The third trimester is here and I am definitely feeling it. Being pregnant is one thing - being pregnant and having a toddler to chase after is a completely different experience. Overall, I am still feeling pretty good but the usual third trimester things are settling in and those combined with my self-imposed busy schedule have left me feeling a bit more drained than usual. My body says sit down and rest but my mind (and toddler) say "go go go!" Anyway, here's the seven month scoop...
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| 29 + 3 |
Last
week I had a midwife appointment (fourth overall I think?) and other
than my complete breakdown when the midwife innocently brought up
breastfeeding the visit was rather uneventful. I am thinking about
writing a post sharing my feelings on feeding the baby this time around
and sort of journaling about what happened last time, so I will save the
details for another day but let's just say I am still pretty sensitive
about our postpartum experience last time around and every time someone
new brings it up and I have to explain the whole thing the emotions pour
out uncontrollably. I am sure the pregnancy hormones are not helping this cause! Anyway - belly is measuring on track, I was 29
weeks at the appointment and that is exactly what I measured, weight
gain is up 16 lbs even. I finally had some lab work done and they
haven't called me that anything was out of whack so I am assuming that
everything is fine. I will find out at my appointment next week, now
that I am in the third trimester they are scheduled every two to three weeks
instead of every five to six.
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| 29 + 3 |
Symptom-wise,
I am feeling, well, the most pregnant I have ever felt. I don't even
remember feeling like this at the end of Arlo's pregnancy - I was
actually hoping he would stay put for another week or two to give me
time to recover from that two week bout of flu/pneumonia I had at the
end. This time I am all about the baby coming a bit early, which makes
me think I will probably go to 42 weeks, ha. The belly is large and in
charge these days which makes bending over, picking up things off the
floor, and standing at the sink to do dishes torture for my back. I
have had some back pain over the last few weeks, but it's been somewhat
mild and intermittent. I think, however, I have a small foot or knee
hanging out under my left rib and sitting for a while or laying on my
left side is starting to cause a lot of pain there. Baby was still head
down at my last appointment which makes me think he/she is hanging out
in the same position most of the time and that's why there is always
some part of it's lower extremity under my rib. I am still having
frequent braxton hicks contractions, stronger all the time. I ran out
of the wild yam root that I had been taking and since I am getting
close-ish to the end of the pregnancy I have decided to stop taking it
altogether and just let my body do what it needs to in preparation for
delivery. So go ahead uterus, exercise your little heart out.
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| 29 + 3 |
With this baby, I am feeling so much more movement than last time. Or maybe it's not more
movement, just stronger movement. This baby feels super strong and has
some wild kicks and dance parties that literally shake my whole body.
If I am sitting my belly will rock side to side and I can often see a
foot/elbow/knee press out and float across the bump. I don't remember
the movements being this intense with Arlo, but I suppose it's possible I
have just forgotten those little details. I have had heartburn a
couple of times but I attribute that to large and/or spicy meals close
to bed, which is probably never a good idea let alone in the third
trimester of pregnancy. So far not a big deal and quickly remedied by a
Tums.
Probably my most troublesome symptom these days though is trouble sleeping. Between waking up at least once to pee during the night, waking up every time I roll over, and the rib pain which seems worse when I lay down, sleep has been rather difficult as of lately. Some nights I feel perfectly comfortable, not worried about a thing, but just can't seem to fall asleep. So admittedly, I have been taking various sleep aids on occasion because I have found that I just can't function very well on 5 hours of sleep. As well, lack of sleep seems to really affect my mood so making sure I get enough has been a priority. Erik has been sleeping in the bonus room on an extra mattress for the past couple of weeks as my tossing and turning have kept him up as well. I hate not having him in the bedroom at night but we both end up sleeping a lot better in separate beds, so we will keep on with it as long as we need to. Most nights he hangs out with me before we fall asleep, and we lay there and chat or watch a show and when we are both super tired he goes to the other room. One little bonus to this arrangement is that I am not waken up by his alarm clock at 6:15am and can usually sleep in a bit. That being said, our tiny human alarm clock usually comes running in by 7am so there's that!
Lot's
of people have asked me if I am still working. I am and plan to right
up until the end. Actually, if I went into labor at work I would be
super close to the birthing center and could just head right over so
that would be ideal. Kidding, kind of. I have actually been
picking up an extra shift most weeks over the last couple of months to
help bulk up our savings before I go on maternity leave as working per
diem doesn't give me any paid vacation at all. However now that I feel
myself slowing down a bit I am planning to go back to my usual two days a
week schedule until the baby comes. And I am pretty sure now that when
I do have the baby I will be quitting my current job. I had planned on
finding a new job when we moved last year but just never put that plan
into action. So, this feels like a natural time to end my current
position, and look for something a lot closer to home when I feel ready to go back
to work. I am not sure how much time I will take off yet. With Arlo, I took a total of eight months off (two weeks of that were sick leave
right before he was born) but I remember feeling ready to go back around
the time he turned six months old. I imagine this time around it will
be a similar situation, and when I go back to work will be somewhat
dependent on how long it takes me to find a new job when I decide to start
looking. I realize all the time how lucky I am that we have this option and feel very fortunate that I have been able to have so much time at home with Arlo, as well as a job that offers such flexibility. I always thought it was my dream to stay home with our
kids full time, but after my extended maternity leave last time I
realized that maybe it's not the best thing for me. And I have felt a
bit guilty for feeling that way, but I have realized that I need to do
what makes me the happiest so I can be the best mom for the little
ones. Working two days a week has felt like the ideal work-life balance
for our family as it allows me to mostly be at home with the little guy, but also have some time to be "me" - adult
conversation with my coworkers, keeping up my nursing skills, and also
helping to supplement our income. It's no secret that I struggled with a
lot of things postpartum last time around, and honestly going back to
work was something that helped me feel "normal" again. It was the one
and only aspect of my life that was unchanged by having a baby. My job
was the same and my coworkers and friends were all there and it just
felt good to go back. So, quitting my job this time around won't give
me all the same stuff to look forward to going back to, but I think it
will open the door to a new adventure and the opportunity to make new
work friends. So, that's the current work plan but I have learned that plans
are just that and rarely play out as you envision, so I am really just
going to see how it all plays out when we become a family of four before we make any big life decisions.
In other news - we finally found me my "mom car!!" After a year of trying to figure out exactly what we wanted, followed by a year of shopping (most seriously since we found out I was pregnant) we finally brought home our new 4-wheeled family member. Seriously, Erik and I are the least impulsive car purchasers you will ever meet. I think we test drove five Volvo XC 90's, a Honda Pilot, Hyundai Santa Fe, BMW X5 (please don't judge me - I actually strongly dislike BMW's but Erik thought it might be an option so I agreed to it and was pleasantly surprised when I didn't like a thing about it), and even a mini-van before deciding that the XC90 was the one for us. In the end, safety won out and we picked what we feel is probably one of the safest cars on the road. Here is a picture of her right when we brought her home (and moments before we took her on her first road trip!)
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| belly is 31 + 1 here |
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| Arlo enjoying some milk before our trip. car seat in the middle - for now... |
My requirements for our purchase were quite simple: must be white exterior with tan interior (it's way too hot in the south for me to want to drive a dark colored car) and must have heated seats (because, well, winters are cold.) I didn't care for any of the other bells and whistles but I was pleasantly surprised that the one we ended up going with has a few of those fancy-schmancy options. I absolutely love driving it and have never felt so safe in a car. It has three rows and can seat seven total, but with no need for the third row right now we have it folded flat creating a huge trunk space - no more stacking grocery bags on top of the stroller and then on top of each other, woo hoo! We have not even had it two weeks yet but have already taken it on two road trips (more about those soon) and I love sitting passenger in it while Erik drives just as much as I like driving it myself. Arlo loves it too and even though it's a lot taller than my last car (a small Suzuki SX4) he has no trouble climbing up and into his car seat. Anyway, it's a huge relief to check such a big box on our to-do list and I am so happy we found it when we did. Erik has been working to tune up my old car and we are having it detailed soon so if you are in the market for a cute little hatchback (with extremely low miles!) that has been pretty good to me the last seven years please inquire ;)
In house news we are 95% done with the laundry room reno, as well I have the nursery all painted, and I have also been crafting like crazy. Pictures of all those things to come soon (I hope!) We have one last trip coming up in the next couple of weeks and then we will be sticking close to home with very few plans until the baby arrives (and for obvious reasons don't have anything big planned following the birth!) So late July and early August can hopefully be spent pool-side with friends, eating giant slices of watermelon, and running through the sprinkler in the evening. The stuff summers are made of :)
