February 24, 2015
Baby's Size: Baby girl should be around 4 and 3/4 pounds and almost 18 inches long! Not sure if she's still measuring big or not. Our doctor only measures for size once a month so we'll find out at our next appointment. It's crazy that she's getting so close to the size that Carter was when he was born. We are getting so close to meeting her.
Weight Gain: I'm at a whopping 27 pounds gained. That means I gained a pound each of the past 2 weeks. I'm a little discouraged that it's looking like I'll end up gaining over 30 pounds, but I'm still holding out hope that my weight gain will slow down a little bit.
Maternity Clothes: For the most part everything is maternity. I still have a few longer sweaters that I'm wearing.
Sleep: Still haven't been quite as tired this week. I'm still struggling to fall back to sleep when I wake up which is frustrating, especially since I wake up so much to go to the bathroom. I usually wake up around 3 times to go to the bathroom at night, I'm averaging about every 2 hours during the night so my body is getting on a baby's eating schedule! I napped for 20-30 minutes a couple days and skipped naps a few days too.
Symptoms: My back hadn't been nearly as sore this time around as with Carter and up until this week really didn't bother me much at all. It's definitely nothing like what I experienced with Carter, but it has been pretty sore. Saturday evening after my run I had some monster contractions that I actually had to close my eyes and breathe through. They were about every 5 minutes or so for around 2 hours and then started tapering off. Carter and I took a warm bath and they only stuck around for a little while after that. I could tell it wasn't the real deal, but it still made me a little bit nervous. Partially because Ty made a big deal about it and kept asking me questions. I think he just gets freaked out when he sees me go into my Zen-like labor state to deal with contractions. With Carter I was frustrated because people would tell me Braxton Hicks contractions didn't hurt and a lot of resources I read said they were more uncomfortable than painful. So then I would get confused as to whether I was having Braxton Hicks or real contractions because what I was feeling hurt. Finally after my incident on Saturday I found a source that said they are painful for some people. I would compare the Braxton Hicks contractions I feel to contractions I felt once I was 6-7 cm dilated with Carter. They are no joke and I wouldn't rate them as simply uncomfortable. I must be waddling more and I know I waddle when I first stand up from sitting for a while. On Tuesday my tutoring student told me, "You walk funny when you have a baby in your belly, like this" and then he started imitating my walk. It was hilarious!
Running: On days I don't run I wake up with monster calf cramps. My weekly mileage was 10 miles. I felt good running but my paces were all over the pace. One day I ran 9:40 pace. Another day I was barely under 12 minute pace at 11:55 pace. It was ridiculous. Monday was really cold and Carter slept late so I debated taking the day off running. Instead I decided to run after Ty got home while dinner finished in the oven. I'm so glad I did since it was my last run of this pregnancy unless I make it to 37 weeks. Then I have to go ahead to pick it up again.
Food Cravings: Tuna and cheese so I ended up making a bunch of macaroni and cheese with tuna and peas which I had for lunch 3 days in a row. Carter also loved it and would actually start picking his peas out and eating them by themselves, then asking for more just for the peas. What other child would choose peas over mac and cheese? I've also been all about apples with peanut butter which I'm sure isn't helping my weight gain!
Food Aversions: Smoked foods.
Movement: Right now she's moving more and more. She's at the point where she'll move even when I'm walking which is so much fun. I love sitting and watching her moving all over.
Best Moment of the Week: Carter and I went to the zoo for our Nature's Buddies session on Thursday. While we were in the chimpanzee area there was a less than 3 month old baby chimpanzee with it's mother. It was so sweet to watch and Carter absolutely loved it. He was all eyes for the baby chimpanzee and when the mother moved away from the window he'd ask for the baby. Watching the mother chimpanzee with her baby and seeing Carter's reaction to the whole thing made me so happy. I am so excited for Elise to arrive!
Currently Loving: That we are getting close to meeting Elise and I'm getting lots of little to-do's checked off! If this were Carter we'd just have 2 weeks left, but I think we have at least 3 if not 4 or more weeks to go. At least that's what I'm hoping! One night I was talking things over with my parents to see if they'd rather be at our house with Carter or at the hospital with me when I go into labor. They decided they'd like to be at the hospital. Then I talked things over with Jeremy and he's all set to be our go-to person when the time comes. He lives less than a mile away so he'll be able to come watch Carter and Thomas will be his back-up when he gets off work if he's at work when we leave for the hospital. I got so excited thinking about Elise's arrival and knowing it will be here soon. I could tell talking about it was getting my parents all jacked up as well. That night I was so excited thinking about meeting Elise that I couldn't sleep. Yesterday I typed up little notes about Carter for Jeremy so he'll know his exact schedule as far as what time Carter eats, naps, and goes to bed as well as where to find things. It's so nice that Jeremy already watches Carter when I tutor so we know it will go well because Carter loves his Uncie and excitedly says, "Bye Mommy!" when Jeremy comes over. I've definitely gone into that "I want everything for the baby done and I want it done now!" mode. My goal was for Ty to install the car seat bases this weekend. He didn't do it and I was soooo disappointed. I just want to know that we are ready to bring sister home. I did get some of my to-do's finished though. I re-organized the nursery closet and the drawers of the night stand. I washed all my nursing tanks and bras. Then I put them in my drawers and put a couple in a bag as the start of our hospital bag. I also started a hospital bag for Elise with her going home outfit, burp cloths, and a blanket.
Miss Anything: I'm really starting to look forward to some frozen yogurt soft serve from Braum's in a few weeks!
What Big Brother is Up to This Week: Carter had a blast at the zoo and especially loved the baby chimpanzee. We also finally got snow this week and he LOVED playing in the snow! When it's snowing he likes to watch out the window. He's still not a big fan of feeling Elise move, but he loves to watch her move. One day he looked at my belly and she wasn't moving. He said, "Issy Eese?" and I told him she was sleeping. Then he ran over and pushed on my belly until she started moving around. He looked at me triumphantly declaring, "Issy wake!" It was hilarious but I hope isn't something that he does after she's born. I pulled out the photo book I made from Carter's birth and he loved looking through it. Of course I got teary eyed looking at my newborn Carter boy. There were a few pictures where he was crying and he'd very concerned say "Carcar cry!" He gets so upset when someone cries. Jake was crying yesterday and Carter kept saying, "Jake, okay. Good boy Jake." and then patting him on the arm. At a playdate Landon was crying and Carter kept asking, "Landon, okay?" He even followed Landon around with a toy trying to cheer him up. Yesterday my stomach growled and Carter said, "Oh no, oh no! Issy Eese scared!!!!" With all this talk about babies he's become really fascinated with babies and mommies and their relationship. When we read books he's always quick to notice the mommy in the book and wants to go back and look at pictures, pointing her out. It's almost like he senses sister will be arriving soon because he's gotten very adamant that he is mommy's baby. If he's asked where the baby is he points to himself whereas he previously pointed to my belly. A few times this week he's pointed at him self and said "Carcar Baby" to let me know he is a baby. I tell him, "Yes, you will always be momma's baby, but you are a big boy!" My mom called to FaceTime when we were getting ready to take pictures so Carter brought Oma in the pictures with him! Week 34 Bumpdate with Carter.
Weight Gain: I'm at a whopping 27 pounds gained. That means I gained a pound each of the past 2 weeks. I'm a little discouraged that it's looking like I'll end up gaining over 30 pounds, but I'm still holding out hope that my weight gain will slow down a little bit.
Maternity Clothes: For the most part everything is maternity. I still have a few longer sweaters that I'm wearing.
Sleep: Still haven't been quite as tired this week. I'm still struggling to fall back to sleep when I wake up which is frustrating, especially since I wake up so much to go to the bathroom. I usually wake up around 3 times to go to the bathroom at night, I'm averaging about every 2 hours during the night so my body is getting on a baby's eating schedule! I napped for 20-30 minutes a couple days and skipped naps a few days too.
Symptoms: My back hadn't been nearly as sore this time around as with Carter and up until this week really didn't bother me much at all. It's definitely nothing like what I experienced with Carter, but it has been pretty sore. Saturday evening after my run I had some monster contractions that I actually had to close my eyes and breathe through. They were about every 5 minutes or so for around 2 hours and then started tapering off. Carter and I took a warm bath and they only stuck around for a little while after that. I could tell it wasn't the real deal, but it still made me a little bit nervous. Partially because Ty made a big deal about it and kept asking me questions. I think he just gets freaked out when he sees me go into my Zen-like labor state to deal with contractions. With Carter I was frustrated because people would tell me Braxton Hicks contractions didn't hurt and a lot of resources I read said they were more uncomfortable than painful. So then I would get confused as to whether I was having Braxton Hicks or real contractions because what I was feeling hurt. Finally after my incident on Saturday I found a source that said they are painful for some people. I would compare the Braxton Hicks contractions I feel to contractions I felt once I was 6-7 cm dilated with Carter. They are no joke and I wouldn't rate them as simply uncomfortable. I must be waddling more and I know I waddle when I first stand up from sitting for a while. On Tuesday my tutoring student told me, "You walk funny when you have a baby in your belly, like this" and then he started imitating my walk. It was hilarious!
Running: On days I don't run I wake up with monster calf cramps. My weekly mileage was 10 miles. I felt good running but my paces were all over the pace. One day I ran 9:40 pace. Another day I was barely under 12 minute pace at 11:55 pace. It was ridiculous. Monday was really cold and Carter slept late so I debated taking the day off running. Instead I decided to run after Ty got home while dinner finished in the oven. I'm so glad I did since it was my last run of this pregnancy unless I make it to 37 weeks. Then I have to go ahead to pick it up again.
Food Cravings: Tuna and cheese so I ended up making a bunch of macaroni and cheese with tuna and peas which I had for lunch 3 days in a row. Carter also loved it and would actually start picking his peas out and eating them by themselves, then asking for more just for the peas. What other child would choose peas over mac and cheese? I've also been all about apples with peanut butter which I'm sure isn't helping my weight gain!
Food Aversions: Smoked foods.
Movement: Right now she's moving more and more. She's at the point where she'll move even when I'm walking which is so much fun. I love sitting and watching her moving all over.
Best Moment of the Week: Carter and I went to the zoo for our Nature's Buddies session on Thursday. While we were in the chimpanzee area there was a less than 3 month old baby chimpanzee with it's mother. It was so sweet to watch and Carter absolutely loved it. He was all eyes for the baby chimpanzee and when the mother moved away from the window he'd ask for the baby. Watching the mother chimpanzee with her baby and seeing Carter's reaction to the whole thing made me so happy. I am so excited for Elise to arrive!
Currently Loving: That we are getting close to meeting Elise and I'm getting lots of little to-do's checked off! If this were Carter we'd just have 2 weeks left, but I think we have at least 3 if not 4 or more weeks to go. At least that's what I'm hoping! One night I was talking things over with my parents to see if they'd rather be at our house with Carter or at the hospital with me when I go into labor. They decided they'd like to be at the hospital. Then I talked things over with Jeremy and he's all set to be our go-to person when the time comes. He lives less than a mile away so he'll be able to come watch Carter and Thomas will be his back-up when he gets off work if he's at work when we leave for the hospital. I got so excited thinking about Elise's arrival and knowing it will be here soon. I could tell talking about it was getting my parents all jacked up as well. That night I was so excited thinking about meeting Elise that I couldn't sleep. Yesterday I typed up little notes about Carter for Jeremy so he'll know his exact schedule as far as what time Carter eats, naps, and goes to bed as well as where to find things. It's so nice that Jeremy already watches Carter when I tutor so we know it will go well because Carter loves his Uncie and excitedly says, "Bye Mommy!" when Jeremy comes over. I've definitely gone into that "I want everything for the baby done and I want it done now!" mode. My goal was for Ty to install the car seat bases this weekend. He didn't do it and I was soooo disappointed. I just want to know that we are ready to bring sister home. I did get some of my to-do's finished though. I re-organized the nursery closet and the drawers of the night stand. I washed all my nursing tanks and bras. Then I put them in my drawers and put a couple in a bag as the start of our hospital bag. I also started a hospital bag for Elise with her going home outfit, burp cloths, and a blanket.
Miss Anything: I'm really starting to look forward to some frozen yogurt soft serve from Braum's in a few weeks!
What Big Brother is Up to This Week: Carter had a blast at the zoo and especially loved the baby chimpanzee. We also finally got snow this week and he LOVED playing in the snow! When it's snowing he likes to watch out the window. He's still not a big fan of feeling Elise move, but he loves to watch her move. One day he looked at my belly and she wasn't moving. He said, "Issy Eese?" and I told him she was sleeping. Then he ran over and pushed on my belly until she started moving around. He looked at me triumphantly declaring, "Issy wake!" It was hilarious but I hope isn't something that he does after she's born. I pulled out the photo book I made from Carter's birth and he loved looking through it. Of course I got teary eyed looking at my newborn Carter boy. There were a few pictures where he was crying and he'd very concerned say "Carcar cry!" He gets so upset when someone cries. Jake was crying yesterday and Carter kept saying, "Jake, okay. Good boy Jake." and then patting him on the arm. At a playdate Landon was crying and Carter kept asking, "Landon, okay?" He even followed Landon around with a toy trying to cheer him up. Yesterday my stomach growled and Carter said, "Oh no, oh no! Issy Eese scared!!!!" With all this talk about babies he's become really fascinated with babies and mommies and their relationship. When we read books he's always quick to notice the mommy in the book and wants to go back and look at pictures, pointing her out. It's almost like he senses sister will be arriving soon because he's gotten very adamant that he is mommy's baby. If he's asked where the baby is he points to himself whereas he previously pointed to my belly. A few times this week he's pointed at him self and said "Carcar Baby" to let me know he is a baby. I tell him, "Yes, you will always be momma's baby, but you are a big boy!" My mom called to FaceTime when we were getting ready to take pictures so Carter brought Oma in the pictures with him! Week 34 Bumpdate with Carter.
If it makes you feel better, I was 1.5 cm at 34 weeks too! And 4 cm at 36 weeks. And still hung on until 37wks 6days despite trying all I could to induce labor. :) But I hope you do make it to at least 37 weeks! Hang in there without running! I also had super painful contractions starting around 34 weeks. They were a real $%*&^. I can't wait to see pictures of Carter and Elise, but for health's sake, I'll be patient for a few more weeks. ;) YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, that makes me feel SO MUCH better! Like a whole ton better!!!! My stress level just went from about a 6 to a 2, thank you!!!! My doctor had me a little freaked out the way he responded. He's normally very relax and chill about things, but he was very serious about it and said he needs at least 2 more weeks out of me. When I was 2.5 cm at 35 weeks with Carter he was very chill about it and said I'd probably stay there for 3 weeks or so. So his reaction this time got me freaking out a little! I'm going to channel my inner Sarah and hope I can make it past 37 weeks as well!
DeleteIt was so cute seeing Carter kiss Sissy Elise while facetiming. Did Ty get a picture of that? I'm glad Sarah said what she did.
ReplyDeleteNo, he didn't. That would've been cute, huh?!!? I know, I feel so much calmer now. It's so nice to hear from other mommas out there. I think I worry too much since Carter was early. Now I can chill out!
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