31 Weeks

Here's my latest belly pic, taken on Saturday night. Getting bigger and bigger! Everything is going great. Sherry and Elinn came by for a checkup last Weds. night, since they were already in the area doing another home visit. My b/p was 120/80, weight was up 2 more lbs. since last time (which I think makes 21 lbs. total), and baby's heart rate was in the 140s-150s. I'm still measuring small, as usual, even though I don't feel small. :) My next checkup is supposed to be on March 3, but we'll see . . . Sherry has several clients due around now, so she may be at a birth. Anyway, my next visit will include a finger prick to test my blood sugar and hemoglobin (I think). I haven't ever had sugar problems so I'm not concerned about that. I'm working on collecting birth supplies and already have quite a bit of what I need. It's exciting to think that I probably have less than 10 weeks to go. Hopefully more like 8!

There is still a lot I want to get done before baby arrives, though. I'd like to make a bunch of freezer meals, maybe one each week, so I won't have to cook much for a little while after the birth. I need to get out some newborn clothes, and wash them and find space to store them. And we still need to decide on names! I also hope to do some deep cleaning in the house, but we'll see how that goes. And I need to work on drinking more pregnancy tea or red raspberry leaf tea! I give RRL tea a lot of credit for my 2 quick and easy labors, and am hoping for similar results this time around. :)

I've started having some swelling in my fingers over the past few weeks, and now it's spread to my ankles . . . what fun. I've always had swelling at the end of my pregnancies, but with 2 little ones to keep up with, it is harder to find time to put my feet up. My goal is to drink tons of water, at least 64-96 oz. a day, and hopefully that will help. My sciatica has been pretty bad off and on, but as long as I don't stay sitting or lying in one position for too long, it's manageable. One huge blessing is that the heartburn has eased up! I don't know if the baby changed position or what, but it hasn't been bad at all for the past week or so. And even though the end of pregnancy isn't very comfortable, it's so encouraging to know that the discomforts will disappear when the baby's born. :)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: I have to say I am more scared of the afterpains than I am of the labor pains. They were horrible after Julia, and I've heard they just keep getting worse with each baby. I'm not against taking painkillers (Advil, etc.) to help, but I'm considering getting some herbal tinctures that are supposed to help also. Does anyone have any experience with these or any other helpful advice to offer in regards to dealing with the pain? Thanks!

28 Weeks

Third trimester, here we come! It's exciting to realize that I'm 2/3 of the way done . . . or maybe more, seeing as I've never made it to 40 weeks yet. :)

Is it just me, or is everyone really clutzy in the last few months of pregnancy? It's been really bad in the past week or two. In just one night, I broke a bowl and a ceramic tart pan, spilled oats all over the counter, knocked a couple other things on the floor, and managed to accidentally scratch Julia's face with my engagement ring--twice. Thankfully not every day is that bad, but I feel like I am constantly doing something clutzy!

I've been making a postpartum/new baby "wish list" recently. I honestly don't really need anything for this baby (except diapers and things of that sort), nor do I really need anything for myself, except some new nursing bras. But I keep coming across things that I would love to try, so I'm making a list in case I'm able to earn some extra money in the next few months. Here's what's on my list so far:

~Nursing bras--2 (YES! bra--$14/apiece on Ebay)
~LANA nursing pads (wool, supposed to be super nice--approx. $20/pair--I'd want 2 sets)
~Peekaboobaby nursing cover (not a need--blankets work fine--but these look so nice, and are so cute, too!--$32)
~Kangaroo Korner pouch (still debating between fleece or cotton--approx. $62)
~New medium-size diaper bag (I'd love a Ju-Ju-Be, but only if I can win one!)

Have any of you tried any of these things (or something similar)? I am having fun dreaming, whether or not I actually end up buying anything! :)

We are tossing around more baby name ideas, but haven't come up with anything definite yet. Well, we're pretty much settled on a girl name (I think) but we like to keep the names secret till after the baby's born, so I won't share it here. For boy names, we're still very much undecided. One thing is for sure, it won't be Aiden, Jaden, Hayden, Braden, or Kaden. (No offense intended if someone has a boy with one of those names. :)) But Jim detests all such popular names; he's much more of a traditionalist when it comes to names. I was recently looking at a website that listed the most popular boy and girl names from 2007. I cracked up when I saw that Aiden, Braden and Kaden were in the top 3 spots for boys. And Jaden was number 7, I think. Just think how funny it's going to be when they all hit school age, and the classes are full of boys whose names sound alike. :) So . . . we're trying to come up with something a bit less popular; we'll see how it goes. Some of the names we're considering are actually quite common, but not used as much nowadays. Feel free to leave any name suggestions, but I can't promise we'll use them--still, you never know. :)

Sherry came and did a home visit this evening, so that was fun. She and another midwife were in the area doing some other home visits, so instead of us going to her house, they stopped in here. Everything is continuing to go well. I'm measuring small, but that's normal for me. I forgot to ask what my b/p was, but I think it must have been fine, as she didn't mention it being abnormal. Baby's heart rate was about 140-145 this time. My weight is up 9 lbs. (yikes!) since last time. I couldn't believe it when I weighed in this morning. I definitely need to cut back on the cookies. :) Actually, I've only gained 19 lbs. total which is fine; I was just surprised to see it jump so much in a month. I don't really look that much fatter, so I'm hoping it's mostly baby. :)
I am working really hard at drinking a lot of water, and so far I've had barely any swelling, and hopefully that'll help with my weight gain, too. I've been dealing with more frequent heartburn and sciatica, but I'm thankful that those are pretty much my only inconveniences. I have it so easy compared to a lot of women!

From here on out, I'll be having appts. every two weeks! So you can expect more frequent updates. :) I don't have a new belly pic for this week, but there's one from last week on my regular blog, which you've probably all seen anyway. Hasn't changed much since then!

Question(s) of the Week: What is/was some of your favorite baby or mama gear? Did you go through a clutzy time during pregnancy? Any baby names to suggest? Share away!