36 Weeks Pregnant

A week late, but I wanted to write down stats from last week...

On Friday I went to have an ultrasound done to see if baby is still growing good. I was not surprised to find that he in fact is growing great! It was awesome to see his adorable face and chubby cheeks and hands. Yep, I could totally see my adorable little chunk with his thick hands. His head is down and facing right and he is completely squished in there. It was hard for her to measure every part of him because he is so crammed, and there was no way she could identify his "boy" parts, but thankfully I already have confirmed his manhood, not once but twice. When I left my appointment, I quickly looked up my 36 week blog post with Lincoln to make some comparisons between the two, and I was excited to see how similar everything was.

36 Weeks with Lincoln:
My fundus measurement was barely 30 weeks, so I was measuring 6 weeks behind! I was smaller than my previous appointment because Lincoln had dropped. They did an ultrasound to make sure he was growing and he measured in the 37 percentile and weighed approximately 5lbs 14oz.

With this baby:
My fundus measured 3 weeks behind and was smaller than my previous appointment because baby had dropped. They did an ultrasound to make sure baby is growing good and he was in the 30 percentile and weighed roughly 5lbs 8 oz.

What I find the most interesting is how the "fundus measurement" can be affected by so many different things, especially in the last weeks. Doctor Hermanshati explained that once baby "drops" the measurement becomes completely inaccurate. Even though I measured six weeks behind with Lincoln, he still measured bigger than this baby! Totally fascinating to me.
Also going off of these measurements, Lincoln only gained one pound from 36 weeks to 39 weeks when he was born. With that I can guess that this baby will weigh around the same, maybe slightly more, if I go the entire 40 weeks.

Anyways just wanted to write down all the doctors information.

Sorry no picture this week, but just imagine me wearing my husband's giant shirt, pink silky pajamas pants, and sandals. My hair is messy, bushy and gross. Nothing matches and I look worse than white trash. I even went out in public to get a much needed slurpy from 7-11 because that is what I crave. When I asked Scott if he was embarrassed to be seen with me, he simply said, "I just think you have given up hope these last few weeks". I've definitely given up hope on looking good and have quit attempting. I am what I am.....VERY pregnant.

35 Weeks Pregnant

The last few weeks always become so exciting and full of news as the doctor begins checking dilation and effacement. Even though I hope this baby stays in until his due date, I still feel myself wishing I was progressing.

Today I had my appointment and the doctor did the group B test along with some other tests that were skipped with my last appointments. My fundus measured at 32 weeks, so about three weeks behind. I wasn't concerned because baby has dropped and that can throw off the entire measurement. However, they scheduled me an ultrasound for tomorrow so we will see how baby is growing. I'm not worried at all because the same thing happened with Lincoln, but I measured five weeks behind and Lincoln came out almost seven pounds a week early.

The doctor also checked to see if I had started dilating. I am dilated to a one and 50% effaced. He told me with this progress baby should be here by 38 weeks. I just started laughing because that's what they told me with Lincoln and they had to break my water to get him to come at 39 weeks! Either way I was still super excited to hear that I am dilated and it suddenly feels so real!

As for contractions, I have them whenever I walk at all, even just down the hall. We went to Seattle on Saturday and my stomach was one giant contraction the entire time. Talk about exhausting! Braxton hicks are stressful because I'm always wondering if it is the real thing or just another weak contraction. I hope I know when it is real. My biggest fear is going to the hospital to only get sent home with mild practice contractions.

It was really good to go to my appointment today. It made me nervous and anxious for baby to come. I still have a lot to do, so I need to get off my butt and get to work!

I feel great this week! I have very little pain and as long as I don't sit upright too long, I'm not even uncomfortable. Walking gets quite tiresome and I feel incredibly out of shape. Seriously! I also have gained a lovely 28 pounds and my swollen fingers can no longer wear my wedding ring. My feet are quite swollen too, but thankfully Washington is cold all the time so I'm not a hot mess on top of being pregnant.

Here is my belly! Can you believe I only have a month left? Yikes!

34 Weeks Pregnant

This week I have been SO tired! I constantly need to sit down and take a moment to breath. Sleep is getting difficult to have at all and I can only ever get three straight hours before waking up to pee. I have also been very emotional, I feel like I cry all the time. It is super annoying.

Now for venting, I know that I carry my babies different than a lot of women. I don't have that adorable basketball in front of me, but instead baby is in my back and hips. But just because baby is not two feet in front of me, doesn't mean I don't still feel just as pregnant as every other girl. Sometimes I wish I was bigger out front so people would treat me just a little more pregnant and remember I am in my final stretch. There are things I don't want to do and every other eight month pregnant girl wouldn't want to do either. I get tired on my feet, I get cranky, my back hurts, it's hard to breath and sometimes I need my space. Anyways, that is my complaint for this pregnancy.

Other than getting more uncomfortable, more tired, and more cranky, everything else is good. I'm trying to enjoy this last month as our little family of three and more than anything I am trying to soak up every last minute I get with Lincoln. I know I say that ALL the time, but it is something I will miss. Of course now we get to be a family of four which is even better. This is the last time I get my little boy to myself and so I'm busy making memories. He definitely is a mama's boy and I love it! He makes me feel loved with his constant hugs, kisses and gentle rubs on my back. He won't hug or kiss anyone else but his mama. Makes me excited for another little boy to love on.

With that said here is my belly:

And here is my Lincoln

33 weeks Pregnant

I totally am bad about skipping weeks, but I added extra pictures to make up for last week. Just pretend two are for 32 weeks.

That oh so nice pregnancy stage is disappearing quickly! Seven weeks left and I am starting to hope for an early labor. What exactly happened to my, "I could be pregnant forever" stage? Well a rash happened! A couple of weeks ago my stomach began itching like crazy! I thought for sure my skin was about to burst into a million stretch marks, so I started applying lotion and baby oil. Things got worse! I broke out in a bumpy, itchy rash that felt like my stomach was on fire. I stopped applying anything on my belly. Still itchy. Wearing clothes made it worse, so I lifted up my shirt, sagged my pants and began walking around the house with my belly hanging out for a week. It helped and the rash has almost disappeared, but I still itch!

My acid reflux has also returned with vengeance! In order to tone it down I refuse to eat past seven and drink 3-5 glasses of water before bed. This works miracles and completely gets rid of the acid. The down side, lots of nightly trips to the bathroom, but I will take that over having my head in the toilet puking up straight acid.

And last but not least, the waddle has begun! Every time I walk too much I begin waddling and soon I'm holding my back, rubbing my belly and breathing heavily. It is not a pretty sight and I find myself shouting at poor Scott, "Stop looking at me weird! I'm practically eight months pregnant, leave me alone!". I feel like I have to constantly remind him that I am pregnant and deserve some pampering and the right to breath hard.

Alright, so these symptoms aren't too awful and I can't complain much, but they do all shout that I'm in my final weeks. I'm getting uncomfortable, huge, and cranky, what more can I say?

Today I got to meet my newest doctor. He is number four and is by far my favorite, only problem is I cannot pronounce his name, Doctor Hermashati. When making my appointment I literally had no choice of doctor at all. All the other doctors were booked for at least two months and so they gave me the "new guy". Thank heavens! He is full of energy and listened to every word I said. My nurse is also amazing and they are so friendly and fun to talk to that it makes me excited to go back in two weeks. As for my appointment, it went well, I get to use the valet parking which means I only have to walk to two different elevators to get to my office. As for the health of baby and I, my uterus is measuring spot on, baby's heartbeat is strong, and I passed the diabetic test. The only thing is my red blood cell count was low, so I am Anemic. It is really common, but if not treated can be life threatening at birth if I lose too much blood. Basically I get to take iron pills that constipate me, something I look forward to. No seriously constipation is one of my biggest fears, I may or may not share why later (insert winky face). Basically anemia is caused from the increase in blood flow for the baby but not enough red blood cells to fill it. Baby is eating it all up (bless his heart) and leaving me weak, tired, cranky and pale. Alright, I am just cranky, weak from lack of exercise, and I have always looked like an Albino, but for now I'm blaming pregnancy. It is also caused because I got pregnant directly after a miscarriage and my body didn't have time to fully repair itself. It didn't effect me until third trimester though, which is good.

Everything else is great. I have gained 25 pounds and was asked by a stranger if I was pregnant. It made me so happy I almost hugged her.

As for the little guy, he is doing great. He loves to hang out on my left side and it makes for an odd shapped belly, but I love it and will never complain about his painful kicks and shoves. He moves all the time, way more than Lincoln did and I wonder if this is a small glimpse at his sleeping schedule. Let's hope not!

Here is my big belly!