35 week belly

compare to 21 weeks in same shirt.

how far along? 35 weeks
total weight gain: 49 lbs
maternity clothes? yes
sleep: painful x 100
best moment this week: buying that freaking rocker!
movement: yes, he has settled quite a bit, but still rolling
gender: boy
labor signs: not really, just cramping and the occasional contraction
belly button in or out? the button has popped fully, has turned dark purple (blegh)
food cravings: shamrock shakes (more of a general march craving rather than a pg one)
what i miss: rolling over in my sleep without looking like a beached whale while feeling like my body is breaking apart
what i am looking forward to: getting past labor and having a baby
weekly wisdom: don't paint a large room at 35 weeks (seems like common sense vs. wisdom...)
milestones: i hit 35/35!

35/35

35 weeks completed!

after my epic freak out last week over stretchmarks and pain, i decided to let.it.go. i'm now 35 weeks pregnant. what did i expect? my baby is heavy because he's healthy and i have battle wounds because he's growing. i'm tired because it's actually pretty hard to be pregnant. but i realized that i have just over a month left of this pregnancy. then i don't get to be pregnant with baby h3b anymore. he'll be an outside baby and i'll get to meet him, but i'll have to share him with the world. i'm happy to do that, but before then i'm going to cherish these last uncomfortable days and sleepless nights. possibly not without complaint (sorry mr. h3b), but with the mindset that this is still so fleeting, even though it seems like forever.

this week i washed a few loads of baby stuff. i made sure to clean 0-3 month clothes, a few 3-6 onesies, and anything washable in the nursery (blankets, sheets, burp cloths, etc.). i loved folding all of the tiny snap shirts and the little socks. i'm sure that will be the last time i enjoy laundry ;) we also received a few of our cloth diapers to supplement the disposables we currently have. we're using gro baby diapers and while i can't say how good they are, i like the concept and the seemingly easy to use system.

and lastly, we ordered the rocker! finally! after much decision making, comparison shopping, and figuring out that what we really want matters for this chair, even though it's stuck in the nursery, we bought the monte alto rocker. i still maintain that this is a splurge purchase, but we've been good little ikea shoppers and have tried to keep a budget while creating the nursery. our charcoal chair and pillow should arrive within 6 weeks, so it might not be here when the munstertiger is born, but we're excited nonetheless.

next week i start my weekly dr. appointments, which really drives home how far i am in this pregnancy. my dr. will do an internal (can't wait!) to see if he's head down. if yes, we're good for the week. if no, she'll order an ultrasound to see what the acrobat is doing in there. and then i'll start the real coutdown...

35 days left.

34 week belly

 

this shirt fits so well! compare to 19 weeks and for "fun", 12 weeks in the same shirt. ahaha, i thought i had a belly then.

how far along? 34 weeks
total weight gain: 43 lbs +
maternity clothes? yes, i am so big (green shirt not maternity)
sleep: interrupted
best moment this week: spending time with my husband on valentine's day just enjoying our child free time - i can't wait for baby h3b, but it was nice to focus on us and not just pregnant me...
movement: yes, more rolls than kicks
gender: boy
labor signs: nope, only some cramping
belly button in or out? the button has popped fully
food cravings: cold, frozen things. also, i can eat 16 oz of cottage cheese (dean's) in one sitting
what i miss: not breathing like i just ran a mile by the effort exerted to get into bed or to walk to the kitchen
what i am looking forward to: getting more of the nursery finished up in the next week or so
weekly wisdom: start packing the hospital bag - i got snacks, nursing bras/tanks, soft head bands, and some extremely attractive hanes underwear. nice to have new things, even if they're XL granny panties.
milestones: uh, can you count calf stretch marks as a milestone? ::sheds single tear::

movement

i finally caught some good movement on video the other night. while baby h3b is a mover, he is also quite camra shy. whenever i bring out the flip video, he settles down and refuses to do his crazy rolling. this video has some quiet points, but you can see a ton of movement near the middle.



and you can compare that to a few clips from earlier in my pregnancy when he was doing kicks rather than big rolls. i don't have the date to know exactly when these were, but between late 2nd tri and early 3rd tri.

34 weeks

this is crazy.

i am 34 weeks! that's close to baby time! and you better beleive i'm feeling it now. i feel the need to get things done, to clean, to organize...everything out of order bugs me. the problem? i am so sore can barely do any of it. i went from, ouch this is pretty painful to o.m.g. i cannot do anything without wincing and doubling over in pain. my feet feel like i am walking on tiny razors. my hips are stuck. they don't move properly and i can't roll over in bed or walk around easily. there's so much pressure and i feel like one big bruise.

and. AND. i found more stretchmarks. i was inspecting my legs for puffiness and saw a mark on my calf. then i found more...on both legs. stretch marks. on my calves. pair these with my thigh, butt, boob, and now belly marks and it's about all i can take. i started crying because i just wasn't prepared for this. so big, so heavy and now marks that turn to scars forever? on my legs? it wasn't pretty (the marks or the crying). mr. h3b did all he could to be supportive, but it's probably not easy to understand this kind of reaction when not hormonally charged and bigger than ever before. his solution to everything? breastfeeding! i will get skinnier. my arms will be toned again. and magically, my calf stretch marks will go away due to my ability to feed my child with my boobs. i bet this act could solve global warming if i just do it enough. i can't blame him for trying, though. i'm not sure what i would say to a sobbing mess of belly and stretchmarks while just trying to enjoy the latest episode of modern family in peace.

in other, less dramatic and self pitying news, the car seat arrived! we can take baby h3b home when he arrives. plus, i ordered our cloth diapers. now we are only missing one major thing, the mattress, and we'll be all set. i'll spare you the long story about how it was stolen after being delivered to a porch without a signature to a vacant address (partly my fault, but come on!!), since i said this paragraph was drama free. sure there are plenty of things yet to buy and put away, but i'm feeling better about the nursery, worse about the baby blue gray walls, but ok with the way things are playing out. we can bring home a baby and most likely will survive with what we have now :)

but let's wait...

2nd baby shower

i was lucky enough to have been given two baby showers for herman munstertiger. we have so many generous friends and family and it was great to spend time with mr. h3b's side and celebrate the impending arrival of our son. (i think that might be the first time i've used that phrase...)

everyone got the decor color scheme perfect and we had a great time playing games, opening gifts, and enjoying cake and snacks. with the car packed full (and i mean full!), we made it back home and promptly unloaded and set up the new baby gear. this is such an exciting time - all the stuff makes it so real!

aqua, yellow and grey polka dot cake, hand painted planters, and aqua punch!

opening gifts

surprisingly, we got very few duplicates. but, more than one group of aunties thought baby h3b would adore a red car walker/entertainment center and we received one in the box and one already put together. well, having the walker set up and ready was just too tempting. we had to use the doxie test subjects to make sure it was just as fun and cool as it looked.

hoss liked it. he was noticeably jealous, though, because....

 

miles was the coolest little driver dog on the block.

33 week belly

a picture from the morning of my second shower. no standard belly shots this week!

how far along? 33 weeks
total weight gain: 43 lbs +
maternity clothes? yes, i am so big
sleep: interrupted
best moment this week: attending my second shower and putting away more stuff in the nursery
movement: yes, more rolls than kicks
gender: boy
labor signs: nope, only some cramping
belly button in or out? the button has popped fully
food cravings: push pops. they don't have plain ones at our grocery store!
what i miss: peeing only 2-3 times a day, rather than 20 or 30 times
what i am looking forward to: picking out the @*%*$ glider
weekly wisdom: don't drive 6+ hours at 33 weeks. ouch
milestones: i've had my showers. we have baby gear, enough to bring him home (almost, just waiting on car seat and mattress). now we finish everything up and wait.