Is it bad that I’m kinda over writing these each week? I still have a LOT more to write too don’t I? I just keep reminding myself that it’ll be GREAT to look back on for baby #3 😉
Baby Growth: Blitzen is weighing in at 3/4 of a pound and measuring 10 1/2 inches long, the length of a carrot. If Blitzen is a girl then her vagina is beginning to develop! It says this week the baby starts to swallow and will be getting little bits of amniotic fluid so it’s now that I should especially start eating a variety of foods to heighten the baby’s taste buds..
Belly Picture: When Zach took these pictures for me he made the comment that I’m not gaining as much weight in my face this pregnancy, I hope that’s the truth! But I honestly don’t think I gained in my face until the very end so we still have a while until we’ll know for sure 😉 Still no one says I look pregnant, and friends say they can only tell from the side. I’m VERY glad I bought a number sticker for each week instead of the standard every 4 weeks – I made a facebook album and it’s neat to compare each week side by side!
I’m sportin’ some NEW Stella and Dot stuff this week: Panther Pendant Necklace, Hematite Cupchain Bracelet, Vintage Twist Bracelet, two Soiree Pave Bracelets and Soiree Studs
My Symptoms: My feet hurt after very little walking. I did find some Disney shoes for our trip! I went to the Skechers outlet and bought two pairs of their flip-flops with cushioned bottoms. They aren’t too ugly and are very comfortable. However, I wore them for 3 1/2 hours running errands this morning and my feet are killing me and I’m exhausted. Being pregnant in general just wears you OUT – comfortable shoes or not! My plan for Disney (which is still 7 weeks away so you KNOW I’ll get worn out even quicker then!) is to tough it out for the first day b/c we plan to do Magic Kingdom and to me that IS Disney World. For the other three days (where we’ll do Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios) I’m fine with being wheeled around via wheel chair…but we’ll see!
The exhaustion isn’t just from walking, the drive (solo) to Atlanta on Sunday was BRUTAL. My butt literally fell asleep, I had to get legit coffee to stay awake, and I had to stop and pee multiple times. The trip was TOTALLY worth it, but I won’t be traveling any decent amount of distance again on my own until after Blitzen’s arrival.
My belly button is right on the border of being an outie and is pretty leveled off. I only feel comfortable wearing pants, bras, and jewelry for a couple hours but then I want them OFF. I’m wearing my 36C bra on the loosest setting and really need to run into Victoria’s Secret to get fitted as I’m sure I’m needing a bigger size.
I haven’t had nearly as many lower abdomen pains as last week and I really appreciate everyone commenting about how normal that was, it made me feel SO much better knowing it’s a typical pregnancy thing! I also haven’t had any more discharge/pee issues so that’s good too.
Weight: I’m SO proud of myself! I worked HARD this week and drank water non-stop (I even have a glass sitting here with me while I write this!). It wasn’t an easy thing to start doing but already I noticed that I’m mega thirsty if I haven’t had any in awhile. Going to the bathroom more often is annoying, but it paid off! I didn’t gain ANY this week so I’m still at a total of +3lb overall, which isn’t bad for this far in right? I didn’t do any additional exercising but I had an active week so I think that helped too!
Gender: We had a church gathering last weekend and a mother of three (2 girls and a boy) said she saw my ultrasound picture and is sure it’s a girl. She said she can see the little slit haha! Then I showed my dad and Audrey the ultrasound video and they said they can see testicles so it’s a boy. Cracked me up – hope we don’t have one with double parts 😉
Maternity Clothes: Kelly is SUCH a sweet friend and let me borrow several pairs of her pants! Last time around I bought all mediums thinking I’d be wearing that size and they were WAY too big so now I have some smalls to mix in there too 🙂 Also last time around I bought several pairs of size 8 pants to wear (I’m typically a 4 or 6 depending on brand) and I’ve pulled those out. I’m wearing some now and still need to use the Bella Band with them but they are a little roomier than my other “regular” pants 😉 If anyone sees any good deals on cute flowy dresses let me know – I really would rather invest in stuff like that where I can wear it after I have the baby and use it now. Dresses are just SO much more comfortable!!!
Movement: It says that this week is the time I’ll start feeling more hardcore kicks and punches, and that Blitzen’s movement will become on a schedule of sorts. I haven’t noticed any intense kicks but he or she is on a schedule for sure! I feel him or her the most right when I lay down for bed and sometimes it keeps me awake. I also notice it AS I’m eating. Which I don’t think the baby gets food that fast?!?! If I drink caffeine I feel a lot stronger movements than normal, it’s neat but it makes me feel guilty too. I am no longer drinking caffeine to minimize headaches, only when needed for sleep deprived reasons (like while I was in Atlanta!)
Sleep: I’ve started to turn the thermostat down to 72 and am sleeping WAY better. No sweat 😉 If I wake up though I do have a hard time falling back to sleep. I MUST have a pillow between my legs and sleep on my left side in order to fall asleep, although sometimes laying on my back is comfortable too. No more strange dreams either!
Cravings: None! My typical routine is to eat: 1/2 cup cinnamon toast crunch with 3/4 cup organic skim milk for breakfast, sandwich or homemade egg mcmuffin (with peanut butter) or peanut butter crackers for lunch with water (no more koolaide!), then whatever we eat as a family for dinner with water. For snack I’ll drink a glass of ice water and eat a fudgesicle. I haven’t noticed any real cravings to report – except the occasional desire for Subway!
What I Miss: Feeling well rested. Sitting around almost BORED like I got to do my first pregnancy. I feel pretty overwhelmed with everything on my “to do” list for before Blitzen arrives and knowing I have to decorate the nursery and do Christmas after he or she gets here is stressful too!
Best Pregnancy Moment of the Week: Getting to see my fellow pregnant mama Rachael, and visits with Danielle, Dana, Chelsea and Kelly! Meeting Kelly’s new addition, Mack, was so fun and she makes me feel SO much better about handling life with two 😉 Rhyan was BEYOND sweet with her brother and I hope Kye’s the same way! I booked the 4d ultrasound for the day after we get back from Disney so I’m REALLY looking forward to that!!!
Questions/Concerns: Mostly just feel overwhelmed by everything to do, no real baby/pregnancy worries. I DO have to bust out this birth plan before our appointment Wednesday! More birth plan questions for you guys if you have read this far down: Did you hold your baby right away or let them clean it first? Did you have the cord cut right away or wait for it to stop pulsing? I’ve heard that’s the “new thing” and it’s beneficial to the baby but is it worth the battle if the hospital has a policy regarding cutting right away?
I am nervous about breastfeeding too but not for ANY of the reasons I was last time, I’m just worried about how much TIME it takes up and how that will be time I can’t spend with Kye. I’m super pumped to get that quality bonding time with Blitzen, but I feel sad to miss out on so much with Kye. I’m so glad he’s a boy b/c he can do “guy stuff” with Daddy. I actually have been thinking a lot that I kinda hope this one is a boy too b/c when #3 comes along it’ll be able to join in Kye’s and Daddy’s “guy stuff” too 😉
Goals for the Week: Birth plan MUST be written before Wednesday! Enjoy Kye’s last week of “summer” with him before school starts. Also need to book our parenting classes at the hospital for November 🙂 If Zach’s reading this: PLEASE LET’S START BRADLEY!!!!!!!! We’ve been watching tv almost every night together (Big Brother is a time consuming love of ours!) and there’s really no excuse for us not to get on this junk!
Notes from Pregnancy #1: SO funny how similar things are from week to week…during this week last time I noticed my feet hurting if I was active and could only fall asleep on my left side with my pregnancy pillow. I also noticed that my face hadn’t gained any weight yet (so I guess Zach was wrong on that one at least for now!). Here‘s a post on the other symptoms I was dealing with (sounds like I was gaining weight the same way as I am now…around instead of out!). It was my birthday this week with my last pregnancy so I felt a little depressed like all birthdays make me feel (I don’t like getting older!) I did eat at Red Lobster and we ate there this week too. Gah I LOVE it and could eat it every day! We were also upset that week because it’s when Obama got elected (it was my first time voting!) – hopefully we’ll have better news next year 😉
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I'm SOOOOO proud of you for drinking water! I know its hard… i had to FORCE myself during my pregnancies (i still have to make myself… otherwise i'd drink one cup of chocolate milk and one cup tea per day and nothing else… BAD!)You look great, Em! You can totally tell from the side that you're preggo which is EXACTLY how it should be 🙂 Being able to tell from the front… well, thats not "all baby". lol. So be glad :-)And girl… i really hope we have better luck in 2012 🙂
Did you forget I have a blog now too?!? You should link it to my name and get me some more followers!!! Haha!!! :)I'm loving this blogging thing and I got a sewing machine tonight!!! I just happened to mention to my mother-in-law that I was looking for one and she had one! It's 25 years old but only been used a few times and looks brand new-for real!! I'm gonna try it out as soon as I can get me some thread!
There's something about you being a couple of weeks ahead of me that is making me feel like this is going so fast!!
ok, i was just re-reading this post and one question crossed my mind:WHERE are the fruits and veggies in your diet? You're not gaining weight from junk food which is great, but good lorddy, girl, you and your baby needs some healthy food, too! So thats your assignment for this week from forddygirl: in addition to keeping up your fabulous water drinking (yay!), eat fruits and veggies.HUGS!