Well, I thought at 36 weeks you were considered full term? Didn’t you? My weekly pregnancy update email says that 37 weeks is actually full term! Which ever is fine with me…Blitzen cannot be born this week anyway 🙂
Baby Growth: Blitzen is almost 6 pounds (the weight of a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. I can tell you that Blitzen is laying exactly the way this baby is in this picture. I feel those little feet, knees and tush on the regular!
Belly Pictures: Now that it’s rare to have Zach here to take my pictures…I took full advantage of it and took PLENTY for ya’ll! Plus I know that a lot of you are waiting to put in your guesses for the Blitzen Baby Pool and some people swear they can tell sex by how a woman is carrying. Hopefully these help you some 😉
Along with my belly stickers I’m also wearing my Stella and Dot La Coco Silver Chain, after the rain brooch, and ava cupchain earrings (great gift at only $24!).
This morning Kye was ALL about some picture taking so we let him be in a few too 😉
sticking out his belly too (love that morning hair)
he’s ready to be a big brother!!!
as a bonus (?) here’s some legit belly pictures!
My Symptoms: My legs pains have gotten so much better. I tried to drink a banana smoothie each day (I loathe bananas) and by Thursday of this week I was DONE. I literally can’t drink another sip of one. Zach bought me some potassium supplements at the store along with magnesium ones as the pharmacist said it will also help. The dr. office said they would call me if my blood work came back with any issues…and they never called so I’m assuming I don’t actually have a potassium defeciency. I’ll ask for sure though at my next appointment this Monday!
I think that resting more and using heating pads have also helped my legs. I use the heating pads for about 15 min or so right before I go to sleep. I have woken up with the leg cramps, but they haven’t been as bad during the day which is a for sure improvement. I’ve also slept so hard this week that I haven’t heard a thing. Zach’s snoring hasn’t bugged me. Kye waking up randomly to ask for someone to fix his blanket hasn’t woken me (I napped one day this week and have no CLUE how long Kye had been awake…I slept an hour past his normal nap ending time! oops!), the dogs haven’t woken me…I’ve been OUT. I still feel that I need a lot more rest before I go into labor though!
My body aches have gotten worse overall, even though the legs are better. I hurt really bad when getting up and down. My back has shooting pains and my inner thighs will often hurt too. I have to use the handle of the wardrobe beside the bed to get myself up in the mornings and even after I’m standing sometimes it takes me some effort to be able to walk. Once I’m up and going I’m fine, but the getting up is the tough part. I lay in the bed with Kye to tuck him in and it’s a mega struggle to get up from laying down with him…so much so that every time I do Kye has started saying “you hurting mommy?”
My joints aren’t bothering me as much (probably all the water has been helping) and I’ve been so busy that I honestly don’t feel pregnant majority of the time. Isn’t it a blessing to be THIS pregnant and still, overall, feel good? I remember last time being SO over it and as of right now I think I could go till my due date and be okay with that. I’ve had more pressure – I can tell sometimes that Blitzen is chillin on my bladder as I’ll have an intense urge to pee randomly. I also have had a few bad cases of Braxton Hicks. A friend of mine, thanks Laura!, told me in an earlier post to do the opposite of whatever I’m doing when I get them. I got them while standing so I laid down and they did feel better.
This week my overall emotion has been more that of disbelief. It’s not that I’m not excited or ready for the baby to arrive…it’s that it’s hard for me to comprehend that it’s happening so soon. I’m going to have a BABY people!!! Whoa! I typically have this kind of attitude when change happens. I will STILL look at Zach and say “can you believe we’re old enough to be married?!?!” I still very much feel like I’m in high school and that I couldn’t possibly be a wife and mother!
I spent a LOT of this week preparing for Blitzen and it is SUCH a blessing to be pregnant for the second time. I know what to buy, what not to buy…what to stock up on, what to wait on. It’s great. I remember having like 5 bottles of shampoo when Kye was born and it took us almost his entire first year of life to go through one of them haha. Lesson learned there! It’s comforting to know that I have all the essentials we’ll need in the first few weeks. I hated having to ask people to run errands for us. I’m sure that will still happen, but it won’t have to happen as often! I’m not ready to pack our bags…yet! Planning on doing that step Thanksgiving week 🙂
Weight: I’ve officially hit the 20 lb weight gain marker! Only gained 1 lb this week! I’m SO proud of myself for taking 36 weeks to gain 20 lb….I hit this milestone so much earlier last time. I’m still 19 lb less than I was when I had Kye (at 39 weeks) so I’m extremely optimistic that I’ll be no where NEAR that number when Blitzen is born! I’m striving for under 25 lb total…which is doable especially if he or she arrives earlier than the 9th 😉
Gender: I still feel girl. Very much so. I’ll be thrilled for a boy too though!
Maternity Clothes: Feeling SO much better with the jeggings 😉 I’m to the point with my size where people stop me CONSTANTLY to talk to me about being pregnant. Sometimes it’s nice but sometimes I am kinda trying to get a move on ya know? This lady at the Steel’s Event Casey and I went to Thursday night would not leave me alone when Casey and I were trying to have girl talk. I mean I LOVE talking to people but sometimes I don’t need to hear about all your pregnancies and birthing experiences ya know? I got stuck in a maternity store for over an hour because the owner wouldn’t let me go. I think I’m too friendly sometimes haha.
Movement: WOW! I did not think I’d still be able to feel Blitzen this intense and this often this far into my pregnancy. It’s often very painful for me too. I will have to press (pretty hard!) on the spot to make him or her move b/c it’ll hurt so much. It also hurts if kye is laying against my stomach or leaning against it when he sits on my lap. Even just gentle touching will sometimes hurt! This kid feels HUGE and feel like it’s completely out of wiggle room!!!
Sleep: Still not enough (instead of going to bed at 11 like usual we’re averaging 11:30 at the earliest) but when I do sleep it’s GOOD sleep. I think it’s the colder weather 😉
Cravings: MILK! I drank an entire gallon of skim milk this week (with Zach’s help but it was mostly me). I could drink it 24/7 right now. I’ve gotten more snacky too and have started having an afternoon snack break while Kye naps as well as a nightly snack break…I need to chill out with it but part of me wants to enjoy indulging while I can before I have to be hardcore Weight Watchers again!
Delivery Update: Stacy told me to start taking primrose oil at 36 weeks. I have it but am not taking it yet. I’m waiting for week 37. This week the baby is NOT allowed to arrive and I know I should do nothing but sit around and cross my legs…but, duh, I can’t do that. My current plan is to get all the remaining things done on my to do list this coming week, then finish up Zach’s to do list Thanksgiving week. I’ll start taking the primrose oil next Friday and hopefully go into labor at the end of Thanksgiving weekend. It’d work out nicely 😉 I originally planned to not get checked at my appointment on Monday for fear that just checking me would set me into labor (since it did with Kye) but now I’m going to get checked. IF I am very far along then I can get the right people in the right places if needed (hopefully). I’m pretty nervous about this week. I mean I know if I go into labor that it’s SUPER early so it’s very unlikely to happen…but I’m scared to death that it will. I tend to have that kind of luck (with Kye there was only ONE week where I didn’t want to have him b/c Stacy was gone…and of course it’s when I had him). I know there’s nothing I can do truly prevent labor, just hope and pray that baby holds out till next Friday or later!
What I Miss: being comfortable! Not living our lives constantly working on a to-do list! it’ll be GREAT to have a newborn and have to revolve our lives around that instead of doing stuff 😉
Best Pregnancy Moment of the Week: One of them was actually from last week but my sweet, wonderful friend Danielle had a hospital gown specially made for ME! It turned out SO adorable and I really love it! While I don’t look forward to actually wearing it (who looks forward to labor?) I know it’ll help a not-so-wonderful-looking-moment look MUCH better! When I modeled it Zach said he especially enjoyed the back (which is, duh, open since it’s a hospital gown). I dunno why he’d enjoy a view of the sexy grannie panties I’ve been sportin’ but whatever 🙂 If you would like a gown of your own (or as a gift – it’s a mega thoughtful, unique present) you can visit the Francie Beth Boutique Facebook Page! Thanks again Danielle!!!
isn’t the ruffled bottom cute?
the little tie belt it my favorite part b/c you can actually tell that I’m not just one big BLOB!
I, of course, have other favorite moments from this week as well 🙂 Kye has become a mega-maams boy. Its not really the best timing b/c I’m about to be nursing a new baby…but I think it has a lot to do with the pregnancy. I’ve heard that the older child will sometimes act differently close to the due date and I think this is Kye’s way. Hey it’s better than regressing on the potty training! He wants me all the time and ONLY me. I think once Blitzen gets here, and he spends a lot more time with Daddy, that he’ll get over it. Even the pets have become more clingy! I wake up in the morning with Sadie pretty much asleep on my stomach and Zeke asleep at my head.
Kye still very much calls the baby Isesis…to the point where I think he’ll have a hard time calling it by a real name. He talks about the baby often and all the things he is excited to help with. We did our Christmas shopping at Target and he picked out a present for Daddy and for the baby and he is excited to give it to him or her! I really enjoy seeing his excitement and it is always a highlight of my week 🙂
One of the BEST things to happen in a LONG time is that ZACH FINISHED THE STORAGE SHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise the LORD! It’s been a long 8 months and a lot of money…it looks AWESOME and (most importantly for me) that means we can move on to other things we need to get done around here before Blitzen arrives! We are getting SO much done and I feel SO much less stress 🙂
Questions/Concerns: Need to show Marie my birth plan. Want to ask about the measurement thing Kelly mentioned in a blog comment to see how big Blitzen really is (or at least close to it). Need to ask about potassium levels in blood work and if it’s okay that I’m taking the supplements.
Goals for the Week: Get all my Christmas wrapping done. Have over half the meals I need to freeze this month cooked/frozen (I finished up all the meals from October – I have 21 home-made meals in my freezer! The more the better right?). Order pictures I need to get for baby book and such. Start making all the lists I want to have for the house/instructions/etc. Do address labels for announcements and Christmas cards. Run ALL last minute errands. Make the gifts for the hospital staff. Be almost caught up on blogging and facebook albums. The Christmas wrapping alone is going to be a HUGE task. Mom’s coming to help one night and I may need to recruit more help sometime this week to master it all 😉
Notes from Pregnancy #1: This time last pregnancy I started my weekly check-ups and actually didn’t have them check how far along I was! Wow, I’m really surprised I resisted that temptation. Reading about that visit makes me nervous for tomorrow, I’m going at it alone and I was very thankful to have Zach there with me for it. 🙁 Stacy said at that appointment that I was considered full term…so I guess I am full term right now??? Here’s what was going on with my symptoms as this point in pregnancy (as well as some belly pictures). Zach and I went down to Jacksonville to celebrate Valentine’s Day and to do a HUGE return/exchange of all our baby presents. I really cracked up reading this post! Zach also wrote me a mega sweet love letter…maybe he’ll have a repeat this week? 😉 I started to REALLY nest this week and think I may be doing the same thing again this pregnancy.
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Awww, you're still so cute! I love the maternity jeggings and your delivery gown is a million times better then the tents they give you at the hospital 🙂 Ok so I know you've written a post (or more than one) on your experience with stopping breastfeeding, but I don't know how to go about finding it. Could you help me?? I'd really like to read it again!!
You are looking great in the photos…