of the length they thought my belly was, then I went around and they put the yarn around me to see how close they were. Rachel was the big winner! Sara #3 (there were 4 Sara's there!) and Shauna were a close second.

Here is Mindi measuring me

And my neighbor Adi:

From left: Sarah Clark, Shauna & Baby Aria, Jess (who is 21 weeks pg with a little girl!), Kristie, Sara, and myself

From left: Brittany, Sarah Rodgers, Kristen, Roxie, and Adi

From left: Cheryl, Sara, Rachel, Mindi, and Allyonna (Jess' daughter)

It was fun having it at our house because I was able to show everyone the nursery and give them a tour if they hadn't seen the house yet. Plus, after it was all said and done I didn't have to load up the presents and unload them at the house, they were already in my living room.

Her first OSU Cheer outfit! This is from Kristen (neighbor) and I can't wait for Bria to wear it, how adorable is it?!

I look evil, but I was showing little Aria the Lily Leapfrog and she had the most adorable smile on her face:

We got so much fun stuff and I had a blast showing it all to Brian when he came home. As you can see from the picture below, I had quite the laundry to do. I washed 2 loads on Sunday and still have more to do. That includes the clothes I already had in the closet that Shauna gave me, which by the way, she brought over 2 more boxes to add to the 3 sacks she already gave me. She rocks!
I had the best time at my shower and am so grateful to all my incredibly generous and supportive friends, I have no idea what I would do without them.

Week 29

I had my first belly rub from a stranger! It was from a 7-11 cashier and she had a mustache, she leaned over the counter, rubbed my belly, and said, "Hi little baby." I smiled and kind of laughed, but then she took it too far- she told Bria to be a Duck fan-gasp! I was in my OSU jersey since we were heading to tailgate and apparently this woman was a Duck fan. Of all the nerve. It was funny though because the second she touched my belly I thought, "Oh, my first stranger belly rub, I have to put that in my belly book and blog about it!"

We also got our first Beaver gear for Bria! My mother-in-law got an adorable Beaver blanket for Bria and we are so excited. I can't wait to wrap her in it :)

Symptoms:

Feeling blah. I started to feel kind of blah around week 28, just not as happy as I have been this whole pregnancy. Not that there is anything wrong, but I think maybe my hormones are going through a shift or something. I've started to feel more normal the last few days, I think decorating the house for Christmas has really helped, and my upcoming baby shower on Saturday! Can't wait for the shower by the way, so excited.

Still chin acne. I want to scream, I always have at least 2 huge zits on my chin and it's driving me crazy. I have been so good about washing my face morning and night, step by step according to Acnefree, but those monsters still get through. They are getting bigger too, even Brian looked at me the other day and said, "Wow, that is quite the pimple you're growing." Hey, at least he was honest, and I couldn't blame him because it was large and in charge.

Lots of movement, every week I feel Bria more often and I cannot tell you how much I am loving it. She is most active in the mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and then in the evening. It is just the coolest thing ever and I know this will be one of the things I'll miss when I'm not pregnant. I can feel her roll around in there which usually makes me laugh because it feels so weird, even Brian got to feel her rolling over and couldn't believe how crazy it felt. Her little hiccups are funny too, it takes me a few minutes to realize that she is hiccuping because they are still muffled. I just love feeling her move.

The belly is feeling heavier that is for sure. I can see how the pregnant waddle came about, it would feel pretty good to waddle around right now, but I'll refrain for awhile yet.

Foods I am into right now:
Cereal, of course (Wheat Chex, Corn Chex, Lucky Charms, and Kix)
Banana Cream pudding
Nature Valley bars (peanut butter and regular)
Green Apples (still)
Chocolate-plain M&M's have been on my mind a lot

11 more weeks until my due date, wow. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

Baby:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

29 week belly picture