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

Week 27/28

Symptoms:

Feeling overly full and bloated. Ok, so maybe that has to do with the fact that it was Thanksgiving yesterday :) The sweet potatoes and berry pie were so worth it though, yum.

I took my glucose test on Wednesday, the drink wasn't that bad, although I'm glad it was only 8 oz. No news is good news so hopefully I don't hear from them.

Movement and irritability. I think those are the 2 main symptoms for week 28.
Bria is definitely more active at night, although it usually doesn't keep me up. I just notice when I go to bed she'll move a little and then when I take my bathroom breaks in the middle of the night I feel her. Every once and awhile she'll wake me up due to her kicks, but I don't mind. Every time I feel her move I let Brian know, I think he may be a little tired of me alerting him when Bria moves. Not that he doesn't like to feel her move or hear about it, but my constant updates are probably a little much.
Then there is my irritability. My patience is definitely way down and I get irritated easily. For those that know me, know this is unfortunately a characteristic of mine without being pregnant, so you should all feel sorry for Brian. The poor guy can't even breath without me giving him the death glare. When my hormones chill for a few minutes I take that time to tell him I'm sorry and that it's the hormones, please hang in there with me. Hopefully that makes up for it.

I understand now why pregnant women don't have a lot of pictures of themselves pregnant. Ugh. I've never been one to shy away from the camera, if someone points a camera at me my first response is to smile. Now I want to duck and cover when I see a camera. Not that I'm not proud of the belly, but pictures just aren't capturing the glowing pregnancy, they capture a full face and chunky body. So please be kind to pregnant women, if you capture an unflattering photo, the nicest thing you can do is delete it so no one has to see it.

The right side of my lower back is starting to hurt again, especially when I go for my walks. It's not horrible pain though, just a constant nag that worsens with activity. I'm able to work through the pain though, I want to keep my walks up.

I'm still loving my cereal and am starting to get stronger cravings. I feel such a strong urge for chocolate, I refrain at times, but other times I grab a few chocolate chips to help quench the chocolate thirst. Or maybe a small peanut butter cup that my cubicle neighbor keeps stocked at all times, darn her.

My cousin Lanie felt Bria move, she is the first one besides Brian to feel her move. Bria gave her a good hard kick on Thanksgiving, we think it was her way of saying I love you :) We are going to my mother-in-law's tonight and I'm hoping Bria will give some kicks for her and my sister-in-law, Heather, to feel.


Baby:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

27w 5d

As promised, pictures. Although they aren't the standard belly ones they'll do for now.

(Notice the hot red shoes, they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned...and the prettiest)

I am sporting more of my maternity purchases from the shopping trip I went on :)

My little one woke me up at 4:30 am this morning doing her aerobics and I loved it, especially since she has been quiet the past 2 days. Even though I know it's normal for her to have quiet days, I prefer to feel her kicking and moving about, it's just reassuring.

I go in for my glucose test today, wish me luck. I hear the stuff you have to drink is delicious ;) Actually I hear it tastes like an orange soda without the fizz, it might not be too bad but I'll let you know.

I've been doing good about going for walks on the weekends, and sometimes at work I have to walk down to another building to get the mail, it's about 6 blocks away so round trip it's a good little walk. But I'll admit it's hard to get motivated to go in the evenings when I get home from work and I'm tired from the drive, plus it's dark out, and I'm hungry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

27w

The appointment went great on Friday, I really like the doctor I met with. There are about 8 doctors in the office and I meet with a different one at each appointment so that whoever is on call when I go into labor is familiar :) Anyway, she said little Bria is head down, yay! But obviously she can still do plenty of moving from now until go time. I measured about 3 days ahead which was kind of exciting. On Friday I would've been 26w 4d, but I measured 27w. That would make my due date February 20th as opposed to February 23rd. Bria's heart beat was nice and strong, she gave the Doppler a good kick that even the doctor felt and we both laughed, I guess Bria is like her mom and doesn't like annoying noises :) I have to take my glucose test this week so that should be fun, I hope I pass.

I will take a belly picture tonight for sure, Brian mentioned this morning that we needed to take one and then I saw the comments in the post below so I better get a move on!

I am loving feeling Bria move everyday, she'll roll around, kick, punch, and I just smile the whole time. She got the hiccups yesterday! It was the first time I felt them, it was more muffled than I thought it would be but I'm sure as she gets bigger it'll shake my whole belly. Brian was able to feel them too which was cool. I learned that instead of poking the belly all over, if I press on the belly for a little bit that she'll usually kick back. Or if I am resting my arm or elbow she'll give a little kick, it totally makes me laugh.

I am feeling more irritable lately, and here I thought I could float through pregnancy all pleasantly and without being short with my husband. But I find myself getting very easily annoyed and that makes me feel bad.

So now that I am officially in my 3rd trimester (oh my gosh!!!) I feel big. Simple tasks like squeezing behind Brian in the bathroom no longer happen without wacking him in the back with the buddha belly, and forget about bending over. The funny thing is I still have 13 more weeks for this belly to grow, holy cow! I can't believe in 13 weeks (plus or minus) we are going to finally meet this little girl, it is unbelievably exciting to think about.

Week 26

I have my appointment today :) Nothing exciting, just the usual, but I'm hoping they start measuring my belly. I should also be getting the gestational diabetes test soon since that is done between 24-28 weeks. I hear that is not a fun one, let's hope I pass it!

Symptoms:
Hunger pains. I am hungry often, so much so that I can't even pack enough snacks for work. I have a bowl of cereal before I head off to work, then I sip on hot chocolate, then I eat either dry cereal or an apple around 9 am-sometimes I hold out until 10 am, by 11:30 am I'm hungry again and try to have a few crackers until lunch at 12:30 pm. I usually have a sandwich or bagel sandwich, carrots, banana or other fruit and crackers for lunch. Come 2:30 pm I'm hungry again. Ugh, it's hard to pack all that stuff. Plus, it's hard to think of healthy things to eat since my mind automatically goes to cookies, chocolate, chips, all the good sugary or salty foods. The afternoon is usually when I give in and get a piece of chocolate from my cube neighbor, darn her good chocolates! By dinner time I'm actually not as hungry, cereal and toast will hold me over all evening thankfully.

I think Bria is changing positions, I don't feel as much movement to the left of my belly like I was. Most of it is down low now which makes me think her legs are down there? Anyway, because of her shifting I feel her much less now and I don't like that. It's like all her movement is muffled. Even in the evening when I lay down for bed I just feel a few nudges from her but some can't even be felt from the outside. I liked it better the other way she was laying, hopefully she is at least comfortable in there. Also in this position she kicks my bladder multiple times a day, I need to kick up the kegel count even more!

Panic attack. We were lying in bed and Brian was talking about his day at work and how he drove to a few different places to take care of peak stuff (Christmas time is peak time) and I started freaking out about how much he drives the bug. He drives it to and from work obviously and it's a 50 mile drive one way, plus a lot of the time he has to drive during the day for work stuff. I couldn't get a grip and I just freaked out about how that is too much for driving for the bug and it's so much wear and tear on it. I had to sit up and breath slowly because I was seriously nauseous over thinking about this, I knew I was having a panic attack so I tried to calm myself down but it doesn't help that your husband is laughing and thinks it's hilarious. Sheesh. It was one of those times I had to think back to his good moments of this pregnancy. I got over it although it still stresses me out that he drives so much.

Brian asked me last night, "So how is this pregnancy going for you, is it what you thought it would be?" I told him I thought I'd feel more pregnant, I still feel like my normal self, minus being able to shave my bikini area and bend over, and add bigger boobs. All and all I feel really good, my back pain is not as bad as I was expecting, although I know the last month or 2 is really going to kill me. But I'm so grateful that this pregnancy has gone so well and that Bria is healthy and safe in there.


Baby:
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

26w 1d

First things first, to the left you will notice an ExpectNet poll, click on that and make your guess about when Baby Bria will make her appearance, how much she'll weigh, and her height. Brian and I both weighed 6 pounds when we were born (plus some ounces), I am not sure how long we were though, I think I was around 19 inches? That is all the information I know at this point that may help you with your guess :)

Things are still going really well and I'm feeling great. The main thing that reminds me I'm pregnant (besides the belly) is how my back and feet start hurting after just a little bit of activity. My back is absolutely killing me and my feet feel like they are on fire when I do any type of activity, cleaning for example. But after a good rub from the hubby and some sleep the aches usually subside. I do notice my tail bone hurts after just a little bit of sitting, which in my job is pretty much what I do-sit.

I have pictures of the star we painted, er, Brian painted. Here he is priming it after it was sanded a little:
And here it is after the final coat of pink spray paint:

All hung up in the nursery above the changing table, I love it:

I think I want to spray paint some letters for above her crib the same color. Originally I was just going to leave them white, but I love the pink so much and I want it to match. I don't actually have the letters yet, but we found really cute ones at a Craft Store in Corvallis that I think we may get.

Bria has been quiet the last few days, I still feel her kick and squirm throughout the day, but she is just not doing her full out "routine" or at least I can't feel it if she is. I wish I knew how she was laying in there, if I had to guess I'd say she was actually head down (or maybe I'm just being hopeful, although I know it's too soon to worry) with her feet close to my right side-so maybe her back is on the left side? Who knows. I just feel tiny little movements down low, and the stronger "kicks" up to the right of my belly button (on the left side from my perspective).
I've also started to feel when she punches my bladder, can babies do that for real? Every once and awhile I'll feel a sudden sensation that I am going to leak out and pee my pants, but fortunately my muscles thus far have prevented that and quickly contract to avoid any leakage. I'm thinking I should do kegels to avoid a pants wetting episode that I hear is common among pregnant women.

I am getting so anxious and excited to meet this little girl that I can barely stand it. The weeks are going by faster than they were before we found out the sex which I am grateful for. Although I know I need to enjoy this time, this is my FIRST pregnancy and I need to live it up. It's just so hard to not want her to be here already so I can see what she looks like. I am enjoying the pregnancy though, I feel great and am so thankful for that. It has really allowed me to think positively on the whole pregnancy experience.

I'm still proud of my Buddha belly and love to rub it, so does Brian. I think the big change in the last few weeks is how round it's getting, the size increase is more gradual now, which is good since I still have 14 weeks to go!
One from the front angle, it looks so much bigger when it's bare that's for sure.

I think that is all the updates for now :)