I've had a few not-so-great pregnancy symptoms the past few weeks but I don't even care so much because they're all overshadowed by my anticipation of our baby's birth. But just to memorialize the symptoms for the blog, I'll tell you about them. First up is the heartburn. It has really escalated in the past few weeks. I'm popping my tums every evening now, and occasionally in the afternoons if I have a lunch that doesn't sit so well. The evening heartburn means no more lying down on the couch after dinner, relaxing. I'm forced to watch our programs in an upright position with two pillows behind me. My posture has never been as great as it is now! I sort of thought I'd avoid a lot of the heartburn because baby is sitting so low in my belly, but no such luck. I can still solve the problem with Tums though, so at least there's that. Nothing stronger or a prescription needed at this point.
I've started having a lot more issues with sleeping over the past week as well. I toss and turn and fight with my body pillow and the covers almost every night. When I end up actually waking up to pee (there's only so many times I can tell myself to just go back to sleep and ignore my bladder!), it takes me forever to fall back asleep. Mild insomnia, I suppose. My brain is just so full! I'll lay awake thinking about our son, the labor and delivery process, what I need to accomplish at work before I'm done (only 6 weeks, 1 day left!), and so much more. My body has also just been more uncomfortable in general when I'm sleeping...sometimes the extra weight I've gained seems like a lot to move around at night! I'm up to 24-25 pounds gained as of today. I'm at a good place where I can keep right about my current weight for the next few weeks, without hampering baby's growth or anything. Whether or not I'll actually stay here is another story. :)
Even recognizing that I feel a lot better when I eat healthier, I seem to be regressing to first-trimester eating habits and all I want is comfort food or my favorite restaurant food. Dinners this week have consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, Arbys, pizza, and tonight we're having baked mac and cheese. Tomorrow night might be time for some Souplantation and veggies! Although I really want to see the movie "Labor Day," which is out tomorrow, so dinner might be movie popcorn. :) I've been good about keeping up with the fruits though and I do have salad at least once or twice a week for lunch, so not all is lost. And my water intake has been through the roof! Twice this week I've hit 100+ ounces in a day so I'm staying very hydrated. Keep drinking and peeing in there, baby boy!!
I've also been suuuuper congested recently. I've always had sort of a post-nasal drip thing going on and I think pregnancy has only made it worse. I'm sniffly all day long (which means reminding people all day long that I'm NOT sick and NOT contagious with something...unless I really don't understand how pregnancy works and I am contagious...) and my eyes alternate between being really dry and really watery. It doesn't help that I sit in an office with the HVAC blasting all day. I've managed to wear my contacts every day this week but there's been a few weeks where my eyes couldn't take it and I had to make due with my glasses. My frames are super old and always slip down my nose, making my nerdiness factor go wayyyy up. :)
One symptom I haven't had, or haven't noticed, is any Braxton Hicks contractions. I may very well be having them but I haven't been able to differentiate between potential contractions and just general pressure in my belly from baby squirming and sitting so low. Our OB says it's totally normal not to have any yet and also totally normal not to know what I'm feeling, especially since it's my first pregnancy. But I do hope I feel a little something soon. I want to know my body is preparing diligently for the big day!
Baby boy has still been very active and he likes to push his head (or butt? butthead?) really far out so my stomach is lopsided when I look down. Although I'm certainly used to him moving around every day, I still feel elated every time he does something super cute, like send ripples all the way across my stomach, or does some rapid kickboxing/kickpunching. And he still gets the hiccups, which is adorable! Two nights ago, Aron and I just sat watching and feeling my belly as the flutters went on for a good five minutes. We like to play little games where we tell baby to "kick on the left if you want this, or kick on the right if you want that." Or "kick on the right if mommy is right, and kick on the left if daddy is right." It always makes us laugh when he responds with the funnier answer. I'm sure those of my friends who have never been pregnant are rolling their eyes at this part and thinking we're ridiculous. But until you've sat in bed for 30 minutes just watching your child roll around and be adorable even from inside the womb, you can't judge me! :)
Besides the symptoms, these days I'm really just so very...happy! Happy seems like such a bland word but I guess there's no other way to describe it right now. I've always been a generally content and optimistic person but I've never felt the way I feel now. I'm borderline giddy most days. Not to say I don't have my down or whiny moments, but I bounce back so quickly it's just a small blip in my day. I feel like everything is going so well that it's almost bound to go downhill soon...the pregnancy has been mostly fantastic, Aron and I are in such a great place, we're surrounded by friends and family that love us, we already have wonderful pets and an amazing house...who gets all this in life?! I feel like Charlotte in the SATC movie when she's nervous about running when she's pregnant (anyone know what I'm talking about? "I'm so happy, I'm scared." Ringing any bells...anyone?). Since I'll never know what the future will hold, I'm going to embrace this time and enjoy feeling this upbeat while I can...before I'm running on 2 hours of sleep a night and covered in spit up. But I'll probably still be pretty damn happy if the way I feel now is any indication.
There's many other things to write about from the past few weeks, but for now I'll just post some pictures from our second baby shower! Our friends Viviana and Joelle threw the shower for us and it was wonderful! I'm so lucky that I got to do the baby shower thing twice. More fun games, more amazing gifts (thank you thank you thank you!), and more delicious food and cake! We truly appreciate everything our friends and family do for us. I can't wait to have our son and introduce him to our circle of love!
Viv and Joelle came up with the cutest ideas for the shower!
Some of our beautiful guests (beautiful women...handsome men!).
Apologies to any guests we didn't capture on camera!
Apologies to any guests we didn't capture on camera!
The happy couple!
Aron finally got some UCLA gear for the baby! (baby boy already has an SU onesie!)
My cute husband practicing being a father with our friends' daughter Abby. :)
The hostesses!!
So glad to hear that you are so happy and enjoying the last few weeks of pregnancy! The shower looks like it was a lot of fun, and you look great in the photos. It's so weird that you brought up that SATC thing...I was seriously just randomly thinking about that scene the other day! Weird. :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I totally thought in that caption of Aron holding your friend's baby that you said her name was Arby. (Maybe that should be Parker's middle name)
P.P.S. Butthead. Ha!
Oh the heartburn - I was the same - tums by the pound. Once he drops down a little more you'll feel better. And you won't be as winded doing stairs! And sleeping was so uncomfortable without my body pillow. I am so excited for you! You will be exponentially happier (if that's even possible) when he's here. I used to just look at her and cry and tell her how happy I was that she was here. You look so gorgeous - so glad you're feeling good overall.
ReplyDeleteHang in there! The last couple weeks can be hard on the body. Throughout my pregnancy I gained weight gradually, but towards the end, it seemed like I had a growth spurt. It seemed so sudden, it felt like my body's couldn't keep up. We had to put a thicker memory form on our bed because otherwise it was difficult to sleep in my side. The memory foam helped a lot, but as a result, I couldn't get out of bed by myself. So Alan would have to help lift me out of bed multiple times a night when I needed to go to the bathroom or needed a snack. We joked that it was training for night-care for the baby. ;) Just something to look out for.
ReplyDeleteTotally love the mommy-daddy-baby-in-the-tummy time. Some of our fondest memories too.
Haha I didn't realize my gmail name was "UNoWho." In case you couldn't figure it out, it's Val and Alan.
DeleteGah! You're happiness is so contagious I want to be pregnant again!! The best part is I know how it ends and how much happier you have no idea you can get! Aron looks great with a kid in his arms, he's already assumed the aura of a dad.
ReplyDeleteDANG! I know better. your. not you're.
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