Pregnancy Week 36 update

Due date: September 27

How far along: 36 Weeks

Next appointment: Sept 3...which will be a birthing 'class' / check-up

Total weight gain/loss: 20 kilos..eek (I put it in kilos so it looks like less ;)

Exercise: Still walking the dog daily and the elliptical , one or two times a week.

Stretch marks: Yes, they finally made their appearance. They look like a tiger clawed me

Swelling: Only when on long road trips.  We went to Austria last week with my brother and sister-in-law.  3 days of more than 4 hours of driving- it was a lot of time in the car, and lots bathroom stops!  We have no more trips scheduled at this point thankfully!

Maternity clothes: Yes, though I have found a few non-maternity items of clothing that can work with the bell.  A long skirt with an elastic waist, a sleeveless sweater that isn't supposed to be buttoned..

Belly button: It is still in, though it is strange looking

Sleep: It is very difficult to get comfortable and between the trips to the bathroom and extreme midnight movement, I now begin the night on the couch and come to bed around 4-5 a.m.  I feel like I am giving Ed a good few hours of uninterrupted sleep since sleep is pretty important when flying a fast plane. 

Food cravings/aversions: None

Movement: Starting at week 34, the baby reached my ribs.  I find it odd that there are not more women complaining about rib pain on the internet because of all things I have experienced in the last 8 months, this is the most painful and annoying thing.  The only thing that seems to help is standing and walking.  Sitting at a table or the computer for long periods of time almost becomes unbearable!  

Labor signs: I am having more BH contractions than ever. 

What I miss: Not grunting every time I sit down and especially when I stand up.  If I am lying on the couch and get up, I look like a turtle on my back for a few moments!

What I'm loving: The answer to this question will always be feeling the baby move.  Which is part of the reason I don't sleep well at night, but maybe because I like to lie there and just feel what he is doing in there!  Even when he is in my ribs, I will gently push where his butt or feet are and if it is his feet, he will often times kick back! 

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing the face that I have only ever seen in slightly distorted black and white images...and getting my body 'back'.  It will be nice to not have a huge, hard stomach blocking the path between me and my feet. 

 Milestones: While the baby is not yet full term until next week, one of my friends who writes a blog and recently had a baby described week 36 is a big week because 'you have 2 to 6 weeks left'.  The possibility of seeing the baby starting in 2 weeks is exciting.

Goals: To order the rest of the baby things from our registry.

Weekly thoughts/wisdom:  While I have no wisdom to impart, I have read a few books about natural birth that have given me something to think about.  My birth 'plan' includes a natural birth...so I have been trying to mentally prepare myself for that.  It seems like most women's birth plans rarely go as hoped so I don't really have any expectations.  Obviously this will be me first time to give birth but I am trying to think positively about the pain.  It's temporary with great reward at the end.  Also, every person on earth has a mom that gave birth to them so I am not the first person to go through this!

Thoughts and feelings from Significant Other: He is impatient and ready for this show to get on the road.  I made him a paper chain to see the number of days until the due date!

Bell Photo of the week - Week 17

This is the first week where I have really felt like I am getting bigger in a short amount of time.  Along with having an itchy stomach quite often, I've been awakened by  round ligament pain which is, I'm assuming, from sleeping on my side with nothing under my stomach. I still have not definitely felt the baby move so I guess I will just have to keep waiting for that to happen.  I decided that showing only the profile only tells half the story, so I've included a second picture that definitely shows the growing bell. 

Before moving to Denmark, my friend Rachael came to Texas for one last weekend together before I left.  While we were in the Gap, I was looking at the sale clothes, but was soon informed by a saleswoman that I was actually looking at maternity sale.  After my initial embarrassment, I realized that all of the shirts were less than 5 dollars.  "What a great deal" I thought to myself. I had already heard about the clothing prices here so I decided that I would spend a few dollars and buy some maternity shirts in advance.  While I have not yet been wearing them, I will add that I have tried them all at least once...with a lumpy sweatshirt baby.  Special is the only word that comes to mind...One can't be taught such great poses such is this one:

First true pregnancy post

I'm definitely not one who has many pictures of myself in a swimsuit on Facebook or anywhere on the internet for that matter, but I've decided that I am going to document the ''bell's'' growth sans any covering because 1) at this point, one would be hard-pressed to see any change in size with a shirt on 2) there's a human growing under the skin! It's pretty awesome.  3) If in the end, I do end up having stretch marks, dark lines etc, I think I should remember that! Now I have decided to leave off my head though for a number of reasons: my stool stacked with 12 books to add additional height to the camera is tall enough.  I'm not going to make the stack of books 20 tall to document my face, my face that is not benefiting from that 'pregnancy glow' So, without further delay...The Bell 

14 weeks, 2 days

16 weeks, 2 days

Some people have all the skills when posing for their self taken belly photos.  I seemed to have missed out on that skill so I'm sure there will be plenty more awkward arm poses to come and maybe a few non-self-taken pictures will eventually make their way to the blog, though I don't seem to be any more skilled in posing in that department either! 

and this was actually on 15 weeks and 2 days-i wasn't home to take the picture in my usual spot. 

 As far as how the rest of the pregnancy is going and has gone, I am happy to report that what everyone says about the 2nd trimester being the best trimester is true.  My night nausea is gone, I'm not eating every five minutes and I can still sleep comfortably. (not that that was an issue in the first trimester, but I am a dedicated back sleeper.  I'm trying to transition to sleeping on my side but I always seem to wake up on my back) I even think that my wild hormonal mood swings are maybe less wild but Ed would be the one to ask about that since he was the unfortunate recipient of my highs and lows.  The waistbands of my pants were uncomfortably tight fairly early--around 9 weeks so I bought a belly band to extend the life of my non-pregnancy pants.  While I was initially excited that it worked, I quickly discovered that the 2 bottoms that attach the band to jeans are a bit inconvenient for someone who is now making frequent trips to the bathroom.  My thoughtful friend sent me a pair of maternity pants from Ross and I bit the bullet ordered a couple pairs from Old Navy and the Gap. And there are always leggings.  If only pajama pants were acceptable clothing for public outings...

We had our 2nd ultrasound after Easter.  It was neat to how different the baby was from weeks 11 to 16.  The spinal cord and ribs were clearly visible.  The baby was hiccuping and swallowing. The brains 2 halves were there and the arms and legs were looking much more human-like.  Oh, and the gender is now known....!   I think I will just have to wait and share in a different post though :)   

We've have actually purchased furniture for the babies room--a crib and a large, 16- cubed bookshelf from Ikea that will act as both a closet and a bookshelf (and will probably store many other baby-related items since there is no closet in the room). We're are using an already owned desk for the changing table and are still looking for a rocking chair. After we find that, we will just need all the many baby items that are necessary in order to take care of a baby.  It is actually a little bit overwhelming to think about it all!   

Well, I think that is about enough pregnancy talk for a post! Hope you're all enjoying the spring weather wherever you are!