31 Week Bump Pictures and Nursery Sneak Peak

How far along? 31 weeks!!!

Total Weight Gain: 34 pounds

Maternity Clothes: In order to be comfortable I'm in them! When I try to wear non-maternity they never work as well

Stretch Marks: No new ones, none on the tummy. I had a dream last night though that I just woke up one morning and there were HUGE purple ones radiating from my belly button. I woke up completely freaked out and almost cried with relief when I looked in the mirror and confirmed that it was just a dream.

Sleep: Not awesome. I've been having some insomnia and that paired with the challenge it is to flip myself all the way over and the frequent bathroom trips does not lend itself to restful nights.

Best moment this week: My shower on Saturday was amazing!!! *You can see some of the gifts in my nursery sneak peek pictures above. It was just so nice to be able to celebrate this little guy with people who I love! The support is just so special.

Miss anything: Nothing really right now. I've been really wishing I could get a nice long run in but I know there will be time for that once he's here and bigger so I'm trying to enjoy this season of life.

Movement: Really regular and I'm loving it! He's all up in my ribs right now and they've been pretty sore for the last few days but it's worth it.

Food Cravings: Fruit especially apples this week.

Labor Signs: None.

Symptoms: Fatigue, rib soreness, round ligament pain, HEARTBURN

 
Belly button in or out: In but it's getting close! A little piece is starting to poke out.

 
Wedding rings on or off: On but today will probably be the last day. =/ I've been having to take them off in the afternoons due to swelling and they were pretty tight to get on this morning.

 
Happy or moody most of the time: Definitely happy this week!

 
Looking forward to: Meeting the baby!! Come on October!!! I'm also looking forward to my birthday tomorrow, 2 three day weekends coming up and a trip to Monterey with my parents :)

Work on the nursery has been constant since we moved in! I'll go into detail on what we've done later but here's a little peek for now :)

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My 1st Trimester Pregnancy Must Haves

As I’m nearing the end of this pregnancy I thought I’d compile a list of all of the things that have helped me get to this point. I definitely couldn’t have done it half as comfortably without them! All of the extra progesterone that I was on during my first trimester made me pretty sick and tired for most of the time. Almost all of my must have items were things that helped me with those miserable symptoms.

1. Chocolate milk- Every morning I’d have half a glass of chocolate milk and for some reason it really helped settle my stomach. I tried many other things but eventually I’d throw them up and they’d be off my list. Chocolate milk was one of the constants that always helped. It was really odd for me (and still is!) because I was strictly an almond milk girl prior to getting pregnant but (for me) it’s had to be the real deal during pregnancy.

2.  Leggings- I got bloated fast and leggings helped me get through that awkwardness. Luckily it was still early spring while I was in my first trimester and I could still wear leggings without  feeling like I was going to immediately overheat. I’d wear them with a dress or with tunic type shirts, sweaters and boots.

3.  Heating pad- I had to have progesterone in oil shots 3 times a week until week 14….and those shots go into the bum muscle. Sitting on a heating pad after the shots was absolute Heaven.

4.  Sprite- Much like chocolate milk, Sprite was something that helped my nausea while I sipped on it.

 

5.   Crystal Light Packets- At the beginning of my pregnancy I knew that I had to get lots of water in but I couldn’t bring myself to drink plain water. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach. I could handle crystal light though and the peach tea packets helped me stay hydrated.

6.    Cheapie pregnancy test strips- At least until 6 weeks I was testing every day (remember that I got my BFP at 3 weeks and 2 days…so it was quite a while). Seeing the line get darker helped me take it day by day without completely freaking out all the time. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest this for other people, it just honestly helped me. It should also be noted that a little bit before 6 weeks the line got lighter and it caused a huge freak out. Apparently at some point the pregnancy hormone begins to be metabolized differently in your system and it doesn’t show up in the same way. That was when I stopped testing.

(Ignore the expensive tests....I had an addiction! I don't recommend it.)

Rambling

This post was inspired by a topic that came up on a message board that I frequent. I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past couple of days and wanted to fully write out my thoughts.

The question posed was “If you were put in the situation where it was medically necessary for you to choose whether to have the doctors save you OR your baby (while pregnant), what would you choose?” We’re assuming that it was a situation where it definitely had to be one or the other.

I remember talking to Josh about this a long time ago. I’m not sure how it came up that time but it was either before we were TTC or during the process and we both agreed that even though it would be a horrible situation that we’d never want to have to face (obviously) we’d choose me. We could (eventually) have other children but there could never be another me.

However, when the question came up on the message board I didn’t even hesitate to think about it. If posed with this situation right now I’d be 100% right away sure that I’d want the doctor to do everything he could do to save our baby. In the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that my connection to this little life has grown by leaps and bounds. And I wasn’t disconnected before. Now that he’s moving basically all the time and my bump makes it impossible for me to forget that I’m carrying another life and there are baby items all over our house my love for our son has really deepened. I feel like I would do anything for him and every time I feel a little bump or a kick or a roll I’m overwhelmed by the love that I feel for him. I can’t even imagine how much that feeling will intensify when he’s actually in my arms. Knowing all of this I know that if we were put in this situation and the doctor saved me instead just knowing that we’d had the opportunity to save the baby and we’d let him go would break me. I don’t see how I could live with that….the fact that I’d chosen not to give this little one that I’ve been protecting for the past 8 months a chance.

Obviously these thoughts are based on that specific scenario that was presented as a question. I recognize that there are so many other circumstances that could come into play (and have, for so many people). I also don’t think that anyone who would choose the other way is selfish or wrong. I just know that in my mind choosing him would be the best decision for me personally. I know that there are also other factors…how hard it would be to leave Josh to raise our son by himself, etc.

I brought it up to Josh again last night and he would still choose me. He also didn’t hesitate and I don’t blame him. I know that I definitely wouldn’t want to live without him! I just thought it was interesting how much my thoughts about it have changed because of the experience that has come with being pregnant. The bond between a mother and child is really amazing.

Hopes for my son

I hope that will love playing outside. We have a beautiful backyard for you and I hope that it’s your favorite place to be.

I hope that you let your imagination just overflow with make believe. Your Aunt Andrea and I spent so many days just pretending and those are my favorite memories.

I hope that you love spending time with your dad. Even if it’s not playing baseball (which we hope you love too!) I hope that you’ll love helping him with projects, that you’ll like to sit eating cereal with him in the morning, that he’s able to teach you Sudoku and tell you all about his coin collection.

I hope that you love music. I can’t wait to hear your little voice singing and your little feet dancing. I’d love for you to want to play an instrument but even if you never do I hope that your love and appreciation for music is there.

I hope you have fun baking with me. Your family loves baked goods (as you’ll learn so soon!) and I can always use an assistant to stir and add ingredients.

I hope that you like cuddling for a long time. Both your dad and I are big cuddlers and so are your grandparents and (most of) your aunts and uncles.

I hope you will know that no matter what your likes and dislikes end up being…you are already our favorite person in the world and we love you so much. That will never change. Even if you end up not liking chocolate ;)

Bullets Post!!!

-          I had my 30 week OB appointment this morning (Already?????) and it was all good news. Passed my GD test with flying colors, only gained 1 pound in the past month (I gained quite a bit the month before so the doctor thinks everything was just redistributing this month), baby’s heartbeat is beating beautifully (which obviously I knew thanks to my handy dandy at home Doppler but it’s still great to hear from the OB), we start appointments every 2 weeks now and we set a hospital to deliver at. Wow!

-          The air conditioning in our new house is out. It stopped working on Saturday morning and we’ve been suffering through ever since. Luckily a technician is coming today so our fingers are crossed that he can get it fixed today and we can finally get some relief! It’s been getting up to the 90’s in our house so it’s been pretty unbearable. We’ve been escaping to our parents’ houses or the mall in the evenings until it cools down a bit.

-          My mom made cushions for the nursery rocking chair. They’re done and they look great. I can’t wait to share pictures!!

-          We have internet in our house but they sent us the wrong modem so we don’t have wifi yet. Our Ethernet cable is currently connecting our xbox to the internet so that we can keep up with our Grey’s Anatomy addiction via Netflix. Priorities people! Hopefully that will be resolved by the end of this week.

-          By the way, Grey’s Anatomy is not a show I recommend for paranoid pregnant women…. It’s too late for me to turn back though.

-          My second baby shower is Saturday with my friends/family friends/friends of my mom. It’s a storybook brunch theme and I can’t wait!

-          Congratulations to Jesica on her adorable baby boy!!!! Seeing the precious pictures of him makes me even more anxious to see our little guy’s face!

It feels real!

The fact that we’re actually going to have a baby in 2 months or less is feeling real…and I’m scared! I’m not scared of actually having the baby but it scares me that I’m believing it now. The what ifs of something still going wrong scare me more than ever.

Luckily I’ve been able to focus on other things (moving into our new house and nesting!) and those things have brought with them signs that there WILL be a baby in our house soon. We have a bumbo chair sitting in the spare chair next to the dining room table. We have a baby bathtub and hooded baby towels in our guest bathroom. We have a NURSERY.

Speaking of the nursery, we’ve made a lot of progress in the past week. The nursery is now painted the final colors (after a complete freak out when the greys that we bought started to look purple/lavender). My mom and I picked out fabric for the cushions that she’s making for my rocking chair. The rug came in and has been placed. AND we have a crib. I got the call that it had come in yesterday and we went to pick it up right after dinner. It’s all set up and looking wonderful…and real.

P.S. I’m sorry for the lack of pictures recently!!! My work computer is being really weird with blogger and not letting me attach pictures. The internet at our house hasn’t been set up yet (hopefully this weekend) but when it is except a picture overload!!! I have nursery pictures, setting up the crib pictures, new house pictures and bump pictures!

Morning Kick Dates with Mommy

I think that my favorite part about being pregnant is feeling our little man kick. It took awhile for his movement to change from bubbles here and there to regular, strong movement but it was so worth the wait.

I feel him pretty much all day every day now and it hasn’t gotten old. I don’t think it ever will. Every time I feel a little (or big!) kick or movement I just think “Gosh, I love our baby so much!” It’s so special to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tiny little punch or a huge kick to the ribs (Ow!!). They all make me smile, even the painful ones. It feels like we have a connection that’s just between us and I love how I even have my little buddy reminding me that he’s there even when I’m at work or busy doing something else. Sometimes I’ll stop and just stare at my moving belly with pride.

It reassures me that he’s growing strong and that he’s just itching to get out and meet us as much as we’re looking forward to seeing his little face for the first time.

Most things about pregnancy I honestly won’t miss –not knowing whether he’s okay, having to dramatically cut back on my exercise, the bloody noses, the constipation, etc.- but I know that I’ll miss the kicks.

Lately he’s gotten into a little bit of a schedule with his movements. Every day for the past week he starts kicking without fail in the mornings right after I get back into bed (I get up to make Josh’s lunch and then go back to bed for another hour before I have to get up). I used to be able to go right back to sleep as soon as I got back into bed but now I just lay there awake feeling him move around. It’s become our little morning routine and I’m loving it!