My Big Fat Belly 2.0 - 36 Weeks

How far along:  36 Weeks

Symptoms:  No more heartburn issues.  I may have had it happen once in the past two weeks.  Shortness of breath is also gone.  I’ve been having some pains VERY low in my pelvis.  The best way I can describe them is like saying they are “shooting lightning pains”.  It’s painful sometimes, but most of the time just uncomfortable.  It lasts a couple of seconds and then it’s gone, but it happens fairly frequently.  I think he’s beginning to drop and it’s putting more pressure on my pelvis and stretching the uterus down there and that’s what is causing the pains.

Labor Progress (Dilation and Effacement):  At my 36 week appointment, I was 0cm dilated and 0% effaced.  This is kind of what I was expecting at 36 weeks anyway.  Plus I’m happy because Justin’s running his third 100 mile race in Arkansas this weekend so I’d rather not have a baby without him here.  With Carter I didn’t show progress until week 37 at which time I was 1cm and 50% effaced.  Unfortunately that was what I stayed with him until 40 weeks, 1 day when we evicted him. 

Maternity Clothes:   Pretty much all maternity clothes.  Some workout pants and a few t-shirts aren’t maternity, but that’s about it.

Weight Gain:   Up 29 1/2  pounds.  Doing much better than I was with Carter at this point.  I’m about 3-4 pounds less than I was with him at 36 weeks. 

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty well to be honest.  I am noticing that I’m getting up more to pee in the middle of the night, but I’m always able to fall right back asleep.  I was having such bad back pain with Carter at this point that sleep was impossible.  No back pains, just waking up to pee maybe twice a night. 

Belly Button:  So I was determined that it wouldn’t pop out because it didn’t with Carter.  This week I started noticing it popping out just a tad.  Not much at all, but enough for me to notice.  I doubt it will become an outie like a lot of women’s belly buttons do during pregnancy.

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

Cravings/Aversions:   Lately it’s looking like Garrett loves a Krispy Kreme donut.  I can’t get enough of them.  But I do my best to make those indulgences sporadic.

Exercise Routine:  Definitely starting to get really tired y’all.  I don’t do P90 workouts anymore, I do Pure Barre classes and I walk around the neighborhood (3 1/2 miles).  The past two weeks I have still managed about 4 days a week of those two things, but I can already tell that my workouts are about to start dwindling.  I’m just so tired now and even the walking is getting difficult because of those pains I mentioned above.

Baby Size:  Sweet boy is now about 6lbs and roughly 20 inches in length.  CRAZY!!!  The bump says that baby is the size of a honeydew.  I have no idea what a honeydew is…

Movement:   I still feel him move around in there, but he is running out of room so he doesn’t do it all that often.  I am using the fetal doppler a little more these days just to check on him since he doesn’t move as much.  But this is normal at this stage so I’m not worried.

Swelling and/or Signs of Labor:  I actually have had some swelling this week in my fingers, but it’s only happened twice and it was at the end of the day after a long day of lots of running around.  I can still wear my wedding rings though, I just noticed that on those days, the rings were a little more snug than normal.  Haven’t noticed any swelling in my feet though and that’s where most of my swelling was with Carter at this point.

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

Appointments and Such:  Had my 36 week appointment today.  They did the group B strep test which I assume I won’t know the results until next week.  They also checked me and as I expected, I’ve made no progress yet.  My iron is still holding steady around 34 which is about the borderline for when you get put on meds for iron deficiency, but the doc doesn’t think I need it.  I was on medicine for iron deficiency with Carter around 18 weeks so I’m actually shocked I’ve made it this far without needing meds.  Everything else looks good though-weight, blood pressure, urine sample, etc.  My next appointment is next Friday at 37 weeks. 

Nursery Developments:   We have gotten so much more done now that Justin’s back in town until Garrett arrives.  We put up the decal above the crib with Garrett’s name on it and will soon be putting up the collage of picture frames on the other wall.  Once those are done, his room is basically finished.  Yay!  We’ve also gotten out all Carter’s clothes from newborn to 3 months and washed them and hung them up in Garrett’s closet.  We’ve put the pack and play with the bassinet in our bedroom which is where Garrett will sleep until we do the crib transition and we’ve also gotten out most of the toys/playmats he’ll use the first months of his life.  We need to do a big purchase of batteries though.  I forgot how many batteries you need with newborn stuff!  So basically our “to do before Garrett arrives” list is getting shorter and shorter.  FINALLY!!  Though Justin usually finds a way to sneak in a jab every single day that I still haven’t packed the hospital bag.  In my defense, I have made a list of what to pack and have gotten together all of Garrett’s things, I just need to get my things and actually put them in a bag and put it in the car.  Working on it, I promise!

Bump Pic for Week 36:

Bump Pic for Week 35:

It really does look like Garrett has dropped in the top picture.   I guess we’ll see if any progress has been made at the 37 week appointment on Friday.

Another picture I wanted to share…this is me and my sister from the reCreate Women’s Conference that is held by the Church of the Highlands in Birmingham every year.  This was my first year to go and it was AMAZING.  I plan to go every year from now on.  The theme this year was that we are loved unconditionally by our Creator, no matter what we do or the mistakes we make.  He loves us more than we deserve and he will always keep coming back to us.  Anyway, I couldn’t resist buying this tank because I loved it so much.  It says “So Loved”.  What’s funny is that most people (not at the conference) have seen me wear this shirt and they say “oh how adorable is that!!!” because they think that the baby in my belly is so loved and that it’s for pregnancy.  While I certainly do love Garrett unconditionally, God’s love for him is way more than my fragile humanly love so I always have to explain what the shirt really means. 

Since my appointments are now weekly, I will probably start doing posts weekly.  So check back next Friday and hopefully I’ll have time to post after my appointment is over.