36 weeks

What a week. I'm exhausted (Note: See "worst moment this week" below).

I'm calling today the beginning of my "maternity leave." I'm a stay-at-home-soon-to-be-mom, but yesterday was the last day of my volunteer position (until I'm ready to go back... no idea when that may be) at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. It was also the last night of our 12-week Bradley Method class.

I've also had some little tastes of labor - exciting! I've been having what I think are contractions - minor cramping that lasts a minute or so. It's not too painful at all. Actually it feels exactly like period cramps.

Size of baby: A honeydew

Sleep: Blah - I wish I could fall asleep first because James' snoring is not fun.

Movement: Every day, some days more than others. I thought I felt hiccups low, but then I might have felt them high. I'll find out baby's position at my midwife appointment on Monday.

Feeling: Excited and nervous. We planned and tried for this baby - shouldn't I feel more ready? I also feel tired, and getting off couches and beds becomes more and more difficult. But to be clear, I feel pretty good for the most part!

What I miss: A stretch-mark-free belly.

What I'm looking forward to: Being full term in 1 week (for the non-pregnants... that means that baby is basically fully developed and ready to be born at any time between 37 and 42 weeks). Looking forward to my baby shower on Saturday too!

Worst moment this week: My dad had a pretty serious health scare that had him in the hospital for several days. It was terribly scary and I don't want it to happen again. Ever. To anyone I love :(

Best moment this week: Finding out that my dad is going to be okay!!

Milestones: My first contractions (I think). Also...

• She's getting closer and closer to being able to breathe on her own.
• Her skin is getting smooth and soft and her gums are rigid.
• Her liver and kidneys are in working order.
• Circulation and immune systems are basically good to go, too

Cravings: Nothing for me, though I bought a big container of applesauce and every time I eat a bowl, baby really gets moving.

Food aversions: I'm kind of back to the "everything is gross" stage, sadly. I made one dinner of bowtie pasta, chicken and a creamy sauce with peas that was palletable.

Bittersweet

This might be totally irrational, but I'm feeling kind of sad that I'm almost done being pregnant! I know that the best times are to come and having babe in my arms will be the best thing ever. But at the same time, as long as he/she is inside me, I know that my child is safe, happy and comfortable. I don't have to worry about anything - my biggest responsibility when it comes to taking care of my baby is eating.

Even though the first trimester nausea sucked and the third trimester exhaustion is, well, exhausting, I like being pregnant. Feeling my baby move around is amazing and I love the way my body looks. I love the way my belly looks anyway, not so much the rest of me. But that's all that anyone notices, right?

I think part of this feeling, which will go away soon, is that I haven't had my baby shower yet and thus don't have all the things baby will need. We don't have sheets for it to sleep on, not enough clothing to dress it in, and I really need to buy more diapers and wipes. After the shower, I'll do all that final shopping and I think I'll feel a lot more prepared at that point.

Just wanted to put this out there so I have the memory. Maybe in a month I'll feel completely opposite. Don't get me wrong, I totally want to meet my baby! I want to find out if it's a he or a she, and who it looks like, and how it acts. It's just bittersweet, because being pregnant is easy and fun, and my life is about to change a whole lot.

35 weeks

As of today, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and I have 35 days until my due date! Eeeek!! I think I have felt hiccups down low, which would mean that baby is in the correct head-down position. I hope so.

Size of baby: The size of a coconut

Sleep: Sometimes I just can't get comfortable - the Snoogle helps on those nights but it's still crappy. I also get nighttime leg cramps which are super annoying.

Movement: Peanut certainly has more active, then more quiet days. He either moves more when I lay on my sides, or it's just more noticeable then.

Feeling: Physically I feel very tired. Emotionally I feel nervous that I'll be full term in just 2 weeks, and baby could be here soon! I don't want this babe in my arms until I'm done with my shower thank you cards, clothing is washed and supplies are ready.

What I miss: Reaching my feet easily... I can still put on foot lotion and tie my shoes - though they're both much harder. But for some reason it's almost impossible to reach the outside of my ankles to buckle my Saltwater Sandals. They've been retired for the remainder of this pregnancy. I had the hardest time putting them back on in the Ross dressing room the other day... I had to hold my breath and it felt like I was squishing my poor baby!

What I'm looking forward to: My baby shower - 9 more days! Also seeing my maternity pictures - I got 2 sneak peaks and they're gorge! Oh okay, I'll go ahead and put one here :)

Thanks sister! Love it!

Best moment this week: Saturday was my 26th birthday - I went out to brunch with my parents while hubs was at work. A burst of nesting instinct was also a great moment. I got some pictures and curtains hung that I've been meaning to do for months.

Worst moment this week: Nothing bad happened this week. I guess the heat (100+ on my birthday) would be the worst part.

Milestones: My uterus has grown about 1,000 times its original size! Baby's hearing is fully developed, and she responds best to high-pitched noises (so says the Internet... I haven't noticed this). If it's a boy, his testes have probably fully descended.

Cravings: Carbs, blueberries and blueberry flavored everything (cereal, bagels, cereal bars).

Food aversions: Veggies

34 weeks

Oh I just love my pregnant belly!

Size of baby: The size of a butternut squash.

Sleep: Bad on the hot nights, and sometimes uncomfy. But overall fine if it's not scorching hot. It takes conscious momentum to get up!

Movement: I L.O.V.E. sitting on the couch and watching my belly move around (I still can't figure out what is where though... I can feel hard lumps but don't know if they're a butt or a head)!

Feeling: Tired! 6 months ago I often went on 1.5 to 2 hour walks, while these days just 30 minutes has me feeling like I have weights on my feet. I've had a lot of leg cramping in the evening too.

What I miss: Those 2 hour walks... even when I don't feel completely exhausted, sometimes we have to turn back because I have to pee so. bad. I even try to cut back on drinks and pee a lot before we leave, but there's no winning - haha.

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting our peanut in a month and a half... though I'm really freaked out that it's so soon!

Best moment this week: My fabulous sister offered to take maternity pictures for me, so that's what we did last night! It was so much fun and I can't wait to see them!!

Worst moment this week: Our friend Tina's memorial service. It was a beautiful celebration of life, but I wish it was taking place 60 years from now.

Milestones: Baby's urinating about a pint a day (you got nothing on me, peanut!). He can hear me - and I've read that I could start singing lullabies now and he'll recognize them once he's born and be calmed by them. I'm sorry but I just feel too stupid singing lullabies to my belly! I'll try but... it feels weird. This baby will probably be calmed by Katy Perry and "Call Me Maybe" ;)

Cravings: Cereal and popsicles.

Food aversions: I'm struggling to eat my leafy greens, unless it's a restaurant salad. Homemade salads are never as good.

33 weeks

We are so spoiled!! James' mom was thrown a "grandma shower" by her coworkers, and on Saturday she came by with a bunch of baby clothes and toys, a tub, bumbo, piggy bank and other great stuff! It was SO sweet of these women that we've never even met to want to shower us with generous gifts :) I feel loved!

Size of baby: A durian (??)

Sleep: Pretty good. It's just becoming hard to hoist myself up and get out of bed, which I have to do frequently. I have to pee at least 3 times a night, not including the 3 times I go while watching TV before falling asleep.

Movement: Lots and lots! Baby's having more frequent and longer-lasting awake times. Not just late at night - there's also usually a busy time late morning and afternoon. Sometimes I wake up with little kicks too. Ice water works pretty well to get the little one moving... maybe I'm a mean mom but I'm drinking it because it's good for both of us. Getting to see/feel baby move is just an added bonus ;)

Feeling: I feel very tired a lot of the time. My gallbladder is feeling much better now that I'm sticking to low/non-fat food.

What I miss: Having lots of energy.

What I'm looking forward to: My baby shower - hopefully soon after that we'll have everything ready (enough clothes, toiletries, etc.).

Best moment this week: We went to a Rivercats game with my parents that was pretty fun. Our hospital breastfeeding class was really helpful too. It made me feel confident that we'll instinctually know how to do it... and if not, we have some amazing lactation consultants ready and willing to help.

Worst moment this week: Finding out a friend passed away. Life is too short. I hate that people are taken from us too young, and too suddenly :(

Milestones: The Bump has some good ones:

• He's keeping his eyes open while awake.
• He's also starting to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing.
• His bones are hardening.
• And he going through (more) major brain development.

Cravings: Chocolate. With milk.

Food aversions: Nothing - but I still have trouble coming up with something to eat at most meals, and my options are even more limited with my new low-fat diet.

Gallstones

I think I've mentioned a few times here that I've had pain in my upper abdomen for a month or so. I thought it was baby pressing on my ribs, but when I mentioned it to my doctor at my prenatal appointment last week she said it's actually gallstones.

This is apparently common during pregnancy due to all the extra estrogen in your body - my gallbladder isn't processing fat correctly (Note: The simple explanation that follows is just my basic understanding, and is likely to be partially incorrect).

So my gallbladder isn't able to digest fat as it normally does, and this causes me pain on my right side, under my breast (...in my gallbladder). It feels like a lot of pressure, not quite painful but pretty uncomfortable. My doctor told me to eat a very low fat diet and also ordered an array of blood tests related to my liver and gallbladder.

Good: All tests came back normal, and since I've been eating very little fat I've felt a lot better. It still bothers me at times, but the best part is that it's not bad for the baby... just uncomfortable for the mom.

Bad: This can be a predecessor of preeclampsia (When a pregnant woman's blood pressure is dangerously high). My blood pressure has been a little high at my last few appointments - nothing alarming, just on the high side of normal. My urine has been fine - no protein so that's a good sign (FYI if you've never been pregnant... they have you bring a pee sample in for every appointment and they test it for protein and maybe something else... I'm not sure).

I'm just going to continue eating well and exercising as best I can, and hope my pregnancy continues to be as normal and low-risk as possible. On the fun side, because this problem is caused by extra estrogen I'm now speculating that maybe I'm carrying a girl and our combined estrogen is too much ;) We shall see!