35 Weeks

How am I feeling? Very uncomfortable.  I'm still sleeping okay, so I can't complain there.  I'm waking maybe twice per week to go to the bathroom and I'm not even sure that that is what is waking me.  I'm not able to sit or stand or do anything for long, though.  I'm feeling aches and pains pretty much everywhere, especially from the waist down.  Over the weekend (right as I turned 35 weeks) I started feeling a pain just below my butt cheek.  I thought it might be sciatica, but I don't think so after reading and after it persisting all this time.  The pain has expanded and, for lack of a better description, I think it feels like Baby Boy has his head rammed against the left side of my pelvis, as the pain as moved a bit.  Either way, it's definitely inhibiting my ability to walk waddle.  

Weight thoughts: I have none at this time.  I'm sure I'll see another gain at my next appointment, but I'm just eating what I want at this point.

Doctor appointments?   We have all of the remaining appointments scheduled:

     Wednesday, April 4th
     Monday, April 9th (growth u/s)
     Tuesday, April 17th
     Tuesday, April 24th


Let's hope that's all of them!

Movement? Baby Boy is still really active.  For the most part, his butt is under my left breast, his back goes down my left side, and his head is just to the left of its goal.  I get kicks on my right side and there are also times that he gets his legs bent enough to kick me up high.  Whichever side I sleep on, his head rotates to that side, making me spazz a bit, but by the time I get out of the shower his head is usually back down (I can feel the pressure on my bladder).  So he's still not engaged, but I've been reassured that engagement typically doesn't happen until later and that baby can be a little tilted and contractions will put him in the right position for exit.

Baby preparation? I think at this point the preparation is just mentally.  Our sitter is closed tomorrow through next Friday, so The Hubby and I are going to spend some special time with Baby Girl (as much as possible, anyway).  I still feel the need to read some things about relaxation techniques, but I'm not sure how much good reading is going to do.  My goal is to get the hospital bag packed over the weekend, just in case, and to start deciding if I want to do some sort of playlists of music for labor.  Otherwise it'll just be getting prepared to shift my work to other colleagues and making sure our family is on board with care for Baby Girl.  And then we just wait.

Meal Plan 3/25/12 - 3/31/12

I'm posting this late, but the meal plan was created before my grocery trip that happened late Sunday afternoon. I did learn this week never to go to the grocery that late on Sunday--there were a lot of things that were out of stock.

Sunday: I think we had a frozen pizza, but I honestly don't remember...how sad is that?
Monday: Rotini, jarred pasta sauce, and frozen meatballs--one of our go-to easy meals
Tuesday: Spicy Bean Soup: This was a new meal and I'm glad I waited to post this meal plan until after we'd eaten it.  This was seriously delicious and something we'll make repeatedly (without the lima beans again, though).  We calculated that it was about $1 per serving and I'm pretty sure Baby Girl actually ate more than I did.  We all loved it!  The Hubby and I agree that the only thing that would make it better would be a pan of warm cornbread.
Wednesday: Avocado/Cayenne Chicken (for cooking club)
Thursday: Mozzarella Baked Gnocchi: another new recipe.  I bought some vacuum-packed gnocchi at Aldi a couple of weeks ago with this recipe in mind.
Friday: Easy Pork Chop Skillet
Saturday: I have no idea...I accidentally only planned 6 meals this week.  We'll figure something out :)

34 Weeks

I have all of the rest of my doctor appointments scheduled through my due date.  Four appointments.  Next week is our last week that we won't see my doctor until after the baby is here.  Holy shit.  This is real.

The Hubby isn't freaking out nearly as much as I am and I can't really figure out why, but I wish some of his calm feelings would rub off on me!


How am I feeling? Pretty damn huge.  Still lumpy, though.  Reflux hasn't gotten worse yet, so that's exciting.  Moving REALLY slowly at this point and having Braxton Hicks contractions quite a bit, which makes walking even harder.  I asked my doctor about these and she said they weren't a problem and that if I were to go into labor today they wouldn't stop it.  Talk about freaking a girl out...

The hot weather we're having in Ohio (for the first day of spring today it's going to be over 80 degrees) makes me really nervous about the summer temps, so I am feeling relieved that this baby will be out by May!

Weight thoughts: Well....  It hasn't been a good two weeks, weight-wise.  We hosted a fabulous party (blog entry almost entirely written) on Saturday, but I ate A LOT.  And a lot of it was cheese.  And you might have some idea of what cheese might do to a person's digestive system.  In short, I haven't pooped since Saturday morning.  So when I saw a 5 pound weight gain in 2 weeks, I can't say I was horribly surprised.


Doctor appointments?  Like I said, I had one this morning.  I love the early morning appointments because they usually aren't running late and there usually aren't a bunch of people in the waiting room.  My blood pressure is still great (108/56, I think) and everything looks good.  Baby is still head down, but still very high, according to the doctor.  I already feel like I've been riding a horse, so I'm not sure how much I'll like the feeling once his head drops down!

My doctor measured my fundal length and I'm currently measuring at 37 weeks, which she says is still within the acceptable range, but getting a little big.  I assume it's because of my pre-pregnancy size, but she did request a growth ultrasound at my 37 week appointment the week of April 9th.  She says she's just projecting that I'll likely keep growing, plus she wanted to get a better look at his positioning at that point.

I also discussed the next few weeks with my doctor.  We don't go back next week, but will then start going every week and will begin the internal exams on April 4th.  She validated my feeling that if we have to discuss induction that our decision will be between a scheduled C-section and just letting me go naturally and that if I go late enough that I would need induced that we would just do a scheduled C-section (unless I'm already dilated to like 4 cm and having some contractions).  This is what my instincts were telling me anyway, so I'm fine with that decision.  She said that everything those last few weeks will be a game-time decision and will be based on how my cervix dilates and ripens and if my body seems to be preparing for birth.  I like the "wait and see" approach, even though it goes against my planner tendencies.

Movement? Baby Boy is all over the place, but almost all kicks are on my right side, either toward the top or just on the side.  I can usually feel his butt rolling around at the top of my left side.  There are times I feel arms or shoulders (presumably) on the lower left side as well.  At least I don't have to worry about kick counts (yet).  He actually hurt me for the first time last night!

Baby preparation? Physically, I think we're as ready as I think we're going to get.  I am going to be buying a used Rock n Play from a friend to keep by our bed for the first few weeks (it's much smaller than the Pack n Play we used with Baby Girl).

Emotionally, however, is a whole other story.  I'm pretty much freaking out.  But that isn't anything new, really.  I'm freaking out about how Baby Boy is going to get into this world and the decisions we make pertaining to that and then I'm also freaking out about what our lives are going to be like once he gets here.

Meal Plan: 3/18/12 - 3/24/12

We decided to try to have a cheaper meal plan this week than we typically do and The Hubby advocated for some crock pot meals as well.  We also had some meat left over from both last week (which I froze but wanted to use) and from our fondue party on Saturday (which I will blog about in the next couple of days), so we're making good use of those ingredients.  We went to the grocery yesterday to pick up everything we need and paid only $24.41.  If we can avoid hitting up Aldi or having to make another grocery run this week, that's great!

Sunday: Pizza (at Baby Girl's request) with my parents
Monday: Beef Stir Fry: using some pre-marinated steak from Saturday
Tuesday: BBQ Shrimp Over Buttered Noodles: using leftover shrimp from Saturday
Wednesday: Crock Pot Ranch Pork Chops: using pork chops from last week.  I found pork loins on sale for $1.79/lb and had the guy at the meat counter cut it into 1/2" chops and got 17 chops out of it for less than $8!
Thursday: Spicy Bean Soup: a crock pot meal from a hard-copy cookbook
Friday: Easy Skillet Pork Chops
Saturday: Whatever my mother-in-law decides we'll have

32 & 33 Weeks

How am I feeling? 32 Weeks--pretty good.  33 Weeks--pretty humongous and uncomfortable.  Sleeping is bad more than it's good.  Reflux has generally been under control and can be tamed with some Tums if necessary.  I'm moving more and more slowly now.  I'm also having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, especially when I have a full bladder and try to walk somewhere.

Weight thoughts: Nothing particularly interesting.  Gained 2.5 pounds in 2 weeks, which is fine.  I haven't done a check at home since my appointment 3/6.


Doctor appointments?  We had an appointment on March 6th and it was really good.  The best news?  Baby Boy is head down.  Woo!  She said she thinks we're in a good position to go for the VBAC.  Which makes me....anxious.  Do we need to go through birthing class again?  A scheduled C-section, while risky, is at least familiar to me. I feel like I should be more excited that he is head down, but find myself reeling with anxiety.

Everything else from the appointment was good--good fundal length, good weight gain, great blood pressure (I'm amazed that my blood pressure is always quite a bit lower when I'm pregnant).  Next appointment is this coming Tuesday the 20th.

Movement?  I thought by now I would be feeling a decrease in movement, but I'm not.  I'm pretty sure I can still tell that he's head down because of where I'm feeling kicks and hits.  Worst (best?) of all, I can feel pressure pretty low, which makes me waddle.


Baby preparation? Baby Boy's nursery is done, I think.  We ordered the glider and bedding the weekend of the 3rd and were able to get it all the following week.  We cleaned out a lot of gear.  The only thing up there that we'd like to do is clean out the bottom drawer of his dresser, which is full of summer 2T clothes for Baby Girl that I was hoping would fit this summer.  I'll try to get a picture soon and post it.  It's not horribly exciting and I'd like to do something more personalized, but I'm not sure what.

Out of the Mouth of Baby Girl

Sunday evening I was getting ready to pass Baby Girl off to her daddy for bedtime and she decided to start being stubborn.  She sat down on the top step and wouldn't yell for Daddy to come upstairs and tuck her in, so I told her I was just going to go on downstairs.  I was standing a couple of steps below her and admonishing her when one foot slipped off the step and down a couple more.  I caught myself with the railing but still elicited a response from The Hubby.  He came to see if I was okay.  I sat down and told him that I was fine--more startled than anything.

Baby Girl then rushed to my aid.  She scooted down the steps to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, kissed my cheek and kept repeating, "Are you okay, Mommy?"  She then started to stroke my hair and tell me that it would be okay.  I, of course, started to cry which made her even more concerned.  I told her, "I'm just crying because you're so sweet.  I'm not hurt."

After a few minutes of cuddling on the steps, The Hubby and she went on upstairs.  Apparently, though, she wouldn't fall asleep until she was sure I was okay, so I had to go back up and tell her I was alright.

Meal Plan 3/11/12 - 3/17/12

I've been a major blogger slacker this week.  It's been a weird week at work, so I haven't even had a lunch hour to write posts.  I have a few unfinished entries written that I need to post...and I will, I promise.  I'm officially 33 weeks pregnant and never wrote a post for 32 weeks, which is a shame since that was my last week feeling that happy, comfortable pregnant feeling.

I'm feeling really uninspired this week, but am still trying some new recipes.  We'll see what happens.  I wouldn't be surprised if one of the recipes gets postponed to next week and I take a night off, but I don't want to plan on that.  So without further ado...

Sunday: Quesadillas.  We went out to dinner last night, unexpectedly, so we still have the chicken from the chicken bowls leftover and will make those into quesadillas tonight.  If I thought the chicken would still be good tomorrow, I'd save it as a quick dinner tomorrow night.  So, as always, the night we cook things is open to change.

Monday: Easy Jambalaya.  This is our recipe for cooking club this week and I'm really excited to make it. It seems like our type of meal--easy, quick, and yummy!

Tuesday:  Sloppy Joes with tater tots.  'Nuf said, I think :)

Wednesday: Key West Grilled Chicken.  This was a Pinterest find and it sounds like a great marinade for our first grilling of the season.  I'll serve it with some rice and maybe some pineapple.

Thursday: Stuffed Cabbage Casserole.  This is the recipe that could end up being made tonight if I don't make quesadillas since it has a bit longer cooking time.  Unfortunately, though, I'd planned on making extra rice with the grilled chicken to use in this dish, so I'll need to cook some rice first.

Friday: Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops.  We've had these before and really enjoyed them.  When I saw that pork chops are on sale this week, I knew I had to make them again.  I'll make them with mashed potatoes.  Great comfort food!

Saturday: Fondue.  Last June we had a gathering with our closest college friends to celebrate our collective 30th birthdays and, to celebrate, we went to Melting Pot.  I want to recreate that food at home (it's *got* to be cheaper....) and get together those same friends before we're a little more restricted (we'll be shipping Baby Girl off to my parents' house so we can have some adult time and I have a feeling adult time will be at a premium for awhile once Baby Boy is here).  I'm really excited, but need to start looking for recipes--we'll do cheese, meat, and dessert courses!

Meal Plan 3/4/12 - 3/10/12

This week I'm making an effort to re-visit some recipes that we've tried just once before but really enjoyed.  Apparently I'm feeling really motivated since I'm planning on a full 7 days of meals.  I'm also apparently feeling good about the status of my reflux, based on how many of these meals contain some sort of tomato product.  We'll see what happens!

I'm getting ready to head to Aldi this morning.  I didn't see any amazing deals at Kroger or Meijer, so I'll see how my experience is at Aldi.  The lines can get really long, so I'm hoping that Baby Girl will stay home with The Hubby to reduce stress for all of us.

Sunday: Cheesy Sausage Penne

Monday: Pork Stir Fry (with a different kind of fried rice since we still haven't introduced nuts to Baby Girl)

Tuesday: Taco Chicken Bowls

Wednesday: Cajun Shrimp Pasta--I'd planned on making this last week, but never remembered to thaw out chicken.  I'm going to see if I find shrimp at Aldi today.

Thursday: Tacos

Friday: Leftover Cheesy Sausage Penne (The recipe makes quite a bit.  Last time I made it, I thought I might make it into two pans and freeze one, but it sounds so good to me that I think I'll just make the whole thing and eat it twice this week.)

Saturday: Use meat from Taco Chicken Bowls to make quesadillas