Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Week 31 Bumpdate

We are down to single digit weeks until we meet Elise.  I am so excited and as each week ticks past I get even more excited.  Her arrival will be here so soon!  I'm trying not to let myself get too excited until I find out Elise's actual positioning at our 32 week appointment, but I'm pretty ecstatic because she has definitely moved!  Saturday night we were celebrating my dad and Jeremy's birthday by playing a new board game my mom got for her birthday.  The whole time we were playing the game Elise was moving around like crazy and I could tell she was repositioning herself.  It was slightly painful and making my belly sore.  She was going and going for almost an hour and then all the sudden, boom, my belly felt totally different.  I tried not to freak out but I was so excited!  I jumped up and everyone agreed my belly appeared to be a different shape!  The best part was suddenly I felt like I could breathe.  I hadn't noticed struggling to breathe before but all the sudden I felt like I'd used an inhaler and my lungs were filling fully.  The best way to describe how my belly felt was that before it felt like I had a basketball positioned over my stomach and someone had pulled a strap around it extremely tightly putting lots of pressure on my sides and then Saturday night the strap was loosened and my sides didn't have so much pressure.  This whole time I felt so comfortable and was thinking it might be in part because Elise was sideways and not putting pressure on my hips.  Turned out her being sideways was causing way more pressure because it was pushing on my sides.  I am so much more comfortable now.  It almost feels as if my belly has disappeared!  She's definitely up and down rather than sideways so let's just hope she's head down and not butt down!  I'm looking forward to good news next week, cross your fingers for us!
 

February 3, 2015

Baby's Size: Baby should be over 16 inches long and weigh around 3.3 pounds.  Her senses are all fully developed and she's gearing up for a growth spurt.  She should be plumping up at this point.

Weight Gain: This is my week off weighing in and I am so glad!  This weekend we celebrated my mom, my dad, and Jeremy's birthdays!  We did it in style with a vanilla cake, a chocolate cake, and ice cream.  Whoa Nelly!

Maternity Clothes: We had a day this week where the high reached nearly 80 degrees!  One of my friends gave me some spring maternity clothes and my favorite was an adorable sleeveless maxi dress.  I've been eyeing it longingly in my closet for months now so I jumped at the opportunity to finally wear it!

Sleep: Monday through Wednesday by 6:00 pm I felt all mopey and wanted to cry.  I finally realized it was because I was so tired.  So on Thursday I took a 20 minute nap during Carter's naptime and it made a world of difference!  For the rest of the week I took a short 15-20 minute power nap while Carter napped.  I'd set my phone alarm for 30 minutes, but always woke up at least 10 minutes before it went off which was crazy to me!

Symptoms: It seems like I've had fewer Braxton Hicks contractions this week.  After Elise moved on Saturday I've been breathing so much easier and am so much more comfortable.  I swear it feels like my belly disappeared until I bend over!  Now I have a bit more pressure in my hips.  Before when I swept and mopped the kitchen floor I would get really out of breath.  Now I'm able to do it without getting too out of breath, but my hips ache by the time I'm done, even on days I don't run!  I clipped my toenails one day and started thinking "I wonder if I can go 9 more weeks without having to do this again!?"  It was so uncomfortable and everything was pushed up into my lungs while I hunched over to reach my toes.  One day at lunch I spilled food on my dress and didn't even know it until I was washing my hands in the bathroom and saw it in the mirror.  It was far enough down that my belly concealed it from me!  I've also being having to use the restroom a lot more and I trust my sneezes way less!  We spent most of the day on Tuesday playing outside because the weather was so beautiful.  I went to the bathroom before we went outside and I swear we were out there less than 30 minutes before I felt like I was going to pee my pants.  I didn't want to drag both the boys back inside, especially because it was so beautiful!  I was tempted to just pop a squat somewhere in the yard, but finally talked myself into trekking back inside.

Running: My weekly mileage was again 10 miles and probably will be for the rest of this pregnancy.  The beginning of the week was tough and I was running anywhere from 10-11 minute miles.  My belly felt stretched really tight all the way across and was uncomfortable.  Then I'd start having Braxton Hicks contractions and I just wanted to be done running already!  I was telling Ty on Wednesday night how horrible my runs had been and how maybe I should back off to only running 3 days a week rather than 5.  Then Thursday I was on my way to meet Ty to run and it turned out he forgot pack his running gear.  He decided to take the day off so he switched cars with me and ran errands with Carter while I ran.  It was exactly what I needed, a day off from running with the stroller!  I finished in an average of 8:55 pace and felt great the entire time!  I passed these 2 ladies running and the one said to the other, "Oh my God, she's pregnant!" after glancing over at me.  Then the other one yelled after me that I was awesome and inspiring.  It was an awesome moment for me, especially after such a rough week of running!   

Food Cravings: I really wanted brownie fudge ice cream and Ty went to get me some.  They didn't have that, but they did have chocolate and vanilla ice cream with brownie chunks and caramel.  It was delicious and I had an ice cream cone almost every night!

Food Aversions: Smoked foods.

Movement: Her favorite time to move around is when I lay down in bed to go to sleep for the night.  Since Saturday I've been feeling her much lower.  I've also been feeling her in the middle of my stomach rather than on the sides.  I am so excited and am hoping for good news as to her position at our appointment on Monday!

Best Moment of the Week: Would definitely have to be on Saturday when little miss decided to shift!  I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep that night.  The thought of having a c-section had been looming in the back of my mind and I'm feeling so happy knowing that most likely won't be the case!  I want so badly to deliver our sweet girl naturally just like I did with Carter.  It was the best experience!  Her moving has also been really nice because I can breathe better and am so much more comfortable! 

Currently Loving: I'm still loving how great I feel!  I cracked up getting ready to change my response here from last week's.  At the time I thought maybe Elise's sideways position was what caused me to feel so much more comfortable than I had with Carter, but now that she's moved I know that was not the case.  I am much more comfortable with her positioned up and down!  After my post last week about childbirth Ty ordered me Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. I've started reading it and the first section includes birth stories from lots of different women.  I am loving it!  I was so desperate to read birth stories where the labor and delivery were done naturally when I was pregnant with Carter and really struck out searching online.  I would have loved this book!

Miss Anything: Nope!

What Big Brother is Up to This Week: Carter enjoyed another toddler program at the zoo this week.  We also had Jake an extra day which he really enjoyed.  The weather was amazing with highs in the 50's, 60's, and even 70's so we spent a lot of time outside playing.  I'm talking pretty much every waking minute!  Gotta soak up all that glorious Vitamin D!!!!  Most mornings Carter woke up while Ty was getting ready so Ty would feed him breakfast, letting me sleep an extra 15-20 minutes.  Then he'd bring him to bed with me for cuddles and books before we started our day.  Elise typically moves around quite a bit when I'm laying in bed to go to sleep at night and when I first wake up.  Carter loves watching her and enjoys doing so each morning.  One morning she wasn't moving around like usual and he yelled "Come ere Issy Eese" at my belly and then started slapping it.  It didn't work but was absolutely adorable!  Jeremy was here while we were taking the bumpdate pictures.  When we were almost finished Carter scooted closer to me and started yelling, "Uncie J, cheese!" while pointing at the wall beside him.  It was so cute and Jeremy couldn't resist so we have a picture with him as well.  Friday evening Carter fell and landed face first on the corner of a chair, that's why he has a shiner in our pictures.  Week 31 Bumpdate with Carter.
Carter pointing for Uncie J to come get in the picture.
 

2 comments:

  1. I was looking forward to this one to see the pictures. I'll have to get the old pictures to compare. I love hearing how Carter asked for sissy Elise to come move. And for Uncie J to be in the picture. :)

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    1. He was very insistent that Jeremy be in a picture! It was too cute!

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