Baby Update · Daily living

Baby #2: Week 35

Here we are in the last week of April already… ahhh!

How far along: 35 weeks on 24 April 2018
Approximate size of Baby: the size of a bunch of carrots or a mini lop rabbit (about 18.2″ long and almost 5.5 lbs)
Gender: No clue, but you can now go make your guess on our Baby Pool! Girl votes are leading right now.
Weight gain: 20 lbs
Symptoms: fatigue, eye issues, low appetite, aches & pains, Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn, dizziness, numbness
  • Do I not look so tired in my photo up there?? Ugh, I can’t wait to sleep better again. But then I’ll have a newborn… no more sleep for me!
  • Always wearing glasses… and even then my eyes feel really dry some days.
  • Still dealing with low appetite. Trying to eat a whole meal is likely to give me mild heartburn.
  • Feeling more groin pain accompanied by hip pain at night and lower back pain some days.
  • I still get regular BH contractions daily. I also had some painful crampy contractions one night right before I started dinner. I get the cramping contractions once or twice a week now.
  • I haven’t had an issue with dizziness in awhile, but that’s been popping up again here and there.
  • I had some carpal tunnel type symptoms back in the first trimester (I was also crocheting a lot then), and they’ve come back recently. It’s mostly my right (dominant) hand that goes numb, and it’s usually at night since I tend to sleep on my hand.

Maternity clothes: All the time.
Stretch marks: no new ones
Belly button in or out: in but getting close to flat
Sleep: Not great. I feel short of breath laying in bed, my hips hurt, and I hurt every time I roll over. 
Best moment this week: Maternity photos! My sister had so many different ideas for poses, so I feel like we’re going to be getting a great mix of photos. It was also great catching up in person! I maybe see my sisters once a year, so there’s lots to talk about when we see each other. 🙂
Miss anything: Definitely my energy… I’m seriously dragging lately.
Movement: Lots of movement — I never do kick counts because this kid is always working on his/her tumbling moves. I keep forgetting to mention that this baby seems to get hiccups pretty regularly too!
Cravings: Nothing new. Still having apples and cheese almost every night for a snack. Also enjoying frozen yogurt many nights. I do feel like I’ve been wanting lighter foods vs heavy sauces or lots of meat.
Looking forward to: I have another OB appointment tomorrow, and I think the doctor said he was planning to do a cervical check. Since we were surprised at 37 weeks last time, I’m curious to know if there’s anything happening down there.

Baby Update · Daily living

Baby #2: Week 34

I started off this week with my first OB appointment at Little Rock. The doctor seems very nice, and he answered all the questions I went in with regarding labor & delivery. He said I’m measuring perfectly, baby is head down, and everything looks good!

How far along: 34 weeks on 17 April 2018
Approximate size of Baby: the size of a butternut squash or a quokka (about 4.7 lbs and 17.7″ long)
Gender: No clue, but you can now go make your guess on our Baby Pool!
Weight gain: 18 lbs
Symptoms: fatigue, eye issues, nausea, low appetite, SPD?, Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn
  • Always tired, although I do feel like I’ve had some deeper sleep this past week.
  • Haven’t bothered with my contacts in weeks. I’m so sick of wearing my glasses, but I can’t stand having my eyes burning either.
  • Nausea has been increasing again. I think the baby is just squishing all my organs at this point.
  • Still dealing with low appetite. I feel like my nutrition is going downhill again as I try to think of things I want to eat. I also can feel the baby pushing up into my ribs more often now, which really doesn’t make me feel like eating.
  • I feel like the achiness has not been as bad this week, except for when I’m trying to roll myself over in bed.
  • I still get regular BH contractions daily, but I had no crampy painful contractions this week until the day I actually hit 34 weeks. Out of curiosity I timed them, and they were lasting 2 minute and were 5 minutes apart for awhile before spacing out and going away.
  • Heartburn has started. It’s not every day, thankfully!

Maternity clothes: All the time.
Stretch marks: no new ones
Belly button in or out: in but getting close to flat
Sleep: I have had a hard time shutting my brain off to go to sleep. There’s always something that I feel like I need to get done. If I wake up with Andrew’s alarm, I often can’t get back to sleep now either. 
Best moment this week: Meeting my new OB! I think it eased my anxiety to get everything checked out again. It sounds like most of what I want for labor & delivery will be possible at the hospital here too. I’m hoping we can find time to do a tour of L&D soon.
Miss anything: My appetite & my energy
Movement: Lots of movement all day long. Sometimes all the rolling and kicking actually makes me feel nauseated.
Cravings: Nothing new. Still having apples and cheese almost every night for a snack. Also enjoying frozen yogurt many nights.
Looking forward to: My sister Becki visiting! She is going to do maternity photos for me, and I’m already looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Plus I’m excited to have a visitor!

Daily living · Parenting

Pregnancy Must Haves… the 2nd Time

When I was pregnant with Gerrit, I read a lot of “pregnancy must have” lists for recommendations to make the rough parts a little more bearable. I even came up with my own list when I was pregnant the first time. And not that my list from last time didn’t have good ideas, my list this time around looks a little different…

  1. Netflix/cable/DVDs 
    When you have another kid to take care of while you’re pregnant, you sometimes just need a break. Maybe you want to try to take a catnap? Find a show on Netflix for your kid to watch, and sneak back into bed. Pretty sure you’re about to puke? Find a show on Netflix, turn up the volume, and hope your kid gives you a few minutes of privacy to deal with morning sickness. I know, I know… you shouldn’t use TV as a babysitter. But sometimes you do what ya gotta do.
  2. Hiding place 
    Most pregnant people I know need to snack throughout the day. And if you’re nauseated by a lot of foods, you do not want to share the foods that you can keep down. So if you’re a SAHM, you better find a good hiding place. The pantry is perfect, since that’s probably where your snacks live. Your bedroom closet is good too (just leave some Girl Scout cookies on the shelf behind some sweaters). If you don’t want to share your snacks with your minion(s), find a good hiding place.
  3. Special treats 
    You felt like crap all day. Your kid was defiant, whiny, and clingy from breakfast til bath time. You finally got said kid to bed. Now wouldn’t a glass of wine be nice to unwind? Not when you’re pregnant. So you better find another treat to help take the edge off! For me it’s ice cream or frozen yogurt. I will not share it. It’s my “I survived the day” reward. No touchy.
  4. Caffeine
    I remember when I was pregnant with Gerrit and ended up not being able to stomach the smell or taste of coffee in the first trimester. And since you’re not supposed to consume much caffeine in pregnancy anyway, I just gave up my morning coffee. I still went through a phase of not really wanting any coffee this time around, but as soon as I could handle it again, I started drinking a cup a day to wake up in the morning. I also usually have a Dr Pepper in the afternoon for a pick-me-up too.
  5. Lists & Plans
    I feel like having another kid to take care of 24/7 seriously sucks up my memory. I have a notebook and pen on the end table in the living room 100% of the time to write down anything I need to do or just things I don’t want to forget. I have grocery lists, lists of people I need to get in touch with, baby lists, lists of things to do with a hyper 3 year old… so many lists. And going along with that last thing, I feel like I’m always looking for indoor activities to do with Gerrit. I refuse to take him outside right now because he has tried to take off more than once, and I can’t/don’t want to chase him down at my size. Thankfully there are a lot more options for indoor play here in Little Rock than there were in Del Rio. I keep up with events on base for kids his age as well as things happening in the community. If we ever are having One of Those Days, I have a plan to get us out of the house for awhile.
  6. Alone Time
    This one probably depends on the person, but I NEED my alone time. I don’t really get any during the day since Gerrit doesn’t nap anymore, so I totally take advantage of any time I get when Andrew is home. He’s pretty good about taking G outside when he’s home, and he keeps him fairly occupied while I’m making dinner. I also insist on at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to do whatever I want after we’re done with the bedtime routine. Usually I’m mindlessly scrolling Facebook during that time, but that’s exactly what I need: something mindless with no one touching me and no one talking to me. It keeps me sane.

Pregnancy after that first time is definitely different! As much as I hate all the aches and pains that have come with this pregnancy, it’s been more fun in some ways too: I love hearing Gerrit talk so sweetly to the baby, and I’m much more prepared feeling this time vs being terrified. We’re looking forward to meeting this baby next month!