Entering the Home Stretch

I can’t figure out if my belly looks like it dropped in this picture or its the stripes of my shirt throwing off the visual.

As of today, the maximum amount of time I have left carrying this little baby is ten weeks, and I hit full-term in just six weeks. I already feel like those are such small windows of time, but I think they will go even more quickly because the holidays will be in full swing as of tomorrow! Pregnancy is still going fairly smoothly. I have trouble sleeping sometimes because my back or hips ache and I have to constantly flip to my other side. But there are other nights where there is no pain at all, either way I still get up about four times to use the bathroom. My back hurts the most when I sit on our couch, I think because it’s too soft and doesn’t provide enough support for me. I often ended up sitting on the floor. That is until I found this super awesome wearable heat pad.  I warm up the included pack in the microwave and it makes my back feel so much better! I had my glucose test last week and no gestational diabetes here! I was a little nervous. The stretch marks have come in full force, I guess there really is no escaping them. I have two patches of multiple marks on either side of my lower belly, they seem to be low enough to be hidden by my pantline.  Either way I keep hydrating with my oils and creams so hopefully they wont become really severe.  With my preparation time dwindling, my to-do list this weekend involves getting my hospital bag together. I made this list of things I think I may want/need:

chapstick

warm robe

slippers

(3) warm socks

(3) undies

My coming home outfit

premie size baby outfit

newborn size baby outfit

baby beanie

Nikon camera & bag

extra batteries + charger

(2) phone chargers

pads

face wash

face lotion

shampoo, conditioner

hairbrush & hair bands

body soap

lotion

toothbrush

toothpaste

makeup remover wipes

makeup bag with essentials

Any input on things I might be missing? 

This past weekend Michael and I put some more decorative touches on the nursery. It looks done, but I am honest enough with myself to know that no room is ever done being decorated in my house! I have a lot of ideas I’ve been toying with in my head; for now I’ll call it functionally finished and ready for occupancy.

I am thinking about removing the slender door that you can see next to the hippo. Behind that door are some deep built in shelves. I think they would look great exposed with colored baskets for organizing blankies, clothes, books, anything really! I’d also like to get this breathable crib liner.

I also want to put some small book ledges above the glider for easy access to bedtime stories. I love these from Ikea, I have seen them used a lot for books in kid’s rooms although they are made for spices. We just need to make the hour long trip to Ikea to pick some up. Luckily there are some amazing taco trucks that operate right across from Ikea that make the trip totally worthwhile.

We spent all day Saturday making the star baby mobile together. The majority of time was spent painting multiple coats of paint and glitter on each star. After that, the assembly was fairly quick. We used a wooden embroidery hoop (two pieces) and wooden stars from Michaels. Each star is hung with a stretchy jewelry cord instead of fishing line. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get the kinks out of fishing line since the stars are fairly light and the line wouldn’t really stretch out straight. I plan on tying purple tulle all the way around the embroidery hoop, I got too anxious to hang it up but I think it would look better with full tulle coverage.

Here is a little closeup of the Maddie portrait I talked about months ago. I finished it a long time ago and never posted a picture of it! I love the colors, it’s one of my favorite things in the room.

Here are my stats for this week:

How far along? 31 weeks
How big is baby?  A coconut! 16-18 inches long, weighing in at over 3 pounds
Miss Anything? The ability to zip up sweaters/jackets. Wearing normal clothes.
Sleep: Hit or miss, having to drink water throughout the night or I feel like I’m dying of thirst
Movement: Super strong kicks and punches, she seems to be on a regular sleep/wake schedule
Food cravings: Fresh fruit and yogurt (mixed together)
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of garlicky tomato sauce when washing the dishes from dinner.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: Had my first non-exercise induced Braxton Hicks, kinda freaked me out
Symptoms: Severe heartburn
Belly Button in or out? I miss my old belly button. This one is looking really strained, it’s also lopsided.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Happy! Really giggly still, don’t know if I’ll ever be the same…
Looking forward to:  Still awaiting baby’s best friend to be born! Her due date is tomorrow.
Upcoming appointments/events: 32 week checkup next week

Nursery Sneak Peek

I’ve put so much thought on the design of this nursery. From color schemes and art work to more ambitious projects like ruffled crib skirts and baby mobiles, Pinterest has been faithfully by my side providing endless DIY ideas. Some of these I’ve wisely chosen not to go ahead with, not saying I didn’t think about making a ruffled crib skirt myself while constantly thinking about the $140 option that kept rearing its ugly, over-priced head on every nursery decor site I clicked. $140 for a crib skirt, seriously? This may be my first biological child but I am well aware that kids like to employ a cruel and unusual punishment in the form of a poo filled diaper flung across a room which inevitably leaves a spatter of that poo on everything in its path. I’ve even heard stories from my own friends who as babies smeared their own feces all over themselves, their crib and sheets. Pretty sure I would never pick up my dog’s turd with a wad of $100 bills nor will I let my baby smear their poo on the $140 crib skirt I was stupid enough to buy. Enough about poo for today, back to really cute nursery things! By the way, I haven’t even bought a crib skirt yet.

We are not quite finished with the nursery, but one side of it is at least presentable! Minus the fact that the little dresser still needs a changing pad to reach its full functionality potential, you can get a good idea of the direction this little girl’s nursery is headed.

The glider still has a tag on it being that we had just moved it into the room about ten minutes before I took this picture. But, honestly I still haven’t taken the tag off and it’s been like a week. I chose grey for the paint color because I wanted a nice neutral and I might be obsessed with grey overall. The dresser I found on Craigslist, which I posted about here, it was perfect because it was the exact hue of blue I wanted to include in the nursery regardless of if the baby was a boy or girl. We originally didn’t want a lot of pink in the nursery but I’m happy with the pops of pink the art work and some accessories have brought in. That will be the extent of that color though. Michael and I agree that we don’t want our girl drowning in a sea of pale pink that every “girl” baby item is made of. I’m sure you are wondering why the glider has been strategically placed in front of a door. Luckily that is the entry to our attic which we rarely need to access, and the glider is very easy to slide across the carpet if we need to get to the third floor. The real doorway to the nursery is the one to the right of the dresser. The rest of the nursery will be revealed as soon as we have a crib mattress and sheets! That along with a few more accessories and wall art, the space will be ready for move-in day whenever baby wants.

I am officially 7 months along or 28 weeks. I am really excited to be getting closer to my due date but my excitement was abruptly deflated last night when I discovered three tiny stretch marks. I’m still thankful to my Mama Mio tummy oil because I’m positive without it my stomach would be absolutely covered with jagged, red lines. I’m not sure when these marks popped up, I barely noticed them because they are on the bottom part of my belly which is hard to see; sad but so true. They are fairly small so I’m hoping with my continued oil and cream routine their size and overall number will stay minimal. I’m also kicking myself because I knew I hadn’t been staying as hydrated as I should be these past couple weeks. I’m back on track though and peeing five times a night to prove it.

How far along? 28 weeks
How big is baby? Eggplant; roughly 2.5 pounds, measures about 13.6 to 14.8 inches
Miss Anything? Being able to lay on my stomach or flat on my back
Sleep: Sleeping pretty well, just getting up a bunch of times to pee but easily falling back to sleep.
Movement: All the time
Food cravings: Not much of an appetite lately, the only thing that sounds really good is root beer, as usual.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing so far this week.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: None this week
Symptoms: Really bad acid reflux, lower back pain
Belly Button in or out? Still in but stretched real tight!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Happy. Still getting the uncontrollable giggles.
Looking forward to:  Baby’s BFF who may be born any day now!
Upcoming appointments/events: Glucose test next week, 9/22: 30 week (Holy cow!!) checkup

Hello Third Trimester

Don’t mind the smudges all over my mirror selfie

Depending on what pregnancy/baby info site you refer to, the third trimester starts between 26-29 weeks. I’m not entirely sure if 27 weeks is  the magic number but let’s just go ahead and say I’m officially done with my second trimester! I just had a small panic attack realizing that “full-term” is only 10 weeks away. The baby room is almost done, we are going to pick up the ultra comfy glider we picked out from Babies-R-Us today! My parents graciously purchased it for us and we are so thankful to get it. That means all the big furniture pieces will be in place by tonight. We just need the add on items now: mattress, crib sheets, changing pad and cover, oh and a TON more clothes, specifically onesies.

The number on the scale is reading 22 pounds higher than normal these days, so I’m pretty sure I’ll end up gaining the max 35 pounds for this pregnancy. I’m not terribly worried about it. I try to focus on the way I look and how I feel rather than the number, while keeping myself in check. I eat pretty much how I normally would with the added bowl of cereal here and there. I always want cereal these days, I think I’ve bought three boxes in the past month and I’m the only person that eats it in our house. (Confession: I just had a bowl five minutes ago.) It was a bit of a struggle to be okay with the number consistently rising on the scale and this chart really helped me purge the thought that I’m solely gaining body fat.

In other news, the nerve pain in my back is gone! I woke up one day and it was magically gone. I can walk, jog, squat, actually move at a normal pace, and SLEEP!  I’m convinced the baby shifted her position and it alleviated pressure from the nerve. I don’t know if medically that’s really how it works, but in my mind, it’s exactly what happened!  I even walked 3 miles yesterday almost 100% pain free if it weren’t from the weird nagging cramp I kept getting in my butt cheek! Don’t ask why, I have no idea. I was still happy as a clam that I could walk normally! Now that it’s taken care of, I love my snoogle. It’s like a big nest and really does keep me comfy all night long now. It also prevents me from lying on my back which is a big no-no after 20 weeks of pregnancy due to the weight of the uterus cutting off blood flow. Do I even need to say that Maddie loves “her” snoogle just as much now as she did on day one?

My next doctor appointment isn’t for a few weeks (the 30 week mark) but after that one I will have a checkup every two weeks. I had a dream last night that I gave birth to a 9lb. 4oz. baby on December 12th, which is full term so that’s great, but that baby weight! I hope that part doesn’t come true. An early baby would be nice though, so that all of our family can meet her when they fly in for Christmas.  She has been kicking up a storm lately, it’s really weird to see my entire stomach move involuntarily. She wakes me up at night and sometimes I lay there for about an hour because she is consistently kicking. I even got kicked in the kidney awhile back and it hurt like hell. I didn’t even know that was possible, but it totally is. Maddie really likes to use my stomach as a pillow and I am waiting patiently for the day she gets kicked in the face. Is that mean? I just want to see her reaction!

How far along? 27 weeks
How big is baby? Rutabaga, possibly my favorite veggie comparison yet.
Miss Anything? I really miss sleeping through the night and not lying awake in pain.
Movement: Strong kicks! I can see my entire belly moving and last night I felt the first distinct jab from the outside. It actually felt like a body part touched my hand through my belly and it really freaked me out.
Food cravings: Root Beer (still!), cereal
Anything making you queasy or sick: If I sit down after I’ve eaten breakfast the lack of room in my abdomen makes me feel like all my food is coming up. It’s terrible.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: Got my first braxton hicks yesterday on my long walk.
Symptoms: Peeing 3 to 4 times a night, swollen abdomen (ha!), acid reflux super bad
Belly Button in or out? Still in
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Currently feeling very sleepy; I rarely have to nap these days but this might just be the day.
Looking forward to:  Picking up the glider tonight! And getting really anxious to meet this baby.