Thirty-six weeks!!!

Weekly Info...

How far along are you? 36 weeks!!! 9 months preggo, yo! Only 28 days til due date!!! Twenty. Eight. Days!! 

How I’m feeling: pretty good considering. Did a little Christmas shopping today, packed our hospital bag, and began cleaning out the pantry like a mad woman. Next on the list? Purging other rooms in the house! 

Total weight gain: too much to tell. Haha! From my lowest this pregnancy, about 24lbs. 

How big is baby? "Your baby is still packing on the pounds – at the rate of about an ounce a day. He or she now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long (about the size of a head of romaine lettuce).

Your baby is shedding most of the downy hair that covered his or her body, as well as the vernix caseosa – a waxy substance that protects the skin during its nine-month bath in amniotic fluid. Your baby swallows these substances, along with other secretions, and they form a tar-like black substance called meconium, which your baby passes in his or her first bowel movements.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered "early term." (Full-term is 39 to 40 weeks. Babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term, 41 weeks is late term, and those born after 42 weeks are post-term.) Most likely he or she is in a head-down position. But if not, your caregiver may suggest scheduling anexternal cephalic version. (That's a fancy way of saying that your caregiver will apply pressure to your abdomen to try to manipulate your baby into a head-down position.)" -babycenter app

Maternity clothes: no new outfits. I have bought some nursing bras and other clothes stuff for hospital bag. 

Stretch marks? No new ones. Some of the ones I've had for years are becoming more visible though. 

Sleep: awake every two hours at least. She just moves all over the bladder which makes for multiple trips to the restroom. And rolling over wakes me up every time. 

Best moment this week: knowing all is still well at the appointments. And getting the hospital bag packed. Just need to get it all in one place and install her car seat in my car. 

Movement: she's pretty active normally. Decided to take a little break Tuesday all day and not move. Those days don't make for a happy mommy. 

Food cravings: none really. 

Food aversions: none thankfully.  

Belly button in or out: in. Maybe it'll make it all pregnancy :)

What I Miss: rolling over and laying on my tummy. 

What I’m looking forward to: holding this little munchkin! Teaching her all kinda of cool things!!

Milestone: chances of a NICU stay are slim at this point, in case of an early delivery :) 

Ignore the mismatched outfit. I'd halfway changed into pjs before I remembered I needed to take today's pictures. 

It's a lot of work having to tote this thing I call a belly around. 

This was last night...35wks6days. 

Progressions in same shirt...left to right- 21wks, 24wks, 36wks. 

35 weeks

Weekly Info...

How far along are you? 35 weeks! 35!!! 

How I’m feeling: uncomfortable. tired. sick. ready. 

Total weight gain: another 4 pounds. Depressing for me. Normal for the docs. 

How big is baby? Belly is measuring 36 weeks (we were 34+6 days yesterday when they measured). 

According to babycenter app-

"Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now. He or she is over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (about the size of a honeydew melon)! Because he or she is so snug in your womb, your baby isn't likely to be doing dramatic somersaults anymore, but the number of movements you feel should remain about the same.

Your baby's kidneys are fully developed now, and his or her liver can process some waste products. Basic physical development is now mostly complete – your baby's main job over the next few weeks is to put on weight."

Maternity clothes: are getting small. Okay, so I know it's really me getting bigger but that's not the point. If I don't wear the full panel belly pants, my tops are always too short looking. Just depressing. 

Stretch marks? Some are popping up on my sides but none so far on the belly. We shall see. 

Sleep: I don't know that this word is in my vocabulary anymore. At all. It's beyond uncomfortable when I sit. Beyond uncomfortable when I lay. No winning from this point forward I reckon. 

Best moment this week: Phil getting to see my stomach jerk so far to the side it looks like I'm having a seizure. During our child birth class this weekend she was going crazy inside. Kicked/punched me so hard that my entire midsection jerked. Might as well have jumped outta my seat. 

Movement: it's slowing down somewhat but she's still quite active in there. She prefers to keep a foot in my ribcage and her head on my bladder. Let's just hope I don't pee myself. It's come quite close as of late! 

Food cravings: pumpkin pie. I just had a delicious slice. :)

Food aversions: none thankfully. 

Belly button in or out: in. It seems to be staying that way for a while. When she's mashed against it from the inside or I've eaten too much, it looks like the bottom of my belly button may start to poke out but I still have a crater, so I think I'm good. 

What I Miss: being comfortable. I've heard I might as well get used to that. My ribs hurt all the time. I wish I could take a few deep breaths and feel better, but it isn't working that way. 

What I’m looking forward to: the next 5 weeks. 35 days. 19 working days. 8 duty days. 

Milestone: another week done.

Hahaha!! This made me laugh. Only I have a tad more to lose after AG's arrival. 

Big ol' belly! Should've taken my jacket off. 

Our little (ha, little) beach ball of a baby. 

And here are these achy things. Five more weeks, footsies. Five more weeks. The sad thing is, this is as soon as I say down and propped them up. After a bit of them propped, they blew up even more. Walked to the kitchen and could feel the excess swelling in the area between my toes and tattoo just jiggling as I walked. Doc wasn't concerned yesterday- until my face and hands blow up, says swelling isn't too bad. Too bad it is getting quite unconfortable... having feet the size of Africa. 

34 weeks

Weekly Info...

How far along are you? 34 weeks, baby!!

How I’m feeling: tired. But that's all the time now. She has made me the most uncomfortable ways I could imagine. 

Total weight gain: +2 more pounds. If I don't say it altogether maybe it'll make me feel less self-conscious about it. 

How big is baby? "Your baby now weighs around 4 3/4 pounds (about the size of a cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Fat layers – which will help regulate your baby's body temperature after birth – are filling your baby out, making him or her rounder. Your baby's skin is also smoother than ever.

The central nervous system is maturing, and your baby's lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies." -babycenter app

Maternity clothes: they are ranging in comfortable to completely uncomfortable. Denim- not comfortable. My belly gets smushed and dang it it's fun. 

Stretch marks? None. 

Sleep: none of that either. No more ability to skip a potty break til the next time I wake up. I'm afraid I may pee the bed. 

Best moment this week: feeling her move after her being pretty silent for a while. 

Movement: she still loves the ribcage and bladder at the same time. My ribcage needs a break though! 

Food cravings: none in particular. I could go for some spaghetti though. 

Food aversions: none. 

Belly button in or out: in. But it's flirting with outtiehood I think. 

What I Miss: being able to find a comfortable position. Sitting isn't comfortable. Laying isn't comfortable. Standing isn't comfortable. So I just constantly rotate between them. At work I look like I'm doing a rendition of "stand up, sit down, fight fight fight!" 

What I’m looking forward to: holding this little thing and being able to watch her grow in so many ways. It'll truly be a blessing from above. 

Milestone: 34 weeks. Plenty of babies born around this gestation time are able to go home soon after momma. 

Big ol feet, sore as sore could be:

Side view:

Front view:

Night, all.

33 weeks. And tired.

Weekly Info...

How far along are you? 33 weeks

How I’m feeling: today, über tired. This week, tired is a good word to stick with haha

Total weight gain: appt tomorrow. I'm not getting on the scale until then. 

How big is baby? "This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (about the size of a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He or she is rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look.

Your baby's skeleton is hardening. The bones in the skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap. This makes it easier for your baby to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as your child's brain and other tissues expand during infancy and childhood." -babycenter app

Maternity clothes: one of the coolest people I know sent me some tops that I'm loving!! Especially since I didn't buy many winter style tops and there were a few in the package! 

Stretch marks? Only old ones still. Although I think the belly is running out of growing room, so I expect some to show up eventually. 

Sleep: ha! Someone asked me how sleep was going. I chuckled and asked what sleep was... It is so, so uncomfortable laying down now. I love the way our bed feels as soon as I lay on it but I cannot get in any comfortable position. I usually wait until I can't stand it anymore before I get in the bed so I can just lay and pass out almost immediately. 

Best moment this week: the mister has run into my belly twice this week already. Several students have done the same. It makes me laugh that people don't realize how big this belly is getting.  

Movement: slow and moving from side to side or poking out. I had a butt sticking out between my belly button and ribcage for a bit today. It's not comfortable either. The kicks and punches are slowing down into more graceful movements as she runs out of room on the inside. 

Food cravings: I want chicken wings. Only the kind with two bones parallel like. Not the ones that look like mini legs. And fried. Dry plain or wet with BBQ. Mmmmm. 

Food aversions: none. Probably why I gained so much before my last appt. 

Belly button in or out: in still!! Can you believe it?!?

What I Miss: getting comfortable. Going more than a couple hours without a potty break. Being able to "squeeze" through places without hitting my stomach or mashing my stomach. 

What I’m looking forward to: meeting Little Miss AG. 7 weeks til our due date. Seriously, where did the time go?!?

Milestone: another week down :)