31 Weeks

So the main thing for this week is pelvic pain... or more specifically, lower pelvic pain.  I feel like the baby is starting to drop.  Either that or she is just growing and stretching out.  My 32 week checkup is on Wednesday so I plan on asking the doctor about it.  I've been feeling the baby's hands moving near my bladder and her feet right up under my chest.  She's taking up as much room as she can :).  I've been feeling what I think are her feet moving across my belly.  I had Jason feel it a couple days ago and his response was something along the lines of "whoa... weird".  Gotta love him ;). 

I've been fighting a cold for the past couple weeks and I think it's finally almost gone.  Combined with the normal pregnancy congestion, it has made any activity (including breathing) very difficult.  I've been using my humidifier at night, which I think has helped but I'm hoping it will help even more when she starts to drop toward the last month or so of the pregnancy.

I found a great new (to me) website for my weekly updates - www.alphamom.com.  I started reading the updates and was cracking up.  They're very real and don't try to sugar-coat the unpleasant symptoms.  Here are a couple of highlights from this week's post:

Your Baby:

• Blah blah blah 3.3 pounds, bag of oranges, sock full of nickels, etc.
• Enjoys yawning, sucking his or her thumb, kicking mom in the diaphragm.
• Turn-offs include: getting the hiccups, really loud noises and you trying to do all that boring “sleeping” at night.

You:

• Can totally round down your answer to “two months” when people ask you how much longer you have to go. DO NOT focus on the crazy week-to-month-ratio math at this point in pregnancy, particularly when there are breakable, smashy objects within reach.
• May be weirdly and inexplicably congested all the time. I, for one, appear to be allergic to my pillow. This is also prime time for pregnancy colds, as the toll on your body and immune system is getting higher by the week. Take it easy, slow down, take your vitamins and try try try to get enough sleep.
• Can now play everybody’s favorite game, Guess The Body Part That’s Sticking Out Next To My Belly Button! Elbow or heel? Head or butt? Did I seriously just maybe feel my baby’s BIG TOE?

Oh Yeah, THIS: Heartburn! Terrible, hideous, words-cannot-describe-it heartburn. There really is nothing quite like the heartburn one gets when one’s torso is simply too crowded to contain both a stomach and a stomach with food in it.

New This Time Around: That said, I don’t think I ever had heartburn bad enough last time that I thought I was dying and should consider driving to the hospital, nor did my husband ever attempt to TIME MY WAVES OF HEARTBURN because he said I was acting exactly like I did when I was in labor.

I agree with pretty much all of the above ;).  Now for the items that are becoming more important nowadays:

Contractions: None yet that I've noticed.  Although now that I say that, I just felt a cramping feeling on the left side of my belly.  Hrm.
Cravings: Nothing specific - this pregnancy has been pretty boring in that area
Weight:  We don't have a functioning scale at home so we'll see what the verdict is at my appointment.  Last week my total was +18 lbs.
Swelling:  feet and sometimes a little in my hands - I prop my feet up at work a lot :)
Things to do: EVERYTHING, or so it seems.  Need to buy furniture and other items from my registry (Target), pre-make meals, write out my birth plan, pack the hospital bag, etc....
Heartburn:  Not as bad this week but that's probably because my doctor recommended taking a higher dose of Zantac.  I'm still only taking as needed, though.
Stretching: and stretching and stretching.  My stretch marks from Logan are stretching, gah.  A few spots have really been hurting and itching this week.  I bought some Burt's Bees oil to try on my belly tonight.  I hope it helps to make the stretching less painful.

Well, I think that's all for now.  I'm hoping my appointment this week will go well.  Will post as soon as I can afterward.

31 Weeks

Holy smokes, time is flying!  I'm now into single digit weeks-til-my-due-date!  I can't believe it :).  This was a pretty decent week with the exception of a few things.  First, my head cold got worse and now I'm fighting a sinus infection.  Second, I've gotten more and more tired and it seems like smaller tasks are taking more energy to complete.  My lungs are nice and squished, so I sound like I ran a mile after walking across the room :).  Finally, my feet and ankles have been swelling up a bit for the past few weeks and I just plain don't like it.  It comes with the territory, though, so I'll get over it :). 

I had my 30 week checkup on Tuesday and it went well.  I met another midwife and she was very nice.  It was a bit awkward, though, because I don't think she was any older than me so it was just... different.  I've seen plenty of movies where the patient asks "how many babies have you delivered?" because the doctor is so young and inexperienced, but I never thought I would want to ask a doctor/midwife that question ;).  Anyway... if she's the midwife on call when I go into labor, I'm sure she'll do a great job :). 

So far my total weight gain is 16lbs and I'd really like to keep the total under 20.  Logan should gain another 4+ pounds, though, so I'll have to be careful with what I eat.  I'm also trying to go on walks whenever I can, but sometimes I get cramps or pains afterward.  There seems to be a fine line between getting exercise and pushing myself too far. 

Logan has been pretty active, especially since Jason got home.  He hasn't been doing much today, though, so I'm praying that everything is alright.  Maybe he's just in a different position that I'm not used to.  He had the hiccups when I woke up this morning.  It seems like a lot of pregnant women are annoyed by baby hiccups, but to me it's just another indication that he's doing well. 

We have another ultrasound near the Children's Hospital of Atlanta on Monday.  Afterward we'll meet with a surgeon for a consultation.  I'm praying that Logan's heart and arteries are developing like they need to so that the surgery will be minimally invasive.  Ideally he wouldn't have to have surgery at all, but we're leaving that in God's hands.  I will try to post an update when we get home.  In the meantime, we would really appreciate your prayers!

I think that's about all I have for now, so here are the development details:

• Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring approximately 16 inches long, he weighs about 4 lbs. 4 whole pounds, wow! And from this week, until 2 weeks before birth, he will gain about a half pound every week.
• As you've probably noticed, he is moving around quite a bit in there! It's not uncommon for his continuous movements, which may feel like somersaults, to be keeping you up at night. His arms, legs and body are also filling out as he continues to develop fat underneath his skin, making those kicks and prods feel even stronger than last week. You may even see an arm or a foot move slowly across your belly!

As always, thanks for reading and for keeping Logan (and us) in your prayers :).  Don't forget to enter your birth guesses in our 'baby pool'... just click on the banner on the right side of the page.