How far along? 36 weeks.
How big is baby? Almost six pounds and almost nineteen inches long. But, everything is approximate at this point, since Gabe was small for 40 weeks when he was born.
Total weight gain: +25 lbs
Updates: Just trucking along. Or, waddling along. Working like a madwoman to finish my last work projects. The cloth diapers are stripped and stuffed and put away, baby gear has been brought up from the garage and washed, and we took all the donations from our decluttering spree to Goodwill. Oh, and we got a new couch and gave away our old one on Craigslist. Kind of unrelated to baby having, but also kind of related because we needed a better place to hang out with a baby for hours on end. Oh, and we have no name yet. Though we are getting closer, I believe. (…To Mike giving up and accepting my favorite name.)
Anxious about: My heart has been heavy lately as my dear friend lost her 37-week-old baby this month and my heart hurts for her as her friend, as a mom, and as a pregnant woman. It’s so unfair and terrible.
Excited about: I’m at a place where time is moving along just perfectly. I don’t want to fast-forward to baby just yet. (You know that feeling at the end of the semester where you’re excited for summer break, but ALSO have no idea how you’ll get all your schoolwork done by the end of the summer? That is how I feel.)
Feeling: Mostly good, most days. Some days are harder than others. I haven’t felt like cooking much, it hurts to stand too long, and my ability to bend over and pick things up has made cleaning difficult. Luckily I’m married to an amazing man who does anything that needs done. So he’s doing most everything while I sit at my computer and work.
Exercise: There’ve been ups and downs with exercise with this pregnancy, but I managed to walk 2 miles a few times a week lately and just rode my bike almost 4.5 miles yesterday, which always helps me feel less achy (in the long run. It the short run, OUCH). I made a little workout YouTube playlist with my two favorite 3rd trimester workouts – a little yoga, a little weight lifting. I can tell my body is getting a little weaker, so I want to try and keep up with exercise to combat that. Check out that belly on that bike. Bow chicka.
Sleep: So much better since I’m embarked on my experiment to leave my phone in another room at night. I had no idea how much it was affecting my sleep! I mean, I still have trouble turning over and my hips hurt and all that, but I don’t have the hours of insomnia that I had been plagued with.
Movement: Lots of really crazy, big movements. Our friend was over the other night and got to see my belly jump. This baby pushes everything out at like it’s doing jumping jacks or getting leverage to try and bust out of my belly (Gabe’s #1 theory for how it will escape. #2 theory is out my mouth). I am a little worried that the position seems to be so different than Gabe – instead of feet in my ribs, I have something hard and big. It could be a head or it could be a butt. I’m going to ask my doctor to guess on Tuesday and if its positioning IS off, I’ll be trying all the old wives’ tales to get it head down. (I’ve been doing this daily already, which feels great just to not have the baby’s weight on my hips for a bit).
Food cravings: Fruit and fancy beverages. Sangria and mojitos sound awesome. I just bought a watermelon at the grocery store and am attacking it with a spoon.
Misc:
– I’m not done talking about my anxieties, apparently. A breech baby that results in a c-section scares me because I think I need this experience to be different than my d&cs last year. I saw my doctor in an operating room twice in 2013 to deal with failed pregnancies. I would really, really like to not have a baby in an operating room this time. A healthy baby is 110% the most important thing, but I also hope (oh man, hippie alert coming) this birth is a bit of healing experience to help me move on from the losses of last year.
– So many Braxton Hicks. All the time. Some painful.
– A shocked look and a “Good luck, honey!” with a pat on my arm isn’t an appropriate reaction to hearing that I have a month left until I’m due, stranger at the grocery store.
– On the other hand, I am shocked/impressed at how polite the women on my floor are. No one asked me about being pregnant until just the past month or two. And Gabe’s preschool teachers also just noticed last month (after a long winter of heavy coats). In fact, the director told me I “hardly looked pregnant” which I find both amusing and troubling.
– Related, preschool is over. This officially means I have NO childcare plan for the fall and I’m scared.
– Most of my clothes no longer fit. The shirts all leave a huge gap of stomach showing. It’s a problem. I need to go buy some giant, long tank tops.
“Though we are getting closer, I believe. (…To Mike giving up and accepting my favorite name.)” -> That made me laugh! Yep, I remember how that goes, lol… ;)
My heart aches for your friend who lost her baby. I can’t imagine. Sending prayers her way.<3
HUGS! You look beauuuutiful and I'm so excited for you, M, and Gabe to meet baby #2 in another month or so! (And maybe I'll get to meet him/her myself later this summer!) xoxo
Almost there! So exciting!!
I really hope you get your healing experience with the birth. I didn’t realize how nervous I was about not getting the birth I wanted this time until it was finally over and had gone perfectly. Such a relief/exhilaration.
Your comment about Mike giving up and accepting your favorite name made me smile. :) You are doing great and looking great! I am so excited for you!
You look soooo great! Glad you are able to still plug away on some work! How come Gabe can’t go back to preschool next year?
I really hope the birth is the healing experience you want. Did you end up switching doctors or no? I think the snugly baby will be the real healing part for you, no matter how the birth goes :)
Mostly because I’ll need childcare for TWO kids and the preschool obviously doesn’t take infants!
But solutions are up in the air – I could send him and get a nanny for the baby, but that might be too expensive. I’m just putting it off for now. ;)
I didn’t switch doctors – sticking with my all female practice! And I think the importance of the birth for *me* is just about being an active participant. About having a completely different experience than my d&c surgeries were last year. Those were some really dark days and memories for me and I don’t want to cloud this baby’s entrance into the world by remembering how terrible it was. Obviously holding the baby is important, but so is not being in a place that would trigger those really awful, sad memories. (Or maybe they’ll replace them? I just get anxiety from thinking about having to go back to the OR and see my doctor in there after what I went through last year.)
“Though we are getting closer, I believe. (…To Mike giving up and accepting my favorite name.)”
Hahahahahaha! Hang in there mama! You look fabulous!
You look great! Good luck getting all your projects done–I’m sure you’ll figure it out :)
You’re adorable, as always! I love Gabe’s theory on how the baby will make his/her escape. That’s pretty freakin’ adorable.
I will have my fingers crossed that all goes well for you regarding delivery; it’s not at all the same but I had to go a hospital not too long ago and after the several weeks I spent in them with my mom, it caused all sorts of hospital PTSD for me, and lots of tears after the fact (Even though the reason I went to the hospital was a good one! So all this to say i think I kind of get where you are coming from). I’m sending good karma and prayers and hope that you don’t need a c-section for Baby #2. Will be thinking of you for sure. xoxoxoxox