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34 Weeks Pregnant with Will

Baby’s Size: Cantaloupe
How far along: 34 Weeks
Total weight gain: 20 pounds. Those two pounds that came on last week decided to stay with me. At least they chose not to bring any of their friends. Still gaining roughly 1 pound a week.  So, if I keep it up and go full term I am looking at about 26 pounds total. One less than with Kenzie and she was delivered at 37 weeks, 1 day.
Sleep:  Still not too great, but at least I am able to get SOME each night. I just spend so much time getting up and down to go the bathroom or resituating myself. I’m at that point when I have to actually sit up and lay down again to change from one side to another. (You should watch me try to actually get up to go to the bathroom too. It involves a lot of grunting and using my body weight to swing me out of bed. I’m actually really surprised Steven doesn’t comment on it every time I do it… 6 or so times a night.)  I do still randomly wake up laying on my back too. I figure it’s not a huge deal. I know it’s not recommended, but how can I stop it when I am sleeping? I usually wake up which is likely my body’s way of telling me to go back on to my side. One plus is that the numbness and sciatic nerve pain in my leg have pretty much ceased when sleeping. I’ve also noticed that I have made it farther into this pregnancy without Charlie horses at night in my calves. I’m not eating more bananas or doing anything different that I can attribute that to. I’m sure I’ve also now jinxed myself. I remember waking up with them at least a couple of times a week with Kenzie. I would wake up screaming almost and usually woke Steven up too. Those things are crazy. I have a super high pain tolerance and they killed me. I think because they just showed up with such vengeance so quickly and I was never prepared. I think Steven hated them more than me because there wasn’t much he could do about them. Not sure why I haven’t started getting them yet though…. Not that I miss them, that’s for sure.
Maternity Clothes: Of course. I do still have those random things that I am stretching to their limit. For instance… I HAD to wear my Dolphins shirt yesterday (and good thing I did… what if I didn’t and they lost?!?) Anyway, it’s definitely not maternity. I’m not sure how I got away with it, but it worked out. Now to wash it and hope it regains its shape.  
Food cravings: Nothing too much this week. I have been really in to dark chocolate almond milk. That’s a bit weird actually because I used to try to drink it when I was pregnant with Kenzie and I HATED it. I actually avoided drinking it after giving birth but something told me I should try it again and now I have at least a glass a day, if not more.  I’m not a milk person but I know that Will chooses to take whatever he needs from my body for himself and calcium tends to be one of those things that babies take more of than anything else. They are forming bones after all. So, almond milk has almost double the calcium of a glass of normal cow’s milk. I’ll take it!
Symptoms I HAVE: Heartburn, of course. I’ve also been getting nauseous periodically. I have gotten sick a few times in the past couple of weeks. I remember the last few weeks with Kenzie were like this. I’m back at that point that I can’t eat a ton at a time because it doesn’t fit in my stomach. However, because I am constantly busy with a toddler, I can’t eat as often as I probably should and I get nauseous as a result. I’ve had quite a few Braxton Hicks this week. They are getting stronger, but are definitely not more than just BH. Mine tend to manifest more as just cramping though and not the overall tightness that a lot of women experience. I asked the doc about them though and he said that’s definitely what they are. They are not very comfortable, but they do not hurt.  I have finally had a couple of the “normal” BH though that most women experience. The overall tightness in one area of my belly that isn’t baby. Will definitely doesn’t seem to be a fan of anything tightening on him and he tends to move quite a bit when the tightness ceases like he is protesting. Makes me wonder what true labor is going to be like. Maybe he’s going to be one of those that is perfectly happy in there and just prefers to not come out. I’ve also been having some round ligament pain and my joints are obviously starting to weaken a bit. I’m also exhausted by the end of the day. I don’t expect any less, but I think I could probably lay down right after Kenzie goes to bed and most nights I would be out pretty quickly. I don’t do that so that I can spend time with Steven… but I probably could. I had some swelling Sunday in my ankles. I think it was related to all the walking I did on Saturday during my solo mommy day. Yesterday at the doctor’s office he noted that I had absolutely no swelling whatsoever so it is obviously all gone now. It’s also been really hot lately so that contributes to it as well.
Stretchmarks:  Still no new ones but those old ones are definitely all starting to make a reappearance. Oh well. I had those already so who am I to try to stop them from coming back? I just hope to not add any more.  
Doctor’s Appointment:  Yesterday. So, we started the appointment with taking my blood pressure… twice. The first reading was 141/90. Yikes! After letting me sit for a minute we took it again and it was 114/81. That is much better and is hanging around right where I have been. Doc thinks the first reading was a fluke. However, because it happened, we have decided to move my weekly appointments up and I start going weekly now until the end of the pregnancy. While he doesn’t think it is a major issue, he wants to err on the side of caution and keep an eye on me based on my history with Kenzie. I am definitely fine with that. He did note that I do not need to change my diet or activity level at this point (meaning I am eating okay and we are not even considering bed rest at this point). Will’s heartbeat was 157. He was moving around a lot right before it was taken which I think accounts for the fact that it was higher this week than it has been in the past for the most part. Still completely normal. I am measuring right on track and he is still head down. I know he could turn, but we are hoping he decides to stay right where he is (and eventually just drops down and engages like that). Definitely going to be using my yoga ball daily at this point. I think I experience a bit more freaking out related to his position than most pregnant women just because of the history with Kenzie. She was head down at this point too… and we know how that turned out. I am constantly trying to feel for his head or determine if the movements I am feeling could be butt or something else. I have read a lot on mapping… that just freaks me out more. I have to stop reading junk. We went ahead and set up my repeat c-section for October 24 at 11am should it come to that. (Um… that means we will have him here in no more than 6 weeks and 3 days!!!!!) However, I have an appointment on the 20th (the day before my due date) and if I am favorable for an induction because he hasn’t come on his own, then we will switch to that. If we get to that point and I am not dilated at all then we will proceed with pre-op for the c section. It is dangerous to induce a VBAC that isn’t dilated at all. I’m just so happy that this doctor is all for my plans to attempt the VBAC. Now, we just hope my blood pressure remains happy and he decides to show up on his own just before his due date (not too early though.)
Movement:  Yep. He has had hiccups quite often lately so I feel him jumping a bit randomly. He definitely doesn’t get them as often as Kenzie did… but I think I mentioned last week that I like when he has them because it gives me an idea of his position. He is also loving putting his little bottom as far up as possible and he is really starting to kick in to my lungs (more than he already was). I think he is just trying to stretch out… but he can’t really so instead I just get a lot of insane pressure as he pushes this way and that. I spend a lot of time pushing his butt back in. Thanks, Will… but I can’t breathe when you do that. I watch him move a lot and I swear, I could be cast in the next Alien remake.   
Belly Button (In or Out): Still in. No more than 6 weeks or so to go so we will see what happens.    
Wedding Ring (On or Off): On but I have had some random swelling lately (see above symptoms). I can still wear it, but I have more trouble getting it off at night. It has been hot so that might contribute some to my swelling. It changes with the day too. Some days are worse than others depending on what I have been doing.
Labor Signs: None. Too bad Braxton Hicks are not necessarily technically labor signs… if they were I would have more to report here. Not that I want to be having labor signs at this point, but I just always write “none” and it seems so boring.
Gender: Boy!  
Happy or Moody Most of the Time: I’ve been pretty moody. I break down quite often. Kenzie sometimes asks me “okay, Mama?” I feel terrible that she sees me get upset or sad but these hormones make it to where I just have a ton of issues with controlling it sometimes. I can’t wait to get back to my normal hormone levels. I’m dreading those first few weeks after Will gets here. I remember what a mess I was with Kenzie. Granted, this time I am going in to it knowing a bit (though not a ton) more than I did with her. I am more prepared for his birth to not go exactly as I plan, to deal with breastfeeding, and to just have a newborn in the house but combined with having Kenzie too… I’m still dreading what I will be like. I preemptively apologize to anyone I snap at in those first few weeks… I promise to try to keep it together though.
Best moment of the week: The Dolphins won their season opener this past weekend! I told the doctor it was good that I didn’t go into labor on Sunday (mainly because it was too early) because it is likely I would have shown up to the hospital alone as Steven was not going to stop watching that game. Haha! He proceeded to tell me about an OB friend he has that is a die hard gator fan that made his wife breathe (instead of pushing) for as long as possible so he could catch the tail end of a Gator game that he was trying to watch in the delivery room. Apparently it was a good game. I can see Steven doing that to me. Doc promised he would show up though… unless Michigan is playing. Let’s just hope that’s not the case. =) Kenzie loved the game until near the end when I think it just became too loud (we were at Froggers) and she lost it. She ended up taking over an hour or so to finally calm down once we were home.   
What I’m looking forward to: Watching our friends get married later this week. Can’t wait to see such good friends take this next step in their lives. =) 
What I miss: I want wine. Yep… wine.   


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