Pregnancy Update: 35 Weeks

Hey all! So I've hit the 35 week mark. This means that I have one more bi-monthly doctor's visit and after that, my appointments will move to weekly. At my next visit, my OB will start checking me for dilation. I know I said I wasn't sure about doing this, but it seems so common practice that I've decided to go with it. I can't believe I'm a month away from meeting our new little girl or guy. Curious to hear what you all think I'm having based on my posts and photos. The consensus is split between boy and girl right now; I'm thinking boy and Ryan is thinking girl; friends and family are also split. We do have some names picked out but really nothing is set in stone. When Lincoln was born, we decided his name after he was delivered, after seeing him. The doctors and nurses also weighed in, which was really fun. This time around, we are prepared to do the same thing. It's fun to have your list but then to see the baby and to know that he/she is TOTALLY suited for the name you decide on. I think this goes with not knowing the gender of the baby. If I knew boy or girl, maybe it would be easier to pick a name. Other than all of the above, we are getting really excited! Our home is getting closer and closer to being put together; we still have a long way to go, but it definitely feels like home and is very comfortable for us at this point. Anyways, check out my stats below:

Weight Gain: So I'm up about 23 to 25 pounds at 35 weeks pregnant. There was a part of me that was a little disappointed when I stepped on the scale at the doctor to find that I had gained about 4 pounds between my last two appointments -- but then I thought, what am i, crazy!??? I should be thanking my lucky stars that I have only gained this amount of weight at this point, and even more, I reminded myself that we are SUPPOSED TO GAIN WEIGHT DURING PREGNANCY. This crazy weight obsession nowadays with pregnancy is getting out of control. I'd love to think that I have risen above it - but I haven't - I have succumbed to the pressures of society and to womanhood in general, and have been really hard on myself this pregnancy making sure that the scale stays at a steady rate of increase. It's really a Catch 22 with how I feel about this subject. I have preached constantly about eating healthy and maintaining my weight this pregnancy, which I think was and is important due to the fact that I gained nearly 60 pounds last time and how hard that was on me mentally and physically... but there is also a part of me that feels like we as a society put so much pressure on women/girls to be "cute" and "skinny" pregnant women. WTH? Seriously. I can't believe I could fall into the category of being that shallow. But, at the same time, don't we all have at least a tiny feeling inside of us that we will be that pregnant mom who you can't tell is pregnant from the back? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit envious of those women. All in all, it's really a battle and I salute all moms for going through whatever side it is that you're on - the too-much-weight-gained side or the skinny-pregnant side. In no way is pregnancy weight gain ever an easy thing to live with and much less talk about. I just hope, again, that you can love on yourself no matter where you're at and see the bigger picture of the beautiful baby you have growing inside of you. I need a taste of my own medicine on this one.

Diet: I've been eating really healthy throughout the day. I honestly eat what I'd eat if I weren't pregnant - no more, no less. I admit, I have dessert at night. This serves as a reward for my "good eating" efforts I put in during the day. Having something sweet at night helps keep me in check during the day, allows me to feel like I'm living in moderation, and also puts me at ease at night. The other day I caught myself thinking that I should give up my sweets at night, but honestly, it keeps me sane. Other than that, it's still (usually) warm lemon water first thing in the morning, snacking on fruit or whatever Linc is having for breakfast, then when I finally get hungry, I make a big green smoothie. Lately, I've added organic cottage cheese to it, just to give myself more substance and protein. I generally eat another mid-morning snack like a hard-boiled egg, apple or handful of trail mix. Then it's on to lunch - I'll do an open-faced sandwich, huge salad with berries, chicken, avocado and cheese, or a can of tuna with relish and mayo with avocado mixed it. My lunch is overall very healthy, then at dinner, I usually snack on stuff while making dinner (guilty) - this includes snacks like chips or crackers and hummus or a few pieces of cheese.. or snacking on the meal I am actually preparing. Then I eat a full dinner and definitely don't hold back, but do stop when I'm full or close to full. Then I have dessert - lately it's been non-dairy ice cream or soy vanilla ice cream from Trader Joe's with cookie butter mixed in. If you haven't eaten cookie butter, you haven't lived.

Exercise: I was a little off this week because we had some appointments at the house with painters and such, but did get two good workouts in on Thursday and Friday. I did my step class on Thursday and my group cardio class on Friday. In the beginning of the week, I was also pretty active, walking to the park with Lincoln and making sure we got out of the house. Working out is starting to get a little harder at 35 weeks because my belly has grown so large. Now I notice that doing things like jumping jacks makes my stomach tighten (braxton hicks like tightening). I'm just more aware of the pressure on my body at this point, but still hope to continue with my workouts.
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Pregnancy Symptoms:  I'm beginning to feel more of the third trimester aches and pains. I'm also a little more tired than normal and caffeine really isn't helping much, thus I have considered giving it up at this point. My body is a little stiff when I get out of bed to use the restroom - I notice myself hobbling out of bed, taking slow steps at first to loosen up my ligaments before I go into a full walk. These aches and pains tend to lessen as the day carries on. It's also become a chore to get up off of the ground. If Lincoln is playing and I want to get down with him floor-level, I usually stay down on the floor, crawling to wherever he is, rather than getting myself up and moving. In addition to being a little sluggish and the aches and the pains, I have a little bit of a tingling sensation in my feet when I get out of bed in the morning. This subsides quickly. I also still have tingling in my left shoulder blade at random times throughout the day. Okay wait, and I forgot to mention that I've been HYPER-emotional. Usually, I don't get upset at things; I am a hugely sensitive person but I also have a horrible short-term memory, so if someone slights me, I literally get hurt and then forget about it a few hours later and can't remember why I was so upset. Lately, I have been quite sensitive and have taken things to heart more than I normally do. On two separate occasions, I brought myself to tears. Seriously? Yes, seriously. It has gotten better since last week, but I am definitely hormonal. I vividly remember this happening with Lincoln, and it happened even earlier with him than it did this time around. I just remember feeling super needy like I needed Ryan at every point of the day to attend to my emotions and needs. I also wanted my family close by. I'm starting to get those feelings again.

Thoughts on Boy or Girl:  The odds are in favor of us having a little boy. The urologist told me at Friday's appointment that the kidney dilation happens in boys in a 10 to 1 ratio as compared to in girls. She did say, however, that she does see it happen in girls - it's just not as common. I told her that we really didn't want to know the gender and she agreed that we didn't have to, even with the kidney dilation. In regards to the way that I'm carrying and the weight I've gained this pregnancy as compared to last, all of these signs point to the idea that we are having a little girl.  I also found out that baby is measuring at 6 pounds which is very average at this point, another sign that points to this baby being a little girl. I guess we will see in early March.

Doctor's Visits: I saw my OB on Monday, then saw the specialist on Friday to confirm the kidney dilation. My OB did a general checkup, getting my weight, blood pressure and checking baby's heartbeat. I then saw the specialist on Friday to get more information on the kidney dilation at this point, although I'm not sure why I went to this doctor because all they did was confirm the kidney dilation and refer me to the pediatric urologist. I wish my OB had just sent me directly to the pediatric urologist. I'm sure there was a reason, I  just can't seem to find one. Anyways, the specialist took another ultrasound. This was fun because I got to see a prominent baby foot, the baby's spine, some fingers and a few other shots of our little one. The specialist did confirm that the kidney dilation was at .11 which means that we will need to have our little one see the pediatric urologist after birth to clear up any kidney problems. I have been assured by multiple doctors that this is completely treatable after birth and nothing to worry about unless you let it go without treatment.

Delivery: So my OB suggested that I could deliver the baby a week early if I wanted to be induced at that time. She said that if I was dilated and if my body seemed ready to go, she had no problem inducing labor a week early. She said she does it generally for second time moms so that they can organize childcare for their other kids and what not. I don't know how I felt about this, honestly. I'm sure it is completely safe and medically proven to be fine, but there was something about the thought of inducing my body early and forcing myself into labor that didn't sit right with me. First off, I'm not one for taking medicine if I don't need to; I'm a bit of a hippy you could say. Second off, I had such a great natural start to my labor with Lincoln that I would never want to add an element of forcing something too soon. I've heard that the pain of the contractions from petocin, the medicine they give you to start contractions, makes your contractions come on faster and stronger. In fact, my OB confirmed this when I started asking her questions about the risks or concerns about inducing early. She assured me that if I was getting an epidural anyways, that this didn't really matter, and that I would likely just ask for my epidural earlier than I would with a normal delivery. This made me feel weird though, why put your body in more of a state of trauma, I thought. Thirdly, I also think the fun of giving birth sometimes comes from the unknown of when you will actually go into labor. I remember with my first birth, we were waiting with so much excitement and anticipation for it to happen and when my water broke at midnight, a day after my due date had passed, it was so exciting and fun! I really don't want to miss out on the 'unknown' and excitement of anticipating when I will go into labor this pregnancy, and thus will not opt to induce early. Not to mention, what if the doctor got my dates wrong for some reason and baby still needed to cook inside of me for an additional week?? Anyways, there are a ton of reasons why I feel like inducing early isn't a great option for me, personally. I understand that some mamas have to, but if I don't have to for health reasons, then I'd rather go the natural route. I'm curious to hear if any of your OB's have offered this to you.

Nursery: Baby's nursery is coming together! I went to Target with Lincoln the other day not expecting to buy stuff for the nursery and ended up spending $700 on home furnishings - most of that money for the nursery .... whhaaaat? Yeah. There was an aisle that had home decor in a bohemian theme with literally anything you could want, and I impulsively grabbed things and put them in my cart. Nesting much? This included a cute wooden and gold bar cart that I will use for a changing table, some bohemian/jungley artwork, an animal head made out of rattan, candles, fake succulents, etc. etc. I went a little crazy but the nursery is finally decked out and ready to go. Not only that, but the removable wallpaper I had purchased for the nursery arrived. I think Ryan and I will try and put it up this weekend because I am too excited to wait to have it installed. If we don't, I may hire a handyman to put it up since we need to have tons of things hung and what not. We also got our glider/rocker for the nursery last week from Pottery Barn Kids and it is adorable!! My mother-in-law bought this for us and it was the sweetest gift. I wasn't going to get one, but now that we have it in the nursery, I can't imagine having a newborn, much less a toddler without it.

That's all for now!

xx,
ILA