Quite a bit has happened since my last pregnancy update at 32 weeks including a move to a new apartment. Here’s a recap on the last four weeks:
33 weeks
Went to the ultrasound at Advanced Fetal Medicine that my OB referred me to based on a concern of her femur length (too small), which never really worried us. The doctor at that place talked to us after analyzing the new ultrasound and he said that he looked at every aspect of the baby to look for any physiological abnormalities or deformities based on the short femur length and found absolutely none. I couldn’t tell them: “see this mom-to-be here? She’s tiny and was born uber-tiny also.”
But apparently, it’s just protocol to check for such a concern instead of assuming that because the mom is small the baby will be small.
This is the fourth ultrasound we’ve had and it seems that baby girl is always hiding with her hands, feet or both in front of her face. This time she had both a hand and a foot covering half of her face. The technician thought this was funny and called her “crazy baby.” I think she really meant to say: “weird baby”. And I’ll take it as a good thing. She also called her stubborn at one point. Something I’ve been called most of my life.
So far, the adjectives that have been used to describe the baby throughout the pregnancy from ultrasound technicians and the OB include: crazy baby, stubborn, tiny, tiny dancer, little dancer feet, and healthy baby. Sounds about right haha.
On this latest ultrasound, she also saw hair on her head already! Which I expected also based on her genes.
I have some intuition on what she’s going to look like… hair color, eye color, skin color, height… but I won’t say. Maybe I’ll come back and write about how I was right. I did know she was a girl since before the very first ultrasound.
34 weeks
We attended the Saturday delivery and postpartum hospital tour for expectant parents. They took us through a labyrinth from a delivery room, to the nursery, to a postpartum room, to the restaurant and cafeteria area and answered all kinds of questions. This was a great thing to do to know what to expect before arriving for labor.
There were about 10 couples there taking the tour. Some women looked barely pregnant and some looked pretty pregnant.
I also had an OB appointment on this week. On this visit, they gave me the Tdap vaccine and drew lab work to check for HIV and Syphilis. Apparently, this is required during the third trimester by the Texas Health Board, and as expected, results came back negative. I don’t have an STD ya’ll! 😉
By now I found myself with more pain (mostly pelvic and lower back) and less energy.
On this week, I actually took a bath in the middle of the day. With Epsom salts and a few drops of lavender oil. I never take baths. Last time I took one I think was when we lived in Utah (so, at least 10 months ago!). Unless I’ve taken one here and don’t remember. Either way, they are rare for me. I’m just not a water person. Don’t love pools or swimming or showers or baths or the beach. I do like looking at bodies of water like rivers and lakes and fountains. But I prefer my water in almost frozen form, aka snow. 😉
Anyway, I super digressed.
35 weeks
At nearly 36 weeks, we moved! Can you believe it? Unfortunately, our lease was ending on basically the same day as my due date (August 20). Instead of renewing we knew we wanted to move closer to Josh’s work and upgrade from a 1 bedroom to 2 bedrooms. We decided to move before the end of the lease instead of extending, but right before the due date was not a good idea, so we found a place that met our requirements including a place where you can walk or run, like parks or trails, walking distance to the apartment.
And we moved to our new place on Saturday, June 22 at 35 weeks and 6 days. Having to pay double rent for a month is terrible but had to be done. We hired movers, something we normally don’t do, and Josh did most of the packing and unpacking this time around. I felt quite frustrated at the fact that I couldn’t help more than I was able to, but it was definitely nice to hire movers.
Pregnancy brain
Also, pregnancy-induced brain fog, also known as “pregnancy brain”, is in full force now. Caused by increased hormone production and lack of good sleep are the main causes of this common “symptom.” It’s supposed to mostly cause forgetfulness, which I have been, with the “what was I going to do?, why did I open this door? and why did I come in here for?, happening very often. And I’ve been finding I can’t “think well” and I’ve been more distracted.
For example, many times I have not noticed the light turned green and have been honked at a couple times. This never happened to me pre-pregnancy. Also, I accidentally grabbed someone else’s cart at the grocery store. I’ve been on the other end of that one, so maybe the karma balanced out haha. But this “pregnancy brain” even though I know it’s because of the pregnancy and it’s temporary, has been making me feel kinda stupid.
36 weeks
The last stretch! 4 weeks left! Give or take. Who knows when she’ll actually come.
Baby is the size of:
About the length of a head of romaine lettuce or a large cantaloupe.
Baby’s movement:
She’s an active little girl. Been squirming and pushing real hard sometimes.
Clothes:
Still loving that comfy green dress for out and about, and my target camis and comfy cotton shorts for home. I’ve also been wearing my bellaband more, which at first I used to wear my pre-pregnancy pants and shorts, but now I just use it for compression and support of my belly reducing back pain throughout the day.
Food cravings:
Dessert. But still trying to stay healthy. I recently discovered the chocolate malt balls in the bulk section of the grocery store I shop at, and they’re so good. Not good that I discovered them.
Total weight gain:
About 19 pounds.
Health/fitness:
Not doing much these days except for moving stuff, packing and unpacking. I try to do a few exercises at home when I can.
Symptoms:
Super blurry vision, which apparently is completely normal and should go back to normal. Pain (pelvic, hip, and lower back) and tiredness. Emotional. Shortness of breath, considering my lungs are being squished, sore feet, pregnancy brain… yep, all your typical late 3rd trimester things.
Sleep:
Not sleeping well in general. Either I have hip pain and/or general discomfort, or I have to get up to pee at least once a night, or simply just waking up many times during the night. They say it’s the body preparing itself for a newborn who’ll be keeping you up all night.
Baby items purchased:
We got an IKEA dresser which will also serve as the changing table. I’m planning on ordering several things we need soon.
Dad is:
Still excited to meet her.
Looking forward to:
Making our new apartment feel homey.
Missing:
Being able to lie on my back on the floor. I used to just do that at random times to relieve general back pain. Being able to exercise. Better sleep (not sure I’ll get that ever again hehe).
General Thoughts:
This has been quite an interesting journey, and it’s just the beginning. I still sometimes can’t believe there’s a human inside me, especially lately where she’s fully grown and likes to squirm and push out a lot.
A New Life Wandering 