Sunday, May 21, 2017

27 and 28 Weeks: Ish is Getting Real

How big is baby? At 29 weeks, she is as big as a butternut squash (roughly 2.5 lbs and 15 inches long). Funny, because I just planted some squash seeds this week! Honestly, she feels huge when she moves-- I can feel her simultaneously kicking my ribs and punching my bladder some days!

Total weight gain/loss: I finally made up for lost time, and at my 28 week appointment, I was up 21 pounds! Not surprising, given that I've been waking up super hungry and thirsty in the middle of the night (and eating a Larabar) for the past two weeks.

Exercise: I'm finally easing back into this a bit. Trying to take a walk 1-2 times a week, weather and schedule permitting. I LOVE the fresh air and movement, but pushing a heavy stroller and/or walking a long distance really doesn't feel great on my hips, unfortunately. I'm also trying to do a 10-20 minute Barre3 workout 2-3 times a week. Life has been so crazy, though, that it's been more like 1-2 times a week. I really like these workouts because they take effort, and help with back pain, but they don't totally wipe me out.

Stretch marks: None yet, knock on wood. Trying to moisturize most nights now that baby is growing so quickly!

Swelling: Just yes. It's really uncomfortable. I had a reprieve for about a month there, but she flipped into a vertex position at 28 weeks, and the discomfort increased again. It's much more comfortable when she's transverse or butt-down, but I think she's running out of room to hang out like that. It's nice to know that she can safely be head-down (I was starting to wonder...), but now of course I wish she'd waited a few more weeks!

Sleep: Oh boy. The past two weeks I've had some crazy 4am insomnia! I fall asleep instantly at night, but then wake up in the early hours and cannot go back to sleep. I started taking a bathroom break, eating a Larabar, and chugging water at that time. It helped a bit, but it was still hit or miss whether or not I'd fall back asleep. Even when I did fall asleep again by 0530 or so, I'd actually wake up more tired when Noah got up at 0600. Thankfully, the past few days I seem to be falling back asleep much quicker, but I've been going to bed WAY too late. We finally finished (knock on wood) the last big house project, and I've been trying to get everything back in order after having the house in disarray again.

Food cravings: It's funny, I think I'm just not going to have cravings this pregnancy. In reality, it's only been about 8-9 weeks since EVERYTHING sounded disgusting, and even now, I'm not really interested in eating certain things at certain times. However, I will almost never say no to seared scallops (!!!), a gluten free lemon bar from Dolce bakery (SO amazing), or CoYo dairy-free yogurt (particularly the mango flavor, but all of them are thick and tart, like a coconut-based Greek yogurt).

Symptoms: Thankfully the heartburn has decreased, and I'm so thankfully that the nausea is gone. I feel like pregnancy is moving crazy quickly now, and I think it's because I really only stopped feeling miserable about 8 weeks ago! Swelling is my biggest symptom right now, and I know that's just going to get worse. Oh! And the crazy Braxton-Hicks have decreased significantly since I started drinking red raspberry leaf daily. I definitely notice the days I don't take it!

Movement: Lots, and all over. She's pretty quiet when I'm up and about, but almost always makes her presence known when I lay down. Noah often asks, "Is my baby sister awake?" Of course, she's usually asleep when he asks that!

What I'm loving: Looking pregnant. The third trimester is my very favorite for this fact alone.

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting her. I'm going to try really hard to enjoy the last 10 weeks (although if she's early like Noah, it'll be even less than that. Yikes!) but now that I know how fun it is to get to know the little PERSON in there, I'm excited to see what she's like on the outside.

Best moment this week: I passed my glucose tolerance test. Yay! The bummer is that I'm slightly anemic, but I'm so glad I don't have gestational diabetes.

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