All is well in the world of The Belly

I'm definitely having an emotional 3rd trimester. I think most of it is brought on by limited sleep. I do struggle a little during the work day. I've talked with my boss and fortunately he's really understanding. I have left a little early a few times (usually only a couple of hours or so) and he's fine with that. I take a nap in the afternoon on the weekends which makes a big difference!

My doctor's appointments (still every Tuesday and Friday) are going really well. My blood pressure has stayed relatively low and was 112/78 this past Friday! The nurse actually doubled checked it because it hadn't been running that low. The previous visit was 128/88. My urine has been good and my weight is staying on track. We'll be having another ultrasound this coming Friday. YAY! :)

Once again this woman at work (not the same one that said "wow, you're belly is getting really big") asked me how many weeks I had left, I told her six, she said I wasn't going to go that long (because clearly I'm like the size of a monster or something *sarcasm*). She said either that or "you're having twins" - are you for freakin' real lady!!!! I felt I had to defend my swollen belly by telling her that maybe it's because I'm not a big person to begin with and the weight is all in my belly so it just LOOKS bigger. Plus, I said to her that my weight is on track and that my belly actually measures pretty average. She gave me the look of "ya, right". Bitch please! I will slap you!!

Last weekend I had my family/friends baby shower. I don't have many pictures because my Mom took most of them and they're on her camera - maybe I can post some at a later time. We received so much stuff it was really awesome! We got a lot of the big items from our registry actually we got a lot of the stuff from our registry. There wasn't much left when I looked at it after the shower. We surprisingly didn't get many duplicate items either. We received a lot of books which I was really happy about. There was also a "diaper tower" so we received a TON of diapers!! LOVE IT! Tim came by later to help load up the car. I think he was excited and surprised to see all the stuff we got! And he got to put his amazing packing skills to good use by packing everything into the car with strategic precision!

This picture is after everything was opened and we were trying to consolidate it into some of the larger gift bags.

"WOW, you're really getting big..."

Seriously, when is it ever a good idea to say this to ANYONE!! If you feel you must point out the obvious than please follow it up with some sort of compliment. And by compliment I don't mean you talking about how HUGE you were when you were pregnant over twenty years ago. I'm
tired, emotional, and uncomfortable. And unless I mention it first I'd rather you didn't say how big you think I am.

I'm 33 weeks along today! Just another 7 weeks to go. Unless of course the little lady decides to make an appearance early! :)

Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment and had a non stress test done on the baby. They put a heart rate monitor on my belly and record the babies heartbeat for about 15-20 minutes. I also had the standard things checked - BP, urine, and weight - all of which looked good! I go back late morning tomorrow to do the same thing all over again! With all these visits I've been making I've gotten to know the entire office really well! :) My calves have been tight the past couple of days - more so in the morning. They cramp up during the night so the next day they're sore. And I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions. They don't hurt, but it's really uncomfortable to sit while your belly feels like a steel ball! Just when I thought my heartburn couldn't get any worse... it has. Sometimes it hurts so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up. Sure enough, in my sleep I threw up a little in my mouth which of course woke me up IMMEDIATELY! I have also been trying to drink as much water as I can possibly choke down. It's not always difficult to drink a lot of water because I feel thirsty all the time, but it tends to be an issue when I wake up 6 times a night (sipping my water every time I wake up - I can't help it, I'm SO THIRSTY). :)

Tim said my belly looks really white. Do I need to point out the obvious (I'm white).

8 Months - All is well*

We had our 32 week ultrasound today! Little lady weighs about 4 lbs 13 oz! That's about 2 lbs more than 4 weeks ago. She looks great - her weight is slightly above average, but we weren't able to get her length measurement because she was all bent up so hopefully she's not below average on height :) . You could even see the beginnings of a little chubby wrist wrinkle that babies sometimes have. I've been having good movement and she was doing lots of her practice "breathing" which is one of the things they are looking for at 32 weeks. I'm also doing pretty good. My BP was 120/82 which was good, but the doctor thinks we'll need to increase my medicine again soon. I can only take 3 more pills and I'll be maxed! My weight was also pretty good. I didn't gain anything from last week, I actually "lost" .4 pounds. I say lost very loosely considering time of day and the clothes I wear can obviously make a difference. My weight gain is 23.7 pounds to date. I should gain about 1 pound per week from here on out and 1/2 of that will go right to the baby. I think I may be starting to retain a little water, but it's difficult to say for sure. Occasionally my hands feel a little swollen and sometimes I take my wedding ring off. I think it's normal though to start retaining water at this point. Anyway, now that I've hit my 32 week mark I need to have 2 visits PER WEEK! This is normal for high risk pregnancy's, but holy crap dude! 2 times per week!!

My next visit is Tuesday, March 15th at 8:45.

31 Weeks -

My doctor's appointment went well yesterday. BP was 134/78 which the doctor was happy with and my urine came back good too!! I'm up 24 pounds now. Sigh* Still got 2 months to go! I'm looking forward to our next appointment Friday, March 11th - 32 Week ultrasound! The last one we had done at 28 weeks she weighed about 3 pounds, this one will help determine if she's going to be a monster or a peanut. :) Tim and I were both monsters haha!!

Tim and I went through the stuff I got at the baby shower this week. I did my first load of baby laundry. :) There's at least one more load to do. People have been good about getting different sizes so we have quite an array between 0 and 9 months plus a few things up to 12 months. Tim got the diaper genie set up. I still have to pick up a few things in her room, but we got most of it taken care of.

Tim's been so amazing around the house. He knows I've been extra tired and not feeling so great. Plus I've been pretty emotional lately so he's being really good to me. He cleans the house, DOES THE DISHES, he even made dinner tonight. Even if dinner was just hot dogs and beans! :) haha!
I consider myself pretty lucky!

In this last picture I can't believe that is my belly! And it's only getting bigger!!

Baby Shower @ Work!!

I was thrown a very successful baby shower at work today! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! :) I got two homemade quilts that came out really nice! Plus lots of clothes, a diaper genie, books, humidifier, hamper (that matches the theme we have), a diaper cake :), 3 more blankets, and lots of other really great stuff. There was a ton of yummy food too! I'm anxious to go through all the stuff with Tim.

Update on other stuff: I went to the doctor again on Tuesday and my BP was good at 119/78. I also had blood work done which came back fine and my urine was good! So things seem to be going well and staying under control which I'm obviously very happy about. I go back to the doctor's on Friday to just follow up again.

The baby has been moving around a lot in the night. Usually around 2-2:30 I get up to pee and that's when she starts to get active again! I tend to lie awake for at least 30-45 minutes re-settling myself and the baby! This past weekend Tim and I watched my belly and could see the baby moving. I loved it! It was the first time Tim actually "saw" her move and not just felt it. Just a couple of more months and she'll be here!! :)