Wednesday, January 11, 2012

31 - 34 weeks

Bedrest, bedrest, and more bedrest...


How far along: 31 weeks (Dec. 15th), 32 weeks (Dec. 22nd), 33 weeks (Dec. 29th), 34 weeks (Jan. 5th)

Baby size: According to various baby websites, he is around 5 pounds now, and could be 18-20 inches long. According to my midwives, baby is almost 7 pounds already (at 34.5 weeks), which is another indicator that my due date is off! They all think I'm closer to 36-37 weeks, but we're still being careful just in case.

Total weight gain/loss: +20lbs

Sleep: Getting more difficult... this kid is getting too big! I often find myself wide awake for a couple hours between 2am and 5am. Maybe my body is getting ready for a newborn? Haha.

Movement: It's slowed down a bit now that he's so big, but he still moves a lot. It's fun to guess which body parts ares sticking out of my belly... elbow, knee, foot, hand...

Food cravings/aversions: Anything chocolate. We've been watching "Cake Boss" on Netflix recently and it's almost too much for me... everything they make looks SO GOOD and I just want it NOW. Haha. My cravings have been pretty unhealthy recently... burgers & fries, pizza, soft baked pretzels... so I haven't really given into them much. I'm still eating lots of fruit... can't get enough of it. Oh! And banana pudding. I found an amazing recipe on Pinterest for it, and I've had Thomas make it twice already :)

Pregnancy symptoms: Lots of contractions still. And general crampiness and achiness. My back and hips are sore from being stuck lying down all the time. I'm seeing a chiropractor once a week which helps... she is also getting my body ready for delivery by properly aligning my hips and pelvis so that baby has lots of space to get through.

What I miss: Being able to get up and move around freely. Cooking, using my sewing machine, even just picking up around the house!

What I'm looking forward to: Not being on bedrest :) Hopefully only a week or so left. I've been on bedrest for over a month now and I'm very ready to be done.

Milestones: At 34 weeks, if I go into labor they won't stop it. I'm actually 35 weeks tomorrow. We're hoping to make it to 36 or 37 weeks though. It looks like baby boy will be here sooner rather than later with all the contractions I am having. I've been into the birth center twice this week for the midwives to check on me because of all the contractions and basically we're just trying to make it 36 weeks for lung maturity, because my body keeps trying to go into labor. I have to drink lots of water, and take lots of warm baths to get the contractions to slow down, and stay lying down completely horizontally so that the baby isn't pushing down.

Best moment of this week month: Hmmm... well it's just been nice in general to have Thomas around more during his month off from grad school. He also got two long weekends off work for Christmas and New Years. I'm not looking forward to him starting classes again next week :(

Pregnancy moments with the hubby: We've had a couple of nights where we thought we might have to go to the hospital again, but fortunately it hasn't happened yet. But we did pack our hospital bags... and when I say "we" I mean Thomas was frantically running around trying to gather the stuff from the list I made him while I laid on the couch trying to get the contractions to slow down. It was pretty comical :) But at least we're now prepared for when we actually do need to go in... Thomas knows where to find everything now. If we make it to 36 weeks, we can deliver at the birth center... but if baby decides to come before then we have to go to the hospital.


Also, it looks like we will be moving THIS weekend instead of on the 28th... which is good because Thomas won't have started his next graduate school semester yet, AND we have a bigger chance of getting moved before the baby gets here! I LOVE our new apartment and can't wait to be settled in it.