32 Weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks and only 8 more to go :)
Total Weight Gain: 29 lbs.
Maternity Clothes: Definitely.
Sleep: Getting up more frequently to pee, 3-4 times during the night.
Best Moment of the Week: Hearing the baby's heart beat.

Movement: A lot of jabbing, shifting and rolling around motions. Some shaking of the belly...hiccups?
Food Craving: Everything.
Food Aversions: None!
Morning Sickness: Yes....probably because my stomach is getting squashed by baby boy.
Gender: It's a boy!
Labor Signs: Not for 8 weeks, + or - 2 weeks.
Belly Button: I'm trying to poke out! But still an innie :)
What I Miss: Deli meat. A good martini and wine.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Maternity leave!
Weekly Wisdom: Don't scare yourself with too much internet information. I'm scaring myself because I ate soft cheese from France, but it was pasteurized. But I was still paranoid about it!
Milestones: Making it to 32 weeks!!

32 Weeks MD Appointment

I had my 32 week doctor's visit today and everything is going smoothly with baby boy. His heart is beating at a healthy 142 bpm and the doctor believes he is growing as planned. I was freaking out a bit as so many people were saying how small my belly looked for being in my 3rd trimester. Rest assured, my uterus is measuring average and the doctor thinks I should be delivering a average weight baby, maybe a 7-pounder.

As for me, I'm doing well. My blood pressure is normal, am gaining the right amount of weight and just getting a little more swelling in my ankles. I'm getting a return of nausea which is normally since my stomach getting getting pressed on by baby boy. So, she recommended that I eat smaller and more frequent meals during the day. Now, that is pretty hard as my job doesn't allow that; but will try as I can. I'm hoping to make it until 34 weeks, in 2 weeks, to check out and go on maternity leave; but it really depends on how I feel. But as I get nearer to the date, I think the time off would be good to plan and organize for the baby. I have another doctor's appointment on May 6th and believe I'll have her place me on disability.

I just can't believe that we'll be a family of three in less than 2 months!!! It's gone by so fast and am blessed that I've had such a easy pregnancy. But I'll be happy to get back to my normal size and my own clothes...oh how I miss you!!

In the meantime, I'm having such a great time being pregnant.

31 Weeks Pregnant

I finally had two days in a row off from work and it feels so nice. I haven't had that in such a long time. I'm still debating when to start my maternity leave. It's been getting more difficult to work as it's been physically challenging to my ever-growing belly. So far, I've only schedule myself at the hospital until the 10th of May. We'll see...I see the doctor on Monday and will ask for her recommendation. But I'm mentally finished with work and wanting to focus more on getting ready for baby!

How Far Along: 31 weeks and only 9 more to go :)
Total Weight Gain: 28 lbs. I may be going over my 35 lb. limit!!! Oh well.....
Maternity Clothes: Yes...my shirts are getting stretched out more and more.
Sleep: Sleeping well at least 6 1/2 - 7 hours and getting up just once or twice to pee.
Best Moment of the Week: Having 2 days in a row off.

Movement: A lot of jabbing, shifting and rolling around motions. He likes to push back when we push on him.
Food Craving: Everything.
Food Aversions: None!
Morning Sickness: Nope.
Gender: It's a boy!
Labor Signs: Not for 9 weeks, + or - 1 weeks.
Belly Button: I'm trying to poke out! But still an innie :)
What I Miss: Deli meat. A good martini and wine.
What I'm Looking Forward To: More baby shopping...so hard to resist!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Don't scare yourself with too much internet information.
Milestones: Counting down singe digits now!!!!

30 Weeks and Counting Down!

30 Weeks Pregnant

I can't believe next week I'll be counting down single digits! The pregnancy has gone by so fast. I have been truly enjoying being pregnant, but as I get bigger, it has gotten more difficult to move around....especially at work. Unfortunately, I am unable to fully perform my job description anymore. Well, at least the lifting and carrying more than 25 pounds! It is also getting harder to bend over and am a much slower walker. Today, I needed help getting a patient back into bed. Pre-pregnancy, I wouldn't of need any help and had enough strength to lift legs into bed....not anymore, unless they weigh less than me. I should be fortunate that I lasted this long. My co-worker, who is only 24 weeks, will most likely be going on disability early May. She is having a lot of lower back pain and has been using the rehab aide to do all the physical work. I am lucky that I have had no back pain, maybe an occasional ache, and am able to do most of the physical aspects of my job.

I am going to try to make it to 34 weeks before I ask my doctor to put me on disability. I see her at the end of April and will see how I feel until then. Today was a difficult day and if I saw her, I would tell her to sign the papers and I'd be on maternity leave early. But after resting and eating, I'm feeling less grumpy and well-rested after having hard day at work. If my body is holding up well by the 34th week, I'll definitely work until the 36th week. I'm pretty sure I'll stop working by then....well, if I don't go into labor by then!!

I am glad that we're living in California where I can get compensated for pregnancy-related disability and having time off to bond with the baby.

Speaking of the baby....oh man, is he an active little boy! Or at least I can feel him a lot LOT more. It feels so weird now because I can feel elbows or feet or a butt!! He does a lot of shifting around as well as giving me kicks. A lot of rolling motion along with jabs. Baby boy really loves the right side of my belly as it's really hard on that side. He likes to curl on my my right side, right under my rib cage. Chuck and I like to lightly poke/push on him because he likes to push back. It's so entertaining.

We're constantly preparing for the little baby. Unfortunately, we're not unpacking much of anything as we're planning to move sometime soon...either right before or after he's here. If he comes early, I'll have to get a few things out and ready for his arrival. Luckily, our stroller comes with a bassinet and we're going to use that for sleeping quarters until we can set up the crib. Just park it by our bed, put the brakes on and have him sleep in it. I love our UPPAbaby Vista stroller. It's so functional and rides really smoothly. We also have a card seat adapter, thanks to our lovely friend Hitomi, and our car seat clicks into place in lieu of the seat and bassinet.

We're almost done buying for baby except for a few things that can wait until we move into another place. But it's so difficult to resist the urge to buy!!! I like going onto www.babysteals.com and www.mamabargains.com as they have pretty good deals. Today, I just had to buy this changing pad to go with my ERGObaby carrier:

I have a changing pad that came with our diaper bag, but may not want to carry a diaper bag around if we use this carrier. It was 1/2-off, so I bit the bullet and bought it. Don't you just love it!

I can't wait until we get a bigger place because right now 1/4 of our living space is full of baby stuff!

How Far Along: 30 weeks and only 10 more to go :)
Total Weight Gain: 26 lbs. and hopefully only 9 more lbs. to gain!
Maternity Clothes: Definitely...my shirts are getting stretched out more and more.
Sleep: Sleeping well at least 6 1/2 - 7 hours and getting up just once to pee.
Best Moment of the Week: Feeling baby boy's elbow or foot or butt!! What a cutie pie.

Movement: A lot of jabbing, shifting and rolling around motions. He likes to push back when we push on him.
Food Craving: Everything.
Food Aversions: None!
Morning Sickness: At times, but it passes in the morning.
Gender: It's a boy!
Labor Signs: Not for 10 weeks, + or - 1 weeks.
Belly Button: I'm trying to poke out!
What I Miss: Deli meat.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Not working!!!! And to get a much bigger belly so people aren't so surprised that I'm 7, almost 8 months pregnant. Guess I'm small for being 30 weeks. But really, I've gained 26 pounds!
Weekly Wisdom: It's okay to ask for help. Don't be superwoman and do everything yourself...at least at work. At home, I have no qualms having Chuck help me:)
Milestones: Making it to the 30th week!!!!!!!

29 Weeks

I am 100% better than last week. The cough is gone and now Chuck doesn't have to take reprieve on the couch to catch a few zzzz's at night. I'm still a little congested, but that's getting better. I wish I had the same energy as pre-pregnancy, but I'm getting bigger and much sluggish at work. It is also getting tougher to squat and bend over! Fortunately, I can still lift and assist patients as long as they aren't needing maximal or total assist. Realistically, I'll be working until I'm 33-34 weeks along....in 5 weeks!! I have my doctor's appointment at the end of the month and will see when she'll put me on disability leave.

Tonight, Chuck and I are going to our first childbirth preparation class. Actually, it is the last class of the series. We don't start our classes until May 12th. Since the last class is on June 9th, the instructor thought we should attend the last class tonight...just in case I go into early labor. It is only a little over a week before my due date! She thought we'd feel more comfortable finishing the class a week earlier. We won't be totally lost in class tonight as it's not building on any of the classes. Tonight's topic is Baby Care Basics. How fun!

How Far Along: 29 weeks and only 11 more to go!!
Total Weight Gain: 24 lbs. and holding. Didn't gain a lb. since last week. I may make my goal of 35 lbs. total weight gain.
Maternity Clothes: Only clothing I can wear...at least pants-wise. I can still wear some of my pre-pregnancy tops...though they are much shorter!
Sleep: Sleeping at least 6 1/2 - 7 hours and getting up just once to pee.
Best Moment of the Week: Getting over this cough and entering the 3rd trimester!

Movement: He's a very active boy.
Food Craving: Fruit.
Food Aversions: None!
Morning Sickness: Some queasiness intermittently, but it passes.
Gender: It's a boy!
Labor Signs: Not for 11 weeks, + or - 1 weeks.
Belly Button: Still an innie! But trying to poke out.
What I Miss: My pre-pregnancy body!
What I'm Looking Forward To: Not working!!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Take each day as it comes...don't stress yourself out.
Milestones: Making it to the 3rd trimester!!!