34 Weeks - A Butternut Squash

November 6, 2014

Photo Thoughts: Acting like I painted the walls myself...

How I'm Feeling: Broken record here- still feeling good, all things considered. My lower back is really continuing to bother me though, and it seems to be getting worse- especially toward the end of the day.

Baby: Little guy is the size of a butternut squash this week. Yikes! Apparently he is now able to hear sounds and voices.  I'm a bad mom and haven't read any books, sang any lullabies, or played Mozart for my belly. Sorry, little man.  Instead, he is being subjected to my bad taste in music... Top 40 for us. I think he'll be smart anyways, right?

Bump: My bump is looking rounder and rounder. And actually, in the belly pictures I took below, you can see that he is lopsided to my left right now. I think that is his back along the left side.

Symptoms: Back pain was really getting me down this week. I'm hoping I just pulled a muscle or something and that it will go away soon. It's not unbearable by any means, but it does get worse as the day and night go on... especially if I've been on my feet and very active that day.  I've also noticed that if I have a really active day... usually if I'm doing lots of cleaning or other things around the house, my stomach starts to get really tight and the baby starts to feel "all balled up."  I'm pretty sure these are actually Braxton Hicks contractions now that I think about it.  They always stop though once I lay down for a while.

Weight: +3.0 (oops). Up 27 total. Baby growth spurt this week?  Or just a little too much Halloween candy?

What I'm Loving: It seemed like overnight (Halloween night actually), the weather instantly turned into fall weather. I'm loving the cooler temps, and it's so fun to feel Fall-ish, especially since I was basically living in year-round summer the past two years.

What I'm Stressing About/Worries: Imagining what I might end up looking like if I gain 3 pounds a week from here on out. I doubtful that will actually happen, but it did cross my mind.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I am definitely eating MORE than my fair share of Halloween candy!

Exercise: Still keeping up with my prenatal Pilate's/barre class twice a week, and I try to do either a class at the gym or a home workout video 2 other days a week. Working out is definitely getting harder, but I always feel better afterwards. And I also noticed that if I don't work out a couple days in a row, I get this weird restless leg feeling when I'm trying to fall asleep at night.

What a difference 13 weeks makes! 

Movement: Lots and lots of BIG movements. Most of the time, I feel the movements all over, but sometimes I do get some really strong (sometimes painful) kicks up near my ribs. My doctor confirmed this week that he is head down (please stay that way!!), so that makes sense that I'm feeling some strong karate kicks up top. Ouch!

Other Updates: At my doctor appointment this week, my OB confirmed that baby is head down right now. He still has more than enough room to possibly flip, but I'm hoping that he stays this way!  After my doctor's appointment, I had an appointment at hospital admissions to get my hospital registration out of the way.  Crazy to think that I am already checked into the hospital!  It was also crazy to sign all of the forms and identify my relationship to the soon-to-be-born patient as "mother."  I'm someone's mother?!

Highlights of the Week:

-Early in the week we tested the two paint samples from last week on the walls. We chose the one on the left side.  And just a few days later, the painter came and transformed the nursery into a very blue baby room.  It's so exciting to go in there now- I love it!

-Baby celebrated his first Halloween... kind of. We actually had a good crowd of trick-or-treaters, which I was happy about. It's wild to think that next Halloween, we will have a ten month old to dress up!