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: