34
Oh my goodness, I cannot even believe I am writing this post! :) How are we already at 37 weeks? With both of the boys, I wrote down a bunch of stats from the pregnancy on this week and they are still some of my favorite posts. So I had to do it again this time with Little Miss E!
Total Weight Gain (thus far
anyway): 30 pounds. I had gained two extra, but dropped two and have stayed at the same weight for the last couple of weeks. We will see what the Christmas goodies do to this weight gain though. ;) I have noticed that my meals are getting smaller and smaller - she's taking up all the room in there! I have another appointment tomorrow morning, so we will see what the box of homemade caramels my grandmother sent does to my weight gain. ;)
Baby Stats:
According to the books, she weighs a little over six pounds and is at her birth length now. I'm assuming she's right around there - at my appointment last week, I was measuring a week behind, so maybe our Little Miss will be more petite than her brothers. ;)
Movement: Baby E is not as active as her biggest big brother (but I've heard of very few babies who are!), but she's probably more active than Parker was. She tends to start moving as soon as I sit down when the boys are either down for rest time or in bed at night. She turned breech a couple of weeks ago (and I felt it - it HURT), but she flipped back around and I've felt her little toes on my rib cage ever since. ;) Sometimes she's fairly quiet in there and I get super worried and then she'll start moving around again. It's so fun to watch her move around in there - that's definitely my absolute favorite part of pregnancy. It's amazing how well you can know a baby before they are even born.
Swelling: I've had basically no swelling this pregnancy! What little I've had has been in my hands - my rings haven't fit for awhile, but my ankles still look normal. ;) I have noticed a little puffiness in my face but I haven't had anything like I did with Parker! So thankful - it makes moving around a lot easier this time.
Cravings: In the beginning, I wanted a lot of chocolate and since then, I've still favored the sweets this time around. Now that we are at the end, I'm really liking cold things like fruit, ice water and milkshakes always sound good...maybe this is just a nine months pregnant thing for me? ;) Otherwise, I haven't craved hardly anything!
Aversions: I haven't really had any aversions this time!! I felt great for 97% of this pregnancy - I think I was sick to my stomach for the first couple of weeks, but from about 8 weeks on, I have hardly been sick or thought something was just disgusting. Every so often in the last three weeks, I've been nauseous, but I think it's more her position than anything now.
Sleeping: Sleeping has not been that great lately. I've decided that this is God's way of preparing mamas for lots of sleepless nights in a few weeks! It's so hard to get comfortable and I've had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions that keep me up. So between everything, it's hard to get a good night's rest. I am so ready for a sweet smelling newborn to snuggle at night!! She cannot get here fast enough.
Maternity Clothes: I am down to about three shirts that still cover my big tummy, so I just rotate those out. I don't remember when I first started having to wear maternity clothes, but I remember it was later than it was with Parker, as weird as that is!
Baby's Room: Since Parker is still in a crib (and I have zero desire to move him right now!), we are doing things a little differently this time around! We always keep the babies in our room for the first many months anyway, so since there wasn't really a reason to move Parker to Nathan's room quite yet, I decided to do a little "Baby's room corner" in our room this time. :) I went back and forth on just going ahead and moving Parker to a big boy bed, but he sleeps so well that it just didn't make sense to move him when we are about to be losing sleep anyway! I will post pictures of her little set up this week. :)
Mood Swings: I think for the most part, I've been pretty even keeled this time around. Occasionally, something will make me all teary, but I've mostly just been tired. I think a lot of that is due to having two boys running around right now too. ;)
Workouts:
Welp. Failed at this again. So far, the only pregnancy I have consistently worked out during is Nathan's. I had a stretch there with this one where I honestly tried, but between the boys and the deadline and our crazy schedule, it just didn't happen.
Birth Plans: Nathan was an emergency c-section after 18 hours of
labor and he scared me to death. I went into labor with Parker, and hoped for a VBAC, but never dilated, so we did another c-section. This time around, I don't really have a choice, so c-section it is and we already have the date scheduled. I've been having lots of sporadic contractions lately, so we are really hoping for her to make her entrance a little earlier!
Nathan: He's so excited for a baby sister. :) I don't think he remembers very much about Parker's birth and newborn days, so I'm excited for him to get to experience them again. It will be SO nice to have a little helper there and someone around to entertain Parker. ;) He's going to be a great big brother to a little sister - he's already talking about how he's going to be the big protector guy.
Parker: Oh goodness. I am worried about this little bear! He's been so clingy, so needy and so "No, Mommy do it!" lately that I just know he knows something is about to happen. He loves to talk about Baby E and rub my tummy and give it kisses, but he is very insistent that he is still a baby. I'm just praying for lots of patience for me and for him over the next few months!! He adores babies, so I think he will love his sister. I just don't think he will love sharing "his" mama. ;)
Me: I am doing well! I'm feeling good and other than being tired, I've been doing great. With the deadline, I put off a lot of stuff until now, so I've been rushing around trying to get everything done for our Little Miss and Christmas at the same time. My brain has NOT been working with all the things I'm trying to remember to do! Poor Jon has dealt with some major pregnancy brain from me. ;) I am so ready to meet our sweet girl! I can't wait to see her face - I feel like my boys don't look super similar, so I'm curious what she's going to look like. ;)
So thankful for the prayers and sweet messages we have received from you all over the past many months!! We are SO excited for this little love!! Please continue to keep her safety and us in your prayers as we approach these last couple of weeks!!
35
36
37
38