baby size? 4 lbs, about the size of a pinappleweight gain? 9.4lbs from pre-pregnancy weight
stretch marks? just a few
foods i'm loving: still really loving fruit-- i was craving fruity popcicles last week while i was sick with allergies!
foods i'm hating: not anything, really. just my normal likes/dislikes!
sleep? i am learning to sleep better and almost exclusively on my left side, since my right side is almost continually in pain! i only wake up occasionally to roll around or go to the restroom.
symptoms? muddleheaddedness. the pain in my right side has gotten worse, though i've learned how to keep it somewhat at bay by always sitting on my exercise ball when i have to sit for long periods of time and sleeping only on my left side at night. no contractions yet! my friend B started having contractions at 28 weeks, so that's crazy! i hope this doesn't mean my labor will be slower. part of me wonders if i'll even know when i have a contraction-- with my rib pain feeling like fire every so often (the pain goes about to the middle of my chest) and my belly already feeling tight all the time, i'm not sure i'd know it if a braxton-hicks was happening??
what i miss: normal clothes, being able to drink peppermint tea, having the energy & ability to rush around if i need to. and oh the warmer weather makes me want a sangria or a margarita. only 8 more weeks! haha.
what i'm looking forward to: no rib pain! birth classes! and experiencing labor & delivery with C
frustrations: feeling continuously discouraged by random people telling me 'oh you think you're losing sleep now? just wait!' etc. people saying all the bad things that come with having a child is one of the main reasons i took so long to decide to start trying for a family in the first place.
emotions? excited to meet little man! excited & fearful for the birth process. fearful of c-sections and of breastfeeding. feeling a bit out of sorts and not myself from living off a checklist these past 2 months.
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there is not much to say other than these things. we are getting along. the nursery is really close to being done, just a few little projects that i need C's help on! our pastor and his sweet wife said we could borrow their carseat, since their little lady is now 1yr and has outgrown it! so we can put off buying our own for a while-- maybe even put it off till little man is ready for a bigger seat.
we've been thinking more and more about moving to another part of cincinnati. which i'm excited and anxious for. we definitely won't do it till a month or so after baby is born at the soonest. but it's nice to think on the possibility. we just really want to be closer to the people we see often and to save gas by being closer to downtown for C's work. so we have our list of places we're looking-- and of course, i always just add in 'california' for good measure. i am always game to move there. haha. although really i could probably just put 'west coast' and that would be accurate too.
ah i would love to live on the west coast--our church helped with a church plant in portland and i so wanted to go! i think that is where "my people" are, ha.
ReplyDeletecontractions felt like the kind of cramps you get when its the "time of the month" except worse. you'll know when they are happening. my labor was really slow with june so when it was first starting i wasn't sure but once they got into "real labor" i was sure as hell they were contractions!
don't let people discourage you---my girls bring me so much joy, and i don't mean that in a cheesy way! they truly do. they remind me everyday to just enjoy life, every little part of it. its hard work but it is good good work.
don't let breastfeeding scare you too much--i had trouble with it but i think i am unusually dumb about baby things lol
ha, sorry, that probably sounds like a whole lot more unasked for advice, which i'm sure you are getting plenty of right now! praying for you and the little one!
Deleteoh no! it's not unasked for advice! i love it when friends help me in my wonderings! :)
Deleteand! i love hearing how much joy your girls bring you! i can see it in how you write about them and the photos you take! it makes me so hopeful! :)
DeleteRenee, you are not unusually dumb about baby things! You are a very smart mama who has done a great job raising your girls and will continue to do a great job! :D
ReplyDeleteI have a little bit of a different perspective on Braxton-Hicks contractions-- I think Renee is right-- they do feel like period cramps, but for me, I was SO uncomfortable toward the end of both pregnancies that period cramps didn't really feel like "bam!" for me because I was hurting all over anyway. Once I noticed that I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions, I realized that I'd actually been having them for several weeks. So, you might be having them, but if you're having a lot of discomfort all the time, it might not be as noticeable. For me, I never noticed that they were worse than period cramps-- maybe a little sharper?-- but that's what's so beautiful and amazing about pregnancy. It looks so different for all of us and yet so much is the same. Of course you know all this. :)
Don't worry too much about breastfeeding. If it works, it works and if it doesn't, we are blessed to live in a time where there are other ways you can healthfully nourish your babies. Even if you didn't want to use store-bought formula, there's a homemade formula recipe in "Nourishing Traditions," I believe?? (I think I'm remembering that right.) I used formula on occasion with both boys even though I breastfed most of the time. My mom bottle-fed all of us and she thought it was really "out there" that I even wanted to try breastfeeding-- so I really didn't expect it to go very smoothly for me since I didn't have a lot of support in the beginning. If it comforts you at all, I do think boys "take" to breastfeeding a little easier than girls-- but the Lord is on His throne and, at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter, so long as your baby is nourished! Take comfort and joy in His sustaining grace over all aspects of our lives!
I can't believe how little weight you've gained-- I'd gained 30 pounds by the time I was as far along as you are. :) You should tell people you had a friend who gained 3x as much as you if they say anything about you being overly "large." (???!!!)
I'm so excited for you to experience motherhood. Oh, and personally, I think the sleep deprivation of the newborn days is WAY better than the sleep deprivation of late pregnancy! Even in Linus' first week, I would often turn to Tyson and say, "Grrr! I'm so tired! BUT...I'm so glad he's out of me and not in me anymore!" Because at least when you're sleeping after the baby is born, your body can rest better than it can when you're very pregnant. So, for me, I actually found the newborn days preferable, sleep-wise, to pregnancy. You and Caleb are going to have such a blast.
yes! i feel like i might be having cramp like feelings sometimes, but the burning pain in my side is so overwhelming that i don't know if i'd notice a period cramp. haha. it is so wonderful to hear about everyone's experiences with pregnancy and birth-- you are right-- they are all so different! it's amazing!
Deleteoh i'm so glad you mentioned the 'nourishing traditions' formula recipe! i would have never thought to look there! i'd like to try to find a kind i can make rather than buy, but i will do what we have to do to have a healthy baby. hopefully we will figure out a system that works for us sooner rather than later!
agh, it's so funny what people say. some people say nice things and other's just blurt out randomness. i totally didn't know you gained 30 pounds-- you sure didn't look it, friend! i can't imagine how i'd feel if i'd gained more. i already feel exhausted and am short of breath on our walks sometimes!
and yes! about the sleep! that's how i feel like i will feel, but i've not told anyone, really. i just feel like it will be so nice to have him outside my body and my body can actually rest when it does find the time.
thank you so much for your encouraging words! it makes it all seem not so overwhelming or impossible. just normal-hard. :)