Holy Baloney - 31 Weeks

Baby

• Baby's going through major brain and nerve development.
• Eye development too. Irises now react to light!
• All five of baby's senses are in working order.

Mama

• Out of breath, since baby keeps squishing your lungs. Yup, hard to carry Nolan up stairs too, especially from the basement!
• Dry, brittle nails, thanks to all that extra nail growth. Not really, they're long, strong, and tend to get the friction on.
• Braxton Hicks contractions. Be sure you're drinking plenty of water and changing positions often. I don't think I really got these with Nolan but I'm definitely getting these with this baby!
• Leaky boobs. That's baby's first food, called colostrum. Ummm, no comment. 
• Frequent urination. Your bladder's just as crowded as your lungs. Yes. Ugh. Yes. And it's never a significant amount, although it feels like I'm bursting!
• Backaches. Be sure to keep stretching. So much yes to this. Rib pain too. 
• Difficulty sleeping. Aches and pains, your big belly, pregnancy hormones, heartburn and anxiety are probably all contributing. Sometimes, I've been good on the nap front especially on weekends!

Total Weight Gain: I actually lost a pound from my 28 week appt to my 30 week appt. Which was great seeing as how the midwife was like "ohhh, you gained 4 pounds from week 24-28". I'm going to call her Judgey Mc'Midwife if I need to bring her up again. At my last appointment with her she dismissed my rib pain and projected symptoms onto me regarding the pain I was feeling. Example: Oh is the pain really deep? she asks... no it's actually at the surface as if something is bulgeing out for my ribcage. Oh, it's probably your stomach then... she says. K... but I HEARD my stomach growl on my right ribcage. I dunno, she's fine for the most part but I'm just not thrilled with the way that she just came up with the whole stomach theory and all.

Maternity Clothes: Sometimes! I actually can still fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans which is nothing short of a miracle. I also have some work pants I fit into pretty easily. I must be carrying high or something.

Symptoms: Mostly I am just feeling back and rib pain. It gets really intense at the end of the day. I've been putting ice packs on the painful areas and that helps temporarily. Usually the best fix is sleeping and then in the morning it feels better(ish).

Sleep: I'm doing fine on the sleeping front. Yesterday I took a 3.5 hour nap and still went to bed before 10pm.

Food Cravings: I think I know what sounds good when I see or smell it. Usually pizza hits the spot. I'm not too fond of leftovers. The smell of cold food makes me not hungry.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Sometimes when I brush my teeth I'll gag, but that's about it.

Movement:  This is my favorite. I have an anterior placenta which in layman's terms means that there's a cushion between my stomach and the baby (the cushion being the placenta). That means that I'm not feeling as intense of kicks as I did with Nolan, so when I do feel stuff it's really pretty cool. I miss that I can't watch my belly move with little feet sticking out. With Nolan, I had several times where he'd just jut out his foot and draaaaaag it along my stomach. Very "Alien" of him to be honest, but it was really neat!

Stretch Marks: None, and I don't have the linea negra either thank goodness. I'm sure that'll come.

Labor Signs: Just BH every once in a while.

Belly Button In or Out?: Medium. And this is where I get gross. I've had this... growth thing... in my belly button for as long as I can remember. This happened with Nolan last time too where I could see the "growth" and tug on it. Honestly it's like a dark skin tag. I want nothing more than to take a scissors to it and cut it off. This would be the time to do it.

Wedding Rings on or off?: On

Happy or Moody?: Mostly happy with some exceptions.

Purchases for baby: I've been pretty good about this. I think I've spent maybe like $50 or so on some new clothes for baby, but since we're having a boy we have most of the clothes we'll need. I think we might buy a new mattress because of something I read about SIDS in the past and a slight increase of the risk of SIDS with a used mattress... the last thing I want or need is another reason to have anxiety after this baby is born!

Purchases for Mama: Yes, actually. I spent too much money at A Pea In The Pod on 3 dresses. I look freaking cute in them, if I do say so myself.

Miss anything?: Oh yes, a super cold beer at the end of a hard work day/week!

Looking forward to: I'm looking forward to the fact that I'm on the 2 week plan for appointments with the midwives now, so I think my next thing is looking forward to the every week appointments! Then of course baby coming. I can't believe I'm down to 9 weeks left!