Week 35

Week 35 | an update

How far along: 35 weeks

Best moment this week: 

Over the weekend, we celebrated Father's Day with all of the special dads & grandpas in our lives. We also got to hang out with nearly all of C's aunts & uncles, and cousin J. Unfortunately, C was running a temp most of the weekend, and it was super hot outside, so he had to miss out on some of the more exciting outdoor activities. Overall, we still managed to have a pretty great weekend anyways. Baby related, I picked out a couple of tiny outfits for coming home from the hospital for baby, and am feeling more prepared than when we had C and he ended up in a last minute Walmart option! Now I just need to get them all washed up and ready to go!

Maternity clothes: 

Yes, (similar top here, similar shorts here). At this stage in the game, I feel like I mostly rotate between about the same five dresses and shorts/tops combos all week long. I'm looking forward to getting back into some non-maternity clothing! Of course, then I will have to deal with the joys of dressing a postpartum bod, and my self-confidence in my new body will probably fly right out the window. Ugh. Really a no-win scenario! At least this time, I know somewhat what to expect, and have stocked up on some loose drapey nursing-friendly tops and postpartum-friendly wardrobe options that hopefully won't draw unwanted attention to the fact that I'll likely still have a post-baby bump for several months after delivery. Pat yourselves on your back all of you mama's who just go right back to your pre-baby bods. When I had C, it took about six months to get back into my regular jeans, and I imagine that it will be even more difficult this time around with two kiddos to look after (I gained about 25-28lbs before C was born at 37.5 weeks, this pregnancy I have average weight gain, and so far have gained about 18lbs as of my 34 week checkup last week). Reminding myself that it took 40 weeks to create our little miracle, and accepting that it will take some time to get back to normal...or that there may be a new normal...will be important for me to remember as I adjust to my new body image after baby.

Sleep: 

Not that great this week. Rolling over in the middle of the night has become seriously uncomfortable as baby continues to pack on some extra padding (1/2 lb a week from here on out!), and I continue to get up during the middle of the night for the restroom. It is what it is, and before long, I'll be lucky to get any quality sleep at night, so I'll make the most of the next few weeks of minor interruptions before my sleep schedule becomes even more sporadic! If anyone wants to sign up to entertain C and watch the new baby for a couple of hours so I can catch a nap after baby arrives, I'm all about it!

Miss Anything: 

Being able to do anything quickly or easily. In particular, I miss biking. Mostly, I miss biking when we are out in the garage and C walks over to the bike trailer and climbs in wanting to go for a ride. Little guy doesn't understand why we can't go. Poor C! Until about four weeks ago, we were still going on regular weekly bike rides on the trail or to the park, but T officially told me I should probably not do any more biking until after baby arrives, so we've been sadly avoiding our biking routine since then. Hopefully, we will have grandparents on hand who would love nothing more than a little snuggle time with new baby, and C & I can sneak out for some fall bike rides in September after the weather cools down a bit and I've had some time to recover.

Baby Movement: 

Still lots of movement this week. T is amazed by how active baby is when I lay down at night to try and sleep. Of course...T usually falls asleep about 30 seconds later, and I lay there awake for who knows how long until baby decides to finally settle down enough for me to sleep. Baby is also usually pretty active late morning or early afternoon, and seems to like listening/dancing to music as well. That's a good thing since C & I snagged a couple of these instrumental lullaby arrangements from Baby Blanket Music yesterday (we got the Elton John & Michael Jackson CDs), and have been listening and dancing to them pretty much non-stop ever since.

Cravings/Aversions: 

Nothing too particular this week. I've been drinking lots of water to try and stay hydrated in this hot weather, and yesterday had a donut craving that C benefitted from by a morning adventure to Spudnuts for fresh donuts. I would love nothing more than to have The Donut Experiment and their amazing cake donuts available since I'm not a big glazed donut fan, but I'll take what I can get!

Symptoms: 

Pretty standard symptoms this week. I don't have any round ligament pain or Braxton Hicks to report, so that's good. Overall, I'm mostly just feeling uncomfortable with this heat wave we've been having, and am looking forward to hopefully some sort of cool down so that C & I can get outside some more. Until then...ice cream!

Looking forward to: 

Next week marks 36 weeks...a.k.a...when I would no longer need to be transferred to a larger hospital far from home if baby decided to come early. After that, we are all looking forward to meeting this newest little bundle of love! I have my fingers crossed for a delivery sometime in the July 10-July 20th range, but of course, we don't get to decide when baby will come. In the meantime, we will just pray for a healthy and safe delivery at least 48 hours before my brother's wedding on July 30th!

On my mind: 

T & I really need to work on finalizing a name for our newest addition, and have been thinking a little more seriously this week about our options. We've got one name that has been at the top of the list pretty much since the beginning, but I know a couple of people who have used it recently, and I am not crazy about choosing a super popular name that the new babe would have to share with multiple classmates. At the same time, we're not all about choosing something too unique or untraditional either. Ahhhh...naming littles...if only they could come into this world and name themselves!