36 Weeks and a Silly Survey!

 

Total weight gain: it seems that I am up to 11 pounds gained at this point.  Fun times.

Maternity clothes? HAH!  Yeah.  Pretty much anything REALLY stretchy is what I wear these days. 

Stretch marks?  Still none, but that was also the case in my first pregnancy.  Then when I was less than two weeks from giving birth...BAM!  There they were.  Hoping that doesn't happen this time! :)

Sleep: Doesn't exist.  That is what I have convinced myself of these days.  Who needs it anyway, right??   

Best moment this week: Derek FINALLY came home from his training.  August has been a rough month because he has been gone for the majority of it.  We are ready to have him HOME!  

Miss Anything?  I miss being able to sleep comfortably.  And breathe deeply.  Yeah...it's the little things, you know.

Movement: is becoming insanely painful.  I'm pretty sure this baby is trying to escape on a regular basis. 

Food cravings: Oh my goodness...Watermelon.  YUM!  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really, although I have had a few moments here recently when I felt the "morning sickness" come back...thank God it seemed to go away quickly!

Gender: I had an ultrasound today and this is the first one of this pregnancy that Derek was unable to attend.  I told him I was going to be really bad and "peek" and just have the tech tell me since he wouldn't be there to stop me!!  MUAHAHA!!    I didn't though.  I was a good girl.  I still have no idea and I am so excited!  How anticlimactic would that be to find out NOW after we have waited so long!  Can't wait to meet this sweet baby! 

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks and some "different" hip pain...although that could just be because the baby is getting bigger! My doctor checked me and everything is still resembling Fort Knox...so nothing to indicate this baby is coming tomorrow or anything! 

Symptoms: Extremely tired, aching hips, heart burn, braxton hicks...also...I guess I have allergies, but it feels an awful lot like a case of the "sick" and my throat is killing me and I can't stop sneezing.  AHHH, Sneezing...such a joyous occasion when you're pregnant.   

Belly Button in or out? No belly button.  Just a giant belly. 

Wedding rings on or off? Still on.  I hope I don't have to take them off.  

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy, but I will admit...it's hard to put a cap on my irritation with the current discomfort.  I get particularly grouchy when it is bed time and I know that nothing good is going to come of me trying to "rest".  

Looking forward to: I'm looking forward to hearing my doctor say "you're dilated to 10 centimeters!  PUSH!" 

"Have You Had That Baby Yet???"

This is a question that a woman who is in her final weeks of pregnancy will come to loathe.  Let me just start by saying, in general, we (pregnant folks) know that the "asker" of the question means well and is just trying to make small talk and be friendly.  Let me finish by saying, in general, how incredibly frustrating it can be to hear that question whilst you carry around an enormous belly that practically screams "No, I have NOT had this baby yet.  In fact...I have been pregnant for about 10 years."

I am not quite to this stage yet with Baby #2, although I can feel it coming.  At 34 weeks I am quite rotund and only getting more-so as the days progress.  I can almost see the question forming on the lips of friendly people and I know that when the time comes I will politely smile and force a chuckle.  Unless, of course, I hit about 39-40 weeks and then I will, naturally, have one of two reactions.  A) I will burst into tears or 2) I will simply alternate staring blankly at my huge abdomen and the face of the offending asker.  More than likely, it will be the latter.  I remember doing that on a few occasions when I was pregnant with Brennan.  I worked until Friday and I had Brennan on Monday.  Imagine how large I was carrying a 10lb baby...people asked "Have you had that baby yet???" and I completely lacked the energy to offer any other response than a death glare that conveyed the "Are you kidding me right now??" tone of my attitude.  To those who received the glare...I apologize.  But not too profusely because really...you and I both know that it was CLEAR I hadn't had my baby yet :)

SO...to solve the mystery...if you feel yourself wanting to ask a largely pregnant woman "Have you had that baby yet???"  Feel free to click here:

Have You Had That Baby Yet???

And there you have it! :)

PS...how hilarious is that website??  I so wish I had known about this with my first pregnancy!!  Love it.

*image courtesy of Pinterest

Lightning, and Thunder, and Wind...Oh My!

I have never really been afraid of storms.  Granted, during my formative I didn't witness a whole lot of storm action living in California (more droughts than rain) and Washington (lots of rain, but more of a perpetual rainy-ness...not thunder/lightning/torrential down pours)  So I suppose I never really had the opportunity to develop a healthy fear.

 

When I moved to Virginia for college, I remember being caught in this insane monsoon that just came out of nowhere.  I had never experienced anything like it.  It was hot.  Like...really HOT.  August in Virginia kind of hot.  And I had a basket full of *clean* laundry that I had just collected from the laundromat on campus (of course the clothes HAD to be clean) and as I walked back to my dorm the skies opened up and let loose.  It was absurd, but I embraced it.  Sort of like taking a shower...I was completely soaked from head to toe with a (now much heavier) basket of sopping wet laundry.  There were also many times during my college days when my friends and I would take advantage of the rain-induced mud pits for fun games of "slip and slide" or sit in our windows and watch the incredible lightning shows.  I actually grew to enjoy storms!

 

Fast forward to last night and you have a grown woman who came about this close to climbing in bed with her two-year-old.  I was sound asleep when I started to wake up to some distant thunder/lightning.  Then it started to rain.  Then it started to rain harder and the wind was howling.  THEN...just as I pulled the corner of the blinds down to peek outside...the tree that is just outside of our bedroom decided to split and a ginormous limb fell and landed about a foot (maybe two) from the very window that I was looking out of.  *Insert scared puppy yelp*  YIPE!!  I moved as quickly as possible (which, admittedly... is NOT very fast at this point in time), grabbed my pillow and tip-toed into Brennan's room where I discovered him snoring away, un-phased by the terror outside.  So I stood there like a goon in the middle of his room for a while, debating on whether or not I should wake him up by climbing in his bed or suck it up and go back to my bed to possibly be impaled by another falling tree...hmmm...decisions, decisions.  Then the power went out.  SO, on top of everything else...I was now a scared pregnant lady with no air conditioning...oh, the humanity!  The storm was relatively short-lived, so I ended up going back to my own bed and trying to calm down by taking deep breaths.  My heart was beating ultra fast!  I wonder how that must have felt to my baby?  The power went out around 10:30, Brennan woke up around midnight and was freaked out at the utter silence and pitch-blackness of our house (normally he has a fan and a night light)  He came into bed with me and wanted to lay RIGHT next to me, practically ON me because he was a little scared.  NO air conditioner + toddler cuddles = Super uncomfortable and miserably hot pregnant lady.  Thankfully, the power came back on around 1:30 and I was able to move B to his own bed and cool down a bit.  Needless to say, I am a wee bit sleepy this morning.

 

This picture doesn't do justice to how close this was to my window!

I won't say that I am scared of storms now, but I wouldn't call myself a storm chaser either.  Also...I am considering cutting down all of the trees that are anywhere near my house and boarding up all of our windows.  Now THAT is healthy fear :)

Brennan the Baker

Brennan loves to help me in the kitchen.  He is such a little scientist and always very curious.  He wants to measure and pour and stir and watch things as they turn from batter to cake.  Confession:  I am sometimes have trouble relinquishing control in these situations (crazy "type A" personality!) and I fight the urge to cringe when I see sugar tossed on a counter-top or egg shells in the measuring cup...but really...how can I resist this face??  And the apron??  Please...there's no way I can turn him down!   Truth be told...he really is such a sweet boy and I love the memories we make when we are baking up something tasty...a messy kitchen is the least of my concerns :)  

See the focus?  He is very serious about his baking skills.  Perhaps he will be the next Cake Boss??  I'll keep you posted! 

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...

IT'S SUPERMAN! 

I have to say...having a little boy is such an adventure.  He was definitely born with this innate "boy-ness" that gives him the wildest imagination, a love of dirt...trucks...bugs...and a sense of humor when it comes to bodily functions.  He is such a joy.  And even when he isn't being particularly easy to love...I do.  So much.  I can't imagine my life without this little super hero.  

I love these two pictures together.  He's a jumping machine!  He can FLY! 

I love my sweet boy so much that I am even willing to post pictures that are 100% disgusting and unflattering of myself, just to show how adorable HE is.  Look at that face! :)

He is such a sweet boy and I love when he gets slap-happy and can't contain his squeals and giggles.  Music to my ears. 

By the way...he insisted on wearing this flannel superman pajama shirt and cape even though it was about 106* outside.  It gives him the ability to fly, you see.  

32 Weeks and a Silly Survey!

Total weight gain: It seems to go up and down quite a bit.  About 7lbs gained at this point.  My doctor says "Whatever is going on in there is ALL baby..."  You know, I always like to put the baby first! 

Maternity clothes? Clothes in general are pretty much the bane of my existence these days.  Nothing fits right.  Too big, too small, too loose, too tight, too short, too long...BAH!!  I'm over it. 

Stretch marks? Still no "new" stretch marks.  I have been using my sugar scrub and lotion.  Hopefully this keeps the skin stretching at bay and I can escape this pregnancy without any wicked marks!  Although, if I get them...no biggy.  I did, after all, grow a human being inside of my body.  

Sleep: So terribly uncomfortable.  I have lots of "special" pillows and such...nothing really seems to help.  I actually really wish we had a recliner.  Like one of those massive Lay-Z-Boy jobs with the cooler in the arm rest...yeah.  Then I could sleep in an upright position AND have cold water in the night without waddling to the refrigerator.  

Best moment this week: We did a hospital tour of the L&D area and were pleasantly surprised.  We had heard so many negative things about the hospital that I am going to deliver in ("It's so OLD and outdated...", "the rooms are TINY!", "the staff is not very nice...") but we found the rooms to be pleasant (even though a little old-ish and small) and the nurses were very sweet.  Also...I am hoping not to spend a ton of time in the hospital anyway...so who needs a brand new giant room??      

Miss Anything?  Being able to jump out of bed quickly when my toddler wakes up in the night with a sick tummy.  There aren't many things that are more frightening than a 2-year-old next to your bed threatening to throw up and being paralyzed with pain.  You definitely want to move at warp speed in that instance.  

Movement: Lots.  At our 31 week ultrasound we saw that the baby was breech...I feel confident that the baby has already moved from that position (I can no longer feel the hard little noggin front and center right under my ribs!)  Who knows what position the baby is actually in now, but I will take it as a good sign that the little one is moving up a storm! 

Food cravings: SWEET things!  Chocolate and Caramel (my dear husband brought me some Twix and Rolo's today!)  Ice cream, cookies...more chocolate.  Mmmm...

Anything making you queasy or sick: I am running out of room to eat more than a small amount of food at one time.  The problem is...sometimes something just looks SO good and I eat too much too quickly and I end up feeling miserable.  Note to self...eyes are usually bigger than your stomach! 

Gender: We made it through ANOTHER ultrasound and stayed strong.  We figure we have come this far...we're not finding out now.  Recently I have had the feeling that this baby might just be a girl, but I keep telling myself that it is probably a boy.  Once again revealing the startling news that...I have NO CLUE!!  Super excited to meet this baby! 

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks

Symptoms: Extremely tired, aching hips, heart burn...basically the same as a 90 year old woman.  

Belly Button in or out? What belly button?  It's just a little bit darker part of skin stretched across my belly now.  There is no definition!  

Wedding rings on or off? Still on.  I hope I don't have to take them off.  

Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy with intermittent "zoned out/zombie like" moments.  Sometimes I feel like I could sleep standing up.  

Looking forward to: We have another ultrasound at 36 weeks!  Hoping the baby is a reasonable size and head-down at that time!!  Feel free to join in on the prayers!! :)