My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 34 Weeks

How far along: 34 Weeks, 2 Days

Symptoms:  The heartburn and shortness of breath have subsided!  Still get it every now and again but for the most part, all is normal.  I’m starting to get tired though.  Like mid-afternoon around 5pm…I’m spent and just want to go to bed.  I’m starting to feel more and more pressure pretty low, so I’m wondering if dropping is happening yet.  I never dropped with Carter so I’m definitely not getting my hopes up when people tell me “oh you look like you’ve dropped!”.  People told me that with Carter too and sucker still didn’t come out until we forced him at 40 weeks, 1 day.

Maternity Clothes:   Mostly maternity clothes.  I still wear a few non-maternity t-shirts and my workout clothes are all non-maternity.  But actual clothes that I wear out and about…those are maternity.

Weight Gain:   Up 27 pounds so far.  Even though I would have loved to only gained 30 pounds this time, I think I’m going to go over that goal.  It’s crazy how our bodies work y’all.  With Carter I ate crap and gave in to any last minute craving I had.  I did some walking with Carter, but it was sporadic.  This time I’m very conscious of what I eat, rarely giving in to temptation (though don’t get me wrong-I’ve had a good ole bowl of cheese dip and a pint of Reese’s ice cream a few times) and at 34 weeks I am still exercising 4-5 days a week.  You’d think I wouldn’t gain as much as I did with Carter but it’s shaping up to go in just that direction.  I’m still not worried about it at all though.  I lost all of my weight with Carter by the time I went back to work when he was 11 weeks old and I know you lose it a lot quicker the 2nd time because you’re also spending time chasing around your toddler.  Between watching Carter and being a slave to Garrett’s feedings, I doubt I’ll even have time to eat!  Plus breastfeeding helped me lose most of my weight with Carter so I’m hoping that will go just as well the second time around.

Sleep:  No issues on the sleep front other than still needing a bunch of pillows.  That won’t go away because of how big my belly is these days.  I always have to sleep with a pillow in between my legs so that my spine stays aligned and so I don’t have achy muscles the next morning.  9 times out of 10 I only wake up once around 3am to go to the bathroom.  On rare occasions, I don’t wake up at all.  This is a HUGE difference between Garrett and Carter’s pregnancies.  At this point with Carter, I was waking up every hour due to either having to pee or just being uncomfortable and needing to change positions.  Thankfully I don’t have those issues this time.

Belly Button:  Flat as a board, but not poking out at all.  It never popped with Carter so I’m thinking it won’t pop this time either.  Also, the line at my belly button still hasn’t showed up.  It made an appearance with Carter when I turned 28 weeks.  It’s looking like I won’t get it at all this time!

Stretch Marks:  None yet.  Didn’t have any with Carter so I’m hoping it stays that way.

Cravings/Aversions:   Still Nada.

Exercise Routine:  One week I worked out 5 times and the other week I worked out 4 times.  I’m modifying my workouts a lot though.  I’ve cut back on my P90x workouts because most of them are just too difficult on my core.  I typically do Pure Barre 2 times a week, P90x 1-2 times a week and these days I’ve been doing walking 2 times a week.  I walk around our neighborhood on those days and it’s a little more than 3.5 miles total.  So that’s how my workouts are laid out.  The P90 workouts that I still do are either arm or leg workouts.  I am trying to steer clear of cardio because jumping around just isn’t comfortable this late in the game.  Also, as much as I love the core synergistic DVD, I’ve axed it because too many exercise are about strengthening my core (duh) and since my uterus is part of my core, I’m trying to protect it a little bit.

Baby Size:  Garrett is about 5 pounds now and could be as tall as 20 inches in length!  According to the Bump (that website that compares in-uterus babies to fruits and veggies), Garrett is the size of a butternut squash.

Movement:   He still moves pretty frequently.  Not as much as he was moving during the 2nd trimester, but more than Carter was moving at this stage.  I remember having to get a non-stress test with Carter because I just didn’t feel him move much (obviously everything turned out fine with that) but I haven’t had that issue with Garrett.

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  Still no swelling and no signs of labor yet!  I can’t believe I haven’t had swelling yet!!  Week 33 was when I stopped wearing my wedding rings with Carter.  Those bad boys are still on :)

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:  34 week appointment was on Wednesday.  It was a couple days before I actually turned 34 weeks but my doc wanted to do that because he was going to be out of the office on Friday (when I normally do my appointments).  Turns out it didn’t matter anyway because he was in emergency surgery when I was there, so I had to see a different doctor anyway.  Nothing huge came from this appointment.  My weight, iron, blood pressure and belly size are all normal.  Next appointment is October 3rd and will be my 36 week appointment.  At this appointment they’ll do the strep B test and check me for dilation/effacement.  After this appointment, he’ll see me every week until Garrett is here.  I am having such a hard time believing that this baby is almost here and that this pregnancy is quickly coming to a close!

Nursery Developments:   Still so much to do y’all.  I’ve ordered a decal to go over his crib with his name on it and it came in the mail, but we haven’t put it on the wall yet.  I also ordered a collage of picture frames to go over the changing table and once they come in I will need to order some pictures to put in the frames…at least until we do his newborn photos and get those back.  I’ve made out a list of things we have to do before Garrett comes and I feel very overwhelmed!  Luckily, Justin’s last week of travel is next week and then he’s home for good until Garrett comes so he’ll be able to help me out.

Bump Pic for Week 33:

 

Bump Pic for Week 34:

Maternity Pictures

Just got the pictures back from my sister and I am OBSESSED!!!  I knew I would be though.  Her pictures are always fantastic!  I put my favorites below.  I’m 30 weeks and 1 day in these photos which was pretty close to what I was with Carter’s maternity photos (I was 30 weeks, 5 days).  You can see my maternity photos with Carter here.  If you’re interested in getting a photographer, consider her!  Lindsey Smith Photography.  She’s based in Tuscaloosa, AL but has traveled to do photos before.

     

OBSESSED!!!

My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 32 Weeks

How far along: 32 Weeks

Symptoms:  3rd trimester symptoms have begun.  Most notably the heartburn and shortness of breath.  I remember having some heartburn with Carter.  Still not sure if this is worse than it was with him.  I guess it will depend on how long it lasts.  With Carter it was sporadic and only lasted a couple weeks.  So far, it’s been relatively frequent, but we’ll see if it goes away on it’s own soon or not.  The shortness of breath is extremely common at this stage.  Baby is now so big that all of my organs are being pushed up into my lungs.  There’s no lack of oxygen to me or to baby, the shortness of breath is just a result of the cramping in there. 

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity.  Still wear a few things that aren’t maternity (like workout clothes and jeans), but it’s mostly just maternity for comfort for me!

Weight Gain:   Holy canoly did this sweet baby have a growth spurt these past two weeks.  I gained about 3 1/2 pounds in two weeks and my belly grew almost an entire inch.  The belly grew more these past two weeks than it has in months.  So now I’m sitting at about 24 1/2 pounds of weight gain total.  I’m still about 12 pounds less than I was with Carter at this point so I’m still happy about that.  I wasn’t surprised by the growth spurt either.  Baby is now in “gaining fat” mode.  His organs are all fully developed (except his lungs which will take a couple more weeks) so now he’s just adding fat and he’ll gain over half of his body weight between weeks 31 and when he comes out.

Sleep:  The overall cramping of my organs into a small space above the uterus has caused the shortness of breath I talked about above, which is also affecting my sleep.  I still sleep perfectly fine, it’s just getting comfortable right before I fall asleep that’s a challenge.  I have to find just the right spot and angle…once I do, I’ll fall asleep and won’t wake up all that much.  This is huge because at this stage with Carter, I was waking up once every hour.  I will again attribute this excellence to the working out.  Working out helps you sleep better at night. 

Belly Button:  Still in and I still think it will stay that way since it never popped with Carter.  And there’s still no sign of the line from my belly button this time around.  It showed up with Carter around 28 weeks but no such showing with Baby Garrett yet.

Stretch Marks:  None yet.  Didn’t have any with Carter so I’m hoping it stays that way.

Cravings/Aversions:   Still Nada.

Exercise Routine:  Still rocking 5 days a week!  It’s pretty difficult to get 6 days, so I’m content with 5.  2 days are Pure Barre and the other 3 are P90x.  Anything related to cardio exercise is getting difficult because of the shortness of breath thing.  I’m still rocking the weight lifting and pullups.  Most pushups are done on my knees now, though I am still able to do a few on my toes.  I’m able to complete a pure barre class, though I significantly modify the ab section at this stage.

Baby Size:  Garrett is closing in on 4 pounds and is about 17-18 inches from head to foot now. 

Movement:   Definitely have noticed decreased movement.  It’s ok though, he’s just running out of room in there.  I still feel him many times throughout the day.  He wakes me up right at 7am every morning and I always just lay there and feel him move around for a while before I get up and start moving around myself. 

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  Still no swelling and no signs of labor yet!  Hoping for no signs of labor for at least 5 more weeks!  Of course with my track record, it’ll be a full 8 weeks and then I will be inducing to get this kid out of my body!

Gender:  I am the queen in my house of boys!

Appointments and Such:  32 week appointment with my doc was today.  I’m in the 2 week appointment series, so I have another one at 34 weeks, 36 weeks and then it will be weekly until Garrett joins us.  I can’t believe we’re in the last leg of this already!  I’m almost halfway through the 8th month now.  That is just SO crazy to me.  I will be honest, this isn’t my favorite part of pregnancy.  It’s the part where you start to lose sleep (though that hasn’t happened to me just yet), you start being extremely uncomfortable and the emotions of bringing home a brand new baby start to hit home.  All that said, I’m still enjoying it as much as I can in case it’s the last time we do this journey (as of now, we plan for it to be). 

Anyway back to the 32 week appointment.  It went fine.  The uterus is measuring right at 32 weeks.  Urine and weight are good.  My iron levels are dropping though.  It was a 34 this time which is apparently the cutoff to when you will start needing an iron supplement.  I had an iron deficiency with Carter too but had it SIGNIFCANTLY sooner than I did with this one.  Doc isn’t putting me on a supplement just yet.  We’ll test blood again at the 34 week appointment and if it’s gone below 34 then I’ll get on medication.  This is not unusual at all during pregnancy, it’s quite common.  It’s just something that pregnancy does to your body.   

We also discussed the plan going forward.  I will have my 34 week appointment on September 17th.  That’s actually 2 days before I will be 34 weeks, but my doc isn’t going to be in the office then, so I’m coming a couple days early.  2 weeks after that is my 36 week appointment and that’s when I will have my group B strep test and when I will get checked for the first time.  The next week will start weekly appointments, so I will see the doc at 37, 38, 39 and 40 (if I go that long).  With Carter, I had to get induced at 40 weeks and 1 day.  I talked to the doc about induction again.  I really liked the induction process and don’t mind going that route again at all, but since my due date is Halloween and I will have an almost 3 year old that will want to trick or treat, I kinda want to induce in that 39th week.  Doc says he is ok with this as long as I’m progressed enough.  So my prayer now is that I’m more than 1cm progressed by the time of that 39 week appointment.  With Carter, I never got over 1cm until I was finally induced after my due date.  I’m kind of banking on that whole “second babies come sooner” theory!

Nursery Developments:   We’ve finally transferred Carter’s furniture to Garrett’s room and put the new painted furniture into Carter’s room.  Carter’s room feels so bare now though.  I have to get him a reading nook for one of the walls that has absolutely nothing on it.  But at least now that the right furniture is in Garrett’s room, I can start planning for decorations.  I even ordered a couple of things off Zulily’s website for Garrett’s room so once I get those in, I can do a better job of planning what else I want in his room. 

Bump Pic for Week 31:

This was the only pic I managed to take of me at 31 weeks.  This is me and my friend Corrie (one of the Pure Barre instructors at the Riverchase location).  She was about 6 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy (though it so doesn’t look like it in this picture).  She just recently had her little girl….like today!  This was a picture we wanted to take for Pure Barre to use to show people that pregnancy doesn’t have to stop you from working out, especially for a Pure Barre workout. 

Bump Pic for Week 32:

 

See what I mean?  Big ole’ growth spurt!!!