As I write this I am currently 35weeks, but to stay consistent with my evenly numbered weeks we'll keep the title at 34. Obviously I'm behind in things, but we have been incredibly busy lately both with our life/family stuff as well as getting ready for baby! Here's a rundown on what's been up:
1. School Volunteering with my Stepson - As a "Lead Parent" in his classroom I've been working with his teachers, and other classroom parents to pull together and organize volunteers for our recent Valentines Day Party in their class. We had an amazing time on Friday with games, snacks, and passing out Valentine's. It's always a sweet experience to be able to be there with him, interact with his friends, and see how proud he is of the work he does in class. It was a TON of work to get organized though, and with everything else going on it got pretty exhausting for me.
2. Basement Renovation! FINALLY we have started fixing up our basement. When we bought our house back in November it was so we could finish the basement to have our home office down there - since both my husband and I work from home - and have all the bedrooms free to use as bedrooms for us and the kiddos. Well, since November baby's nursery has been half nursery and half office. Soon that will all change, and just in time for baby to get here!!
3. Birth Classes! We have been doing online Natural Birthing Classes, but also had to do an Early Home Care Class with our Birth Center to learn more about how to care for baby the day they are born, and what to monitor. This was a necessary class, and very informative, as we will be getting discharged 4-6 hours after baby is born. Regardless though, it was one more thing we had to pack into our schedules.
4. Work in General: Unlike some of my mama-to-be friends I will be working right up until I go into labor. I don't want to be, but with my Maternity Leave being unpaid I want to use every moment of my time off being with, and bonding with, baby as it'll be a pretty short time I can afford to be off work. So, I'm still working 40+ hours a week even though I can hardly get myself into and out of my desk chair some days!
5. MATERNITY PICTURES! I was so worried we weren't going to be getting these done since the photographer I wanted to work with seemed to have dropped off the face of the internet! I checked with some other photographers in the area but just didn't get the same vibe from them as I did from the one we had chosen. Luckily I still had her phone number in my phone from when she shot our wedding day. I texted her and it turns out her accounts were hacked so they were completely deactivated, but she was on board with still doing our pictures! WHEW! So, we just got them done on Valentines Day (Aww!) and I cannot wait to see them. Being 35 weeks pregnant though, trying to look pretty, and running around downtown St. Paul to get some pictures done was SO exhausting though. I hope they turned out well.
But now - time for some 34 Week Stats:
1. School Volunteering with my Stepson - As a "Lead Parent" in his classroom I've been working with his teachers, and other classroom parents to pull together and organize volunteers for our recent Valentines Day Party in their class. We had an amazing time on Friday with games, snacks, and passing out Valentine's. It's always a sweet experience to be able to be there with him, interact with his friends, and see how proud he is of the work he does in class. It was a TON of work to get organized though, and with everything else going on it got pretty exhausting for me.
2. Basement Renovation! FINALLY we have started fixing up our basement. When we bought our house back in November it was so we could finish the basement to have our home office down there - since both my husband and I work from home - and have all the bedrooms free to use as bedrooms for us and the kiddos. Well, since November baby's nursery has been half nursery and half office. Soon that will all change, and just in time for baby to get here!!
3. Birth Classes! We have been doing online Natural Birthing Classes, but also had to do an Early Home Care Class with our Birth Center to learn more about how to care for baby the day they are born, and what to monitor. This was a necessary class, and very informative, as we will be getting discharged 4-6 hours after baby is born. Regardless though, it was one more thing we had to pack into our schedules.
4. Work in General: Unlike some of my mama-to-be friends I will be working right up until I go into labor. I don't want to be, but with my Maternity Leave being unpaid I want to use every moment of my time off being with, and bonding with, baby as it'll be a pretty short time I can afford to be off work. So, I'm still working 40+ hours a week even though I can hardly get myself into and out of my desk chair some days!
5. MATERNITY PICTURES! I was so worried we weren't going to be getting these done since the photographer I wanted to work with seemed to have dropped off the face of the internet! I checked with some other photographers in the area but just didn't get the same vibe from them as I did from the one we had chosen. Luckily I still had her phone number in my phone from when she shot our wedding day. I texted her and it turns out her accounts were hacked so they were completely deactivated, but she was on board with still doing our pictures! WHEW! So, we just got them done on Valentines Day (Aww!) and I cannot wait to see them. Being 35 weeks pregnant though, trying to look pretty, and running around downtown St. Paul to get some pictures done was SO exhausting though. I hope they turned out well.
But now - time for some 34 Week Stats:
- Weight Gain: ACK, my lease favorite thing to talk about. I am up 17lbs total from my pre-pregnancy weight. Which, isn't a lot. I'll admit that, but weight gain is a very hard thing for me to deal with since I've struggled with my weight my whole life. I just keep reminding myself it's for baby... and I WILL lose it after he's born.
- Maternity Clothes: Ah yes, my good ol' big lady pants! I have a love-hate relationship with leggings. I know this is a pregnant woman go-to, but for me having the tight fabric around my legs makes my restless leg syndrome SO MUCH worse. So, I typically chance into loose PJ pants after work and stay in those as much as possible.
- Stretch Marks: Surprise! Yes, I have 1 stretch mark! Ha, again - I was totally prepared for many more at this stage, but so far I only have one which is right under where my belly button piercing is. Again, no surprise there since that skin is so darn thin from being pierced.
- Sleep: Yes, this has been a little better the last couple of weeks. I still wake up with nearly unbearable pain in my hips and ribs but at least I get good stretches of sleep most night. Good being 3-4 hours as a time. Ha!
- Miss Anything? COFFEE. The 250mg of caffeine limit one has in pregnancy isn't cutting it!
- Movement: Oh yes. At our midwife appointment on Friday I went so far as to ask her if the baby could feel my belly button from the inside because he just LOVES to push his knee out right where my belly button is. OUCH.
- Cravings? Sweets. Pretty much anything with sugar is my jam. This is probably contributing to the 5.6lbs I gained over the last month. Sigh...
- Queasy or Sick? Nope, not anymore. I had a few bouts of queasiness in my last update but since then I haven't really dealt with that. I can feel slightly sick if I get too warm, but other than that I've been feeling pretty well in that area.
- Best Moment This Week: We finally were able to figure out this strange heating issue in our bedroom over the weekend. Previously our bedroom was SO HOT I could barely sleep in there. My darling husband fussed with our baseboard heater though, and got that worked out. So, over the weekend we actually got to snuggle in bed! WOOHOO! Funny thing though, since my belly was touching him he finally realized how much, and for how long, baby kicks around while I'm trying to sleep. I passed out, but he stayed up and in the morning he was laughing about it since apparently it went on for a long time. He was surprised I was able to sleep, but I told him - darling, you have to adapt otherwise I'd never sleep!
- Symptoms: *See last post* - Yeah, all of that.
- Labor Signs: Nope, not really. Definitely having more cramps and tightness in my belly most evenings. No serious labor signs yet though.
- Belly Button - In or Out? Out. *Sad Face*
- Wedding Rings - on or off? I was dreading answering this since just this morning my fingers got really puffy. Ok, not really puffy. When I look at them I can't even tell they are a little swollen. However, every morning and evening I take my wedding rings off to lotion my belly since my rings are very intricate and lotion gets stuck in them. This morning I couldn't get them off!! After quite a struggle I got them off, but I think I will have to leave them off going forward. They are custom and mean a lot to me, and I don't want to end up having to get them cut off in the future if I keep swelling. This seriously breaks my heart. I'm going to talk to the hubs tonight to see if we can go get a temp ring for me to wear until delivery.
- Happy or Moody? Moody isn't quite the right word. I've been struggling with my anxiety/depression really badly the last few weeks. I don't want to medicate so I am seeking out family/post partum therapists in my area to establish care now to try and get things under control before baby comes and it turns into serious post partum depression!
- Looking Forward To: Starting weekly midwife appointments! Sounds strange given how busy we've been but it's comforting in a way since we are getting so close to D-day now.