It’s Baby’s birth month! We’re down to weekly OB appointments from here on out. My 35 week appointment included the strep B test and my first cervical check. I’m currently about 1 cm dilated, and Baby is still head down. Other than that, everything is looking good! Hoping to schedule our L&D tour soon.

• Always tired, although I do feel like I’ve had some deeper sleep this past week.
• Still dealing with low appetite. This baby not only sits right on my bladder, but also squishes my stomach. Gerrit never dropped, so I don’t know if this one will and give my stomach and lungs some relief.
• I just hurt. I have to actually get out of bed to roll over at this point, because rolling from my right side to my left is so painful. When I get up in the morning, my hips and knees are so sore.
• BH contractions when I’m on my feet for a long time, and one afternoon of crampy contractions this week.

Maternity clothes: All the time.
Stretch marks: no new ones
Belly button in or out: in but getting close to flat
Sleep: Very broken. Thankfully, Gerrit has been sleeping better at night, but I’m still up to go to the bathroom and reposition myself every hour or two. 
Best moment this week: Andrew and I had a date night! Since we don’t have family nearby, dates are very infrequent for us. This was partly a belated anniversary date and partly a we-better-do-this-before-we-have-another-baby date. It was really nice. I don’t think you can truly appreciate date night until you’ve had a kid. Not stressing about how your child is behaving/eating is fantastic! We both had great meals, and we both splurged on desserts. The weather was nice enough for us to eat on the patio too. It was a really great night for us.

Other than that, just feeling prepared. I feel so different in the final stretch of this pregnancy than I did when I was pregnant with G. I had so much anxiety about everything with him, and I procrastinated on things as if it would give me more time before he arrived (and of course he came early). This time I’m leaving little to do at the last minute so that my stress level is hopefully lower: I’m up to 8 freezer meals made (all will have leftovers); all cloth diapers are washed, folded, and put away; baby clothes are washed, folded, and put away; baby’s & my bags are packed; and baby’s bed and changing station are set up and ready.
Miss anything: Not hurting
Movement: Fewer kicks/punches and more rolling movements now.
Cravings: Nothing new. Still having apples and cheese almost every night for a snack. Also enjoying frozen yogurt many nights.
Looking forward to: Seeing if anything has changed at my next appointment!

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

• 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.

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!

• 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!