32 weeks

A lot has changed in the past 2-3 weeks since my last belly picture!

How Far Along 32 weeks

How Big is Baby 16.75" long, 3.75 lbs is average for 32 weeks. The nurse who measured me yesterday said he may not be bigger than he should be, but he's definitely not on the small side at all.

Total Weight Gain 30 lbs.

Stretch Marks Despite Halloween candy and Thanksmas treats, I think they're the same.

Sleep It took me so long to fall asleep last night. Then, I dreamed about The Godfather, since we had just finished watching it before bed. It was interesting.

Best Moment this Week It was when the nurse practitioner told me that I am "the picture of health in pregnancy"

Movement He's a very energetic guy. Not many kicks today, he's mostly been sticking his butt out under my ribs. And hiccupping. A lot of hiccups.

Food Cravings Froot Loops. But as I was eating them, I was kind of wishing they had marshmallows in them.

Labor Signs None yet.

Belly Button Most definitely out today.

What I miss Buying cute shoes at Payless. I stopped by Tuesday after work and none of the shoes fit me. I need an 8W now, but I couldn't find any wides. Then, I tried on some 8.5s, and they were wide enough, but way too long. Looks like I'll be sticking with my 2 pairs of "maternity shoes" that I bought a few weeks ago.

What I'm looking forward to Baby shower a week from Saturday!!

Weekly Wisdom 1 Zantac in the am and 1 before dinner makes for a happier tummy

Milestones Nathanael should have fingernails and toenails now!

31 weeks

How Far Along 30 weeks 6 days

How Big is Baby 16" long, 3.3 lbs

Total Weight Gain Up 28 lbs total as of Tuesday last week

Stretch Marks I keep getting more and more on my thighs, but the belly is still stretchy-free

Sleep Getting worse at this all the time. If I take no sleep aid, I wake up hourly or more frequently. If I take something, I sleep for about 3 or 4 hours straight, then wake up hourly after that. If I take another dose when I wake up, there's no hope of getting up in the morning.

Best Moment this Week I'm really looking forward to the weekend. I'm not sure anything this week will be better than that! We're celebrating Thanksmas with the Atkinson Jrs, since Trey and Amy will be in Mississippi for Thanksgiving, Claire and Matt should have a newborn at Christmas, and Rodgers and I won't be traveling at Christmas.

Movement The nurse practitioner had me start doing movement counts. Even on his mellow days, Nate moves way more than he needs to to pass the movement count (10 movements in 2 hours)

Food Cravings Today, I just wanted tacos. So I got 2 tacos for 99 cents at Jack in the Box, and my sandwich that I brought for lunch is still here in the office fridge. Maybe I'll eat it tomorrow.

Labor Signs None yet.

Belly Button It's more and more out, but still has a mote

What I miss Belly sleeping. With the body pillow I can sleep kind of halfway between side and belly. But I can't stay that way for very long.

What I'm looking forward to Thanksmas!!

Weekly Wisdom There can be good things about morning insomnia - like being up early enough to see a mouse scare the crap out of Rodgers!

Milestones We started childbirth classes! The first week, we talked about some of our fears and anxieties, anatomy of a pregnant woman, and watched a video that I don't remember. This week (week 2) we talked a lot more about actual labor, some of the devices that mom or baby could be hooked up to, breathing techniques for surviving contractions, and watched a video of a natural birth and one of an epidural birth. I was afraid that watching the births and seeing the epidural put in would freak me out, but I kept my eyes open through the whole video and didn't get freaked out at all. I'm very proud. Gold star for me. 2 more weeks to go. Next Monday is the much-anticipated tour of Labor and Delivery.

what?! another mouse?!

So we thought we were done with the mice. I plugged up all the mouse holes and extra space around plumbing with steel wool. I occasionally hear them in the wall, but they don't pull out the steel wool. It has been a long, long time since we saw any, and that was the day that I plugged up the holes.

 

Rodgers mentioned this morning at breakfast that yesterday he thought he saw something scamper across the floor and under the oven, but he might have been imagining things. I asked if he looked behind the drawer under the oven to see if the mouse hole back there was still plugged up. He hadn't. So, he pulled out the drawer, and laid down in the floor to see. The steel wool is still plugging the hole, but they chewed a bigger hole!

 

I suggested getting one of the other mousetraps we have left and putting it right under that hole. To the right of the stove are 4 narrow drawers. We only use the top 3. The last time we found mice, there were little poops in every one of those drawers (but, oddly, none in the drawers where we keep food). So, I put a trap in the bottom drawer, with some fragrant peanut butter in the middle of it. I check it every so often, but it never catches anything. Also, there have been no more poops in the other drawers. He went to get that trap to put behind the under-the-oven drawer. As he reached in to pick it up, he abruptly withdrew his hand, as we heard, "EEK! EEK! EEK!"

 

I had been sitting at the table, finishing a cup of coffee while this was going on. I very nearly fell out of the chair laughing at Rodgers so hard. I've never seen anything make him jump like that. I mean, this man plays with all kinds of creepy crawly things (but nothing that slithers).

 

We still have 2 traps left. One is still in a bathroom and one is now behind the under-the-oven drawer. I wonder if we could just pour poison down the wall. Or maybe we should get a cat.

sarcasm is my favorite

First of all, it's completely hilarious that Playmobil made this product, a toy airport security checkpoint. But, even better, Amazon allows for customer reviews of the product. I'm giddy with delight. Click here if you have an hour or two to do some online reading.

watch your weight!

My OB is a weight nazi.

 

At my 22 week appointment, I had gained 10 lbs in 5 weeks. That is a bit more than "recommended," but not an outrageous amount, in my opinion. Dr told me that I really shouldn't be gaining so fast, so we need to try to slow that down. Well, I eat healthy, but hadn't been getting any exercise at all. So maybe there were some things I could do to slow that down.

 

At my 27 week appointment, I had gained 7 lbs more. Still a little over the recommended gain, and the Dr reiterated that I should not be gaining so much so fast. I calculated that, were I to keep gaining at that rate, I'd gain a total of 45 lbs, rather than the 30-40 lbs recommended for my starting BMI. That's only 5 lbs more. What's 5 lbs? Anyway, the Dr told me she wanted me to gain a half pound per week from here on out. Yeah right! I had started getting a little exercise, and decided to just continue eating and exercising as I was.

 

So, today, at my 30 week appointment, the Dr was out of town, so I saw the nurse practitioner/midwife. It had only been 3 weeks, so I should have gained 1.5 lbs, according to the Dr. I gained 4.0. The NP/MW didn't have a problem with it, even though it says "Watch her weight" in my chart. She just asked if I'd gained weight, checked the sticker I got from the weight/blood pressure station and said, "Good!"

 

Four lbs in 3 weeks is about the same rate as 7 lbs in 5 weeks (1.33 lbs per week versus 1.4). So I'm gaining at the same rate. Dr says it's too much, NP/MW says it's good. Therefore, I can only conclude that the Dr is a weight nazi.

 

The fun part is that she gave me instructions to do fetal movement counts. During a 2 hour period every day (any 2 hour period that Nate's active) I should be able to count 10 movements. I counted 20+ movements as I was sitting at a red light on my way to work after the appointment. That was easy. :)

 

And, I now have my 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40 week appointments scheduled. Scheduling that 40 week appointment was a bit scary. It's on the calendar now. It's really coming!